November 25, 2023, having arrived at the base of the Padaro wall, on the road we find Alessandro waiting for us with the Sarca Valley climbing guide open, in his hand. He is studying the wall. He has identified a possible new line and wants to try to climb it. It didn’t take much to convince me and the other three guys; I have the drill in the car and some fixings, as well as various nails. We identify an interesting area of the wall, shortly after the start of the Via delle Rampa, with some logical points to follow. A dihedral blocked by a precipice marks the direction to take initially.
Alessandro goes on a trip where he uses very few fixes and a lot of hair on his stomach. After a stretch to reach a dihedral, this proves delicate especially to reach the crack under the overhang that closes it. Then another dirty dihedral and finally the belay. Climbing from second we have the opportunity to see the difficulty of the length, at least in these conditions. But in my head I already see the clean rock and the beautiful dihedral after the cleaning we will do.
Another length takes Alessandro to a small ledge and joins us with the Via della Rampa, where we stop, trying to study where to go up with an independent line. The euphoria is palpable, especially Claudio and Pietro have breathed that small particle which, if it finds the right environment, can give rise to a mutation, one that leads to imagining lines to climb on anything vertical we find in our path.
A following weekend sees us return, Alessandro, Claudio and I, from the recently formed New Rocks group
, to climb the dihedral that we identified on the left. I can protect myself with the exclusive use of friend. I then traverse to the right, reaching a crack where I can enjoy the possibility of driving good traditional pegs. A providential traverse to the right, on compact rock, allows me to avoid a vegetated area. Protecting myself with a bolt, I reach a dihedral and finally arrive at the small terrace under an arched roof. The roof is quite scary, but it is also aesthetically very beautiful and constitutes the main feature of the street.
Alessandro begins to climb a beautiful blade, until he reaches a first smaller roof. However, the few hours of light advise us to go down, to return the next morning, when we will be able to climb another portion of the wall under a much more overhanging roof.
After a month we go back to the roll call. Claudio is proving to be an excellent element, thirsty for adventure and with the desire to learn and lend a hand, the particle of mutation has definitely infected him. We find a beautiful and sunny weekend, but unfortunately with very low temperatures. Having arrived under the arched roof, beautiful ice cubes hang above us. Alessandro climbs quickly enough to reach the last fix placed the previous time. He then works to get out of the roof and finally reach a less overhanging area.
Unfortunately you can see many vegetated areas above, and not as easy as they seemed to be in the photos taken. I start by looking for the most beautiful and cleanest rock points, and with a non-linear trend I find a beautiful section that takes us to the base of the large dihedral which can also be seen from below. By placing some protection I manage to climb and abandon the dihedral where it appears too overgrown with vegetation. In front of me there is now easier, if crumbly, terrain. Climbing obliquely to the right, I find a beautiful section and then a grove, after which a cleaner and easier area (we later discovered that it is the last short stretch of the Via Cristallo) allows me to reach the summit forest, where the an obvious trace that leads to the descent. My partners, who have been parked for a while, get up numb from the cold, but we are happy!
I think that over time I will forget the fatigue and fears I felt on the wall, but the hugs exchanged at the top, the tired faces full of satisfaction, the euphoria of having done something absolutely useless but full of meaning for us, I won’t forget those.
A route like this, in the lower valley, however, has the problem of often being disturbed by vegetation, leaves, earthy areas and leaning boulders. You could even leave it in the state in which it was opened, as the satisfaction would remain. But there is another type of satisfaction that can be obtained: cleaning the route and seeing unsuspected areas of the wall, cracks, supports and holds come to light is something that goes beyond improving climbing. It’s about aesthetics, about climbing a line that is also beautiful to look at. This was our choice.
I want to thank my climbing partners, Alessandro Ceriani and Claudio “Boldo” Boldorini, and those who came on the first of the various days, Pietro “Cerio 95” Ceriani and Luca Scotti. A climb, even if beautiful, counts for nothing if we don’t do it with people we respect and are fond of, true friends.
at the date of the article group formed by Alessandro Ceriani, Claudio “Boldo” Boldorini, Pietro “Cerio 95” Ceriani, Walter “Pres” Polidori
by Walter Polidori THE MUTATION PARTICLE by Alessandro Ceriani Monday 23 January, the day after the weekend in which we finished the route: I enter the house after work, exchange a joke with Mariaelena who comments out of nowhere
“you’re light today, you’ve been since you came back last night, it must have been a nice weekend.”
I therefore instinctively ask myself if I had more fun during the previous weekend while at the base I hurriedly put on my helmet and continually saw stones as big as apples falling (which I only later realized were pieces of ice breaking away from the stalactites under the overhang), or when during the crossing under the overhang I had the senseless fear that the whole mountain would fall on me. But no, probably the best moment was when I had that backpack so heavy and loaded with material that on a V+ passage I cleared the passage with such haste that not even an overweight Korean busy on the bottleneck at K2 would have had it. I’m perplexed by the possible answers to my question.
Probably the real answer lies in the name of this street. A physicist will hardly be able to tell you what the interaction is between this particle and the human mood. Certainly a “Sunday” mountaineer who has experienced the mutation will be able to tell you how tiring but ecstatic Mondays in the office are.
