Trad and sport climbing in the cradle of Italian free-climbing

“Among the Alpine valleys, Val di Mello has no comparison. Above sheer walls, below a calm flat valley floor crossed by the blue-green waters of the river. It is a mythical place in the geography of climbing, where in the 1970s a group of guys knew how to reinvent climbing, drawing routes on boltable walls, immersed in a powerful and monumental nature.

This is also discussed in this guide. A wide-ranging monographic work, where each itinerary should appear with its own character and strength, from those of the pioneers to the latest achievements. We have had written contributions from some of these explorers, first-hand testimonies of a legendary epic that marked a historical period and revolutionized the way of conceiving and practicing mountaineering; this is in fact the cradle of Italian free climbing.

Following the stories of Masa, Merizzi, Miotti and Boscacci is like breathing the light and edgy air of those years. But above all it is going back to where it all began, to the courage and imagination that had no desire to go to power, but which was able to literate the generations that came after. So read to understand and rediscover a world of stone of unsurpassed quality”.

Mario Sertori

Niccolò Bartoli was born in the heart of the city of Milan, in 1991. At around 21, after having tried all kinds of sports, he discovered climbing. Thus begins a life journey that to date, as he says, has led him to live in a different way. He spent his first years along the walls of Lecco alternating niche sport single pitches with classic multipitch routes. He soon began to take an interest in bolting new itineraries: with the help of a friend and Versante Sud he set up the small but characteristic crag of Acapulco. Shortly thereafter he discovers the Val di Mello a few kilometers further north and is struck by it. He lives carefree years, dedicating himself only to the research of the gesture and, above all, experimenting with grip climbing, which intrigues him so much. Here he meets new friends and partners, with whom he climbs a little bit of everything; later the desire to browse leads them to travel increasingly steep and improbable granite slabs. Now he lives in a small campervan, moving around during the year in search of the best climbing life situations, because yes, climbing is not just a sport!