Simon Gietl establishes Kairos, new 'direttissima' on Piz de Lavarela (Dolomites)

A new route has been put up recently on the west face of Lavarela de Fora, the sub‑summit of Piz Lavarela in the Conturines – Lavarella group in Alta Badia, Dolomites. The line bears the familiar signature of Simon Gietl, who over a period of four days with Martin Niederkofler and Davide Prandini established this 300‑metre gem.

"This gigantic fortress of the finest limestone looks like an insurmountable wall!" explained the South Tyrolean mountain guide. "I was obsessed with the idea of attempting a direct route, and at the same time, I knew I’d have to give it my all to have a realistic chance!

The climb was established from ground-up and, as per usual, without bolts. After initial attempts on 15 and 17 June with Prandini, Gietl returned on 3 and 9 July with Niederkofler to complete the outing. Eight pitches at circa half height cross the first route on the beautiful west face, Dolasilla by Tobias Engl and Florian Huber.

It was precisely while talking to Huber that Gietl found the inspiration, as he told planetmountain: "I had spoken to Florian about the wall and he gave me some tips on the approach, enthusiastically praising the quality of the rock. He said the king line would run right through the middle, but that the rock is so compact it's almost impossible to place pegs… and that motivated me even more to give it a try!"

During the first ascent, Gietl took several falls of over 10 metres, breaching difficulties up to IX‑/A2. All the pegs used during the ascent have been left in situ. The first free ascent is still outstanding. "It was really hard to find a way to place good intermediate pro," the 41‑year‑old concluded. "Now my big goal is to climb Kairos in a single day, without falling. I’ll do my best—let’s see how it goes!"