L'ultimo dei selvaggi, new rock climb in Italy's Valsugana

Peter Moser reports about the first ascent of L'ultimo dei selvaggi (200m, 7b max) a new rock climb above Palu in Valsugana, Italy.

The route was climbed after a series of attempts during summer 2014 and it cost me a fair deal of effort. The route ascends the most beautiful and compact slabs of the face above the village of Palu and was a great test as I established it ground-up, at times even alone. Before I climbed it the rock was dirty and many sections were loose, ready to plunge down into the valley. It's now been cleaned and offers beautiful climbing past some exciting pitches.

The route is equipped with bolts but definitely has a very alpine feel to it due to the morphology of the rock and the at times sparse protection that requires a cool head. Creating a route with character seemed the right, respectful thing to do and spending my time climbing this route ground-up, as clean and honestly as possible, gave me immense joy and satisfaction. I have to thank all my friends who belayed me during the first ascent, above all Carlo Zottele who with extreme patience waited as I unraveled the various sections, always on the lookout for rocks hurtling down from the sky.

by Peter Moser

Thanks to the sponsor Asolo


TOPO: L’ultimo dei selvaggi, Valsugana