Chiaroveggenza added to Marmolada (Dolomites) by Nicolò Geremia, Mirco Grasso

After six years of waiting, injuries and attempts, Italian alpinists Nicolò Geremia and Mirco Grasso have completed Chiaroveggenza, a new route on the south face of Marmolada in the Italian Dolomites. The 1000m outing is marked by high difficulties, sustained technical climbing, and surprisingly high-quality rock.

The route began to take shape in 2019, when Geremia and Grasso had originally planned to repeat an existing climb, however, wet conditions forced them to look for alternatives. Geremia recalled a line he had noticed the previous year while repeating Excalibur (Paolo Cipriani, Maurizio Giordani, 1993): a grey bulge of compact, featureless rock offering about 100 meters of pristine, dry limestone. The pair decided to attempt something new and quickly established the first two pitches.

Later that same year, Geremia and Grasso returned and pushed the route up to the midway ledge, the point where many routes on Marmolada’s south face end, since beyond that, the difficulties decrease. However, the pair considered pushing the line to the summit and in the ensuing years, their desire to finish the upper section remained strong. After observing new routes established nearby- such as Ultimo Tango put up by Much Mayr, Guido Unterwurzacher, Peter Mühlburger and Alex Blümel, in honor of Hansjörg Auer- the two alpinists began to plan the continuation of their own line on the left side of the upper pillar, an area that until then had remained untouched and out of the limelight.

Their resumed activities in the summer of 2025 and eventually completed the outing over five days of climbing. All pitches were freed, revealing rock of exceptional quality, contrary to their initial expectations based on nearby routes. Chiaroveggenza is an independent alpine outing, with only a few bolts at the belays and just three for protection on the pitches, totaling nearly 1,000 meters. It features sixteen pitches above grade VIII, peaking at IX+, with mandatory difficulties of VIII+/IX- and a few easier sections close to the ledge. The route has not yet been climbed free from the ground in a single push

The name Chiaroveggenza (“Clairvoyance”) came from a particular episode: the night before opening a decisive pitch, Geremia dreamed that he saw Grasso linking distant pockets on a smooth slab, while he himself, lower down, wasn’t able to second. The next day they found themselves facing that exact wall, under those same conditions: the dream seemed to have come true.

“We came back down to the valley in disbelief, and when we told the story to Giorgio, the pizzaiolo in Caprile, he said: ‘Well, then it has to be called Chiaroveggenza.’ We couldn’t have chosen a better name - everything about that route seemed already written; we just didn’t know it yet,” Geremia commented.

“It’s a project that kept us busy for years - weather, injuries, postponed attempts. Seeing it finally completed feels unreal. The line is independent and has a very alpine feel to it, with only a few bolts at the belays and very few along the pitches - the essence lies entirely in the climbing itself. Sixteen pitches above grade VIII, peaking at IX+, on superb, continuous, never trivial bullet-proof limestone. Perhaps one of the most demanding routes on the wall, but also one of the most beautiful I’ve ever climbed,” concluded Grasso