Big new climb added to Civetta in Dolomites by Leo Billon, Enzo Oddo

French alpinists Léo Billon and Enzo Oddo have added another significant line to their already impressive list of achievements, this time on the north-west face of Mt. Civetta in the Italian Dolomites. From 3 to 5 July, the pair established an important new outing on this iconic wall, known as the "Parete delle Pareti" for its imposing nature and concentration of classic climbs.

The pair established their 1200m Diretta Francese, ie French Direct, ground-up with two bivies, past difficulties up to 7c+. They placed a mere nine bolts on the 1200m line, but otherwise relied on trad gear, preserving the exploratory character of the face. Their approach was to lead all pitches onsight, with the exception of the two hardest sections, the 7b+ and 7c+, which required a redpoint. One pitch shares sections with the historic Solleder - Lettenbauer route, while another pitch shares a section with the Diepen-Müller variant.

“Our goal was to climb the upper wall, with its yellow bulges and blue streaks. What a surprise to discover such an obvious line in this part of the wall, which initially seemed tricky to read,” Billon told planetmountain.

In 2021 the pair astounded the local climbing scene with a single-day onsight repeat of Colonne d’Ercole, the Civetta masterpiece established by Alessandro Baù, Alessandro Beber and Nicola Tondini between 2009 and 2012. Billon's first grappled with this wall in December 2017, when he made a rare winter ascent of the historic Solleder - Lettenbauer with Max Bonniot and Benjamin Védrines.