Rebolting at Monte Gallo & Monte Pellegrino in Sicily

From 15 to 21 May, an Italian mountain guides training module took place in Sicily. As last year in Sardinia, during the module a number of mulitpitch climbs affected by bolt corrosion were rebolted. The routes rebolted by the mountain guides and aspiring alpine guides are:

- Fatti non foste at Monte Gallo (Maurizio Oviglia, Eugenio Pinotti, 2008–2009)
- Forse è vergine at Monte Pellegrino (Josef Hilpold, Klaus Kofler, 2010)
- La banda del buco at Antro della Perciata, Monte Pellegrino (Luca Giupponi, Rolando Larcher, Nicola Sartori, 2011)

The rebolting was carried out using 10mm and 12mm stainless steel expansion bolts, made of 316L stainless steel, which is more resistant to atmospheric agents than 304 steel. No additional bolts were added along the pitches; we limited ourselves to replacing the old bolts to avoid altering the original style of the first ascent. These are absolutely fantastic routes with stunning views onto the Mediterranean! Furthermore, during this period, the belays of the following routes were also rebolted:

- Cannoli alla Giusy at Pizzo Coda di Volpe (Gabriele Cavallo, Massimo Flaccavento, Giorgio Iurato, 2003)
- Giro, faccio cose e vedo gente at Monte Santa Margherita (Maurizio Oviglia, Simone Sarti, 2001)
- The first 4 pitches of Il Cavaliere inesistente at Nuovo Mondo di Monte Gallo (Fabrice Calabrese, Maurizio Oviglia, Eugenio Pinotti, 2007)
- The abseil anchors to the right of the route La banda del buco were also rebolted.

With the support of the Sicilian College of Alpine and Volcanological Guides, the work was carried out by the alpine guide instructor groups of the Interregional Hub (Regional Colleges of Alpine Guides of Piedmont, Veneto, Liguria, Abruzzo, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany), together with the following 12 trainee aspiring alpine guides: Lorenzo Bertozzi, Gianluca Brioschi, Fabrizio Brusa, Diego Castellaz, Enrico Fedolfi, Olaf Lovat, Matteo Michetti, Andrea Noris, Giovanni Pagnoncelli, Andrea Parisi, Luca Trubbiani, Ivan Vittone.

Matteo Canova, Director of the Mountain Guide Course of the Interregional Hub