Historic Torrioni di Masua crag in Sardinia rebolted

It's hard to explain what drives climbers of my generation to resurrect completely forgotten sectors, which perhaps they themselves equipped 40 years ago and which today have fallen into complete disuse. There's certainly the desire to pass on something (still) usable to the new generations, or more likely the fear of seeing everything disappear, given that most young people have no interest in climbing something old-style.

Years ago I climbed with an elderly gentleman, a good friend of mine, who besides climbing was passionate about books. Specifically mountain books. He was an avid collector. As we all know, many climbers of my generation, myself included, collect guidebooks. Well, he didn't just collect guidebooks, but every kind of book that had to do with the mountains. He had thousands, some of them very rare indeed. Every time I went to his house he would pull one out and show it to me. His collection was also worth a considerable amount of money; I would have sworn he'd never part with it.

However, one day he told me he had sold the entire collection and with the proceeds he had bought a house in the mountains where he would live out his remaining days. I was shocked by this decision and asked him why on earth he had come to such a drastic decision. Simply put, he said, I realised that once I'm no longer alive, my children will sell the books anyway. So better that I do it now and enjoy the proceeds in another way... At that moment I felt bitter about his words: how can you suddenly pull the plug on one of the great passions of your life?

For most of my existence I have collected rock climbs , more than books. I too have realised that what I leave behind will probably be lost, unless there is someone who periodically takes care of restoring them (and for now there are no initiatives on the horizon). Restoring these climbs is essentially an act of love, more than passion or fun, since I created these things many years ago and am therefore emotionally attached to them. But if this feeling is lacking, what could possibly drive the route setters of tomorrow to resurrect rock climbs that are no longer in line with modern standards?

Obviously you can't sell rock climbs; they are intangible assets. The most likely thing is that I will continue doing what I do out of inertia, for as long as I can, which at best is another ten years. Then I'll watch from that care home where all us route setters will be confined, so that we can continue to argue endlessly about the issues we feel so strongly about: distance between bolts, ground-up or top-down bolting, gear, bolts yes and bolts no, etc., etc. All topics that, soon enough, will no longer interest anyone...

By the way, all these useless words to say that the restyling of the Torrioni di Masua in the southwest corner of Sardinia has been completed. Nearly 40 routes rebolted and now for all to climb. A heartfelt thank you for the hands-on help to Simone Sarti, Bruno Fonnesu, Marco Bigatti. You could have read just the last few lines, too bad I put them at the end...

Listed below are the routes recently rebolted (2025/2026). It is recommended not to climb the routes which have not yet been rebolted (the Brasilero sector, for example), as they are equipped with AISI 304 material at risk of failure.

For the time being, the routes are shown on a drawing, not on topo photos, due to the imminent release of the guidebook Pietra di Luna Costa Sud Ovest. The names of the routes are almost always written at the base of the climbs. The rebolting was self-funded by Simone Sarti, Bruno Fonnesu, Marco Bigatti and Maurizio Oviglia.

Torre Titti
1 – Viava’ – 20m (still needs rebolting)   
2 – Machu Pichu – 20m (6a+)
3 – Gocce d’acciaio – 30m (6a+)
4 – Omino Bianco – 30m (6b)

Torre Sauron
5 – L’occhio di Sauron – 25m (6c+)
6 – Ajeje Brasorf – 25m (6a)
7 – Spendi spandi – 25m (6a+)
8 – Safer sex – 20m (6b+)
9 – Cane birba – 25m (6b+)
10 – I sogni di Mattia – 15m (6c)
11 – Creux poplite – 25m (6c)
12 – Ichnusa – 10m (6b)
13 – Orkan – 12m (7b)

I Menhir
14 – Il ritorno dell’Inca – 12m (6b)
15 – Menhir – 11m (6b)
16 – Fusion – 11m (6b)
17 – Pensame Mucho – 10m (5c)

Il Pentagono
18 – O Famo strano – 10m (6b+)
19 – Aicci Anda Sa Vida – 10m (6b)
20 – Mistral – 17m (Progetto)
21 – Homeland – 17m (Progetto)
22 – Feistus raclettus - 15m (7c+ or 8a+?)
23 – Discipline  – 15m (8a) – Ffa Andrea Lostia 2026
24 – Guernica – 13m (7b+)
25 – Alibraci – 15m (6a+)
26 – Narcisismo patologico – 15m (5c)
27 – Gatto Cammello – 12m (5b)
28 – Blue skies Paolina – 10m (5b)

Sun Rock
29 – Magica Briciola – 15m (5c)
30 – Sun Rock – 15m (6a)
31 – Mia che follia – 15m (6a)
32 – Winter Dream – 15m (5c)
33 – Caiccheda – 10m (4b)
34 – Sofia – 10m (4b)
35- Su Disterru – 20m (5a)
36 – Su Connotu – 20m (5a)

- Maurizio Oviglia, Cagliari