Yikes!!!! Only a few months left in Europe this time around so I have gotten into panic mode for doing some of the local classics in the Apuane Alps. The Apuane is a pretty amazing chain which runs from the Aulla valley south to the Val d'Luca. There are some peaks at 2000m (rising from just above sea level) and really amazing terrain. The rock is primarily compacted limestone that will someday be marble or already marble. The vast majority of the world's marble comes from this range - in the massively overused Cararra marble mines. Luckily, despite what we know of the polished marble in domestic use, the friction on raw marble is amazing.

A great local crag on the sea (boasting routes up to 300m!!! right from the water) is Muzzerone. Primarily marble, the crag is amazingly well equipped and great for after work jaunts. The crag has a couple hundred routes from 1 to 9 pitches in length and is near the 5 Terra for those that have travelled there.

A new co-worker from France, Yan, and I decided it would be cool to try the local sport climbing classic "Chi Vuol Essere Lieto..... Lieto Sia" (5.10 6 pitches) at Muzzerone and the Apuan mega 'classic' (i.e. scary) "Oppio Colnaghi Route" on the north face of Pizzo di Ucello (5.9+R, 19 pitches).

The Chi Voul route was an afterwork objective - twenty minutes from the office and then a 20 min approach between Porto Venere and the 5 Terra. You start at an old observation fort which was used to monitor traffic in the Gulfo De Poeti (La Spezia harbor) on a climbers trail that dumps you into a long gully strung with a few fixed ropes and cables.

This is Yan just arriving into the Gully:


While still about 200ft above the sea, you traverse into the start of the route. The area below the start is a series of small, but uninteresting for climbing, steep ledges. The last part of the traverse is a bright yellow plastic nylon line that is not so bright after who knows how long in the sun... Oh man... a few moves to a tree that you hug with all your might for living through the mank and two old bolts to clip into. The view is pretty amazing though:


An hour ago, we were at our desks working merrily keeping the free world free - and now we are on to more serious business. Pretty stoked to be there:


Yan topped out on the first pitch wondering if the rating was even close - the funny part was that finally after a few trip of him tricking me into overhanging (strapiombino), crimpy, technical cruxes, we came across some actual small hands and finger size cracks! Paradise for a Cali climber - not so much for me French friend. He was fully into though!



We stopped to look at the topo a few times just for fun - yeah, I was thinking we should just probably just follow the line of bolts every 5 feet above.. what do you think?


We saw that the crux pitch was an off hands section of really nice but a bit awkward climbing leading to a perfect hands section followed by some face moves to the next belay. Yan was getting some beta on how to climb off hands.


The crux pitch behind us, we had a pitch of beautiful face climbing, a 3rd class pitch and then finally a great top out back at the fort. This is looking up the start of the 4th pitch:


Yan cruising P4:


We moved through the 3rd class pitch up toward the final pitch of the route as the sun was starting to set.. the light over the sea at this time of year is really amazing.


Yan pulling the last few moves before the top out:


Topping out, we took a couple shots and headed back to the car for the trip down to the village of La Grazia, a small harbor town which is a beutiful marina now. There is, of course, a pretty cool climbers bar - we debated the merits of drinking Tenets (a great value but Scottish bums drink accoring to most central europeans) or Moretti (which is sh#t beer by anyone's standards). Tennets won out and Yan did admit that is was not as bad as the canned version they sell in Scotland (where he is finishing he PhD).

Obligatory top out shots:



We parted ways by setting a 4:00 meet up in the parking lot of the local intersport to head into the Apaune for Pizzo. I have been on pizzo a few other times but only the south Face. A year and a half ago I went out for a run to check out a via ferratta that I heard was pretty cool. As I ran up the valley from Vinca past a marble mine, the imposing N Face of Pizzo Di Ucello beckoned. I thought for sure that there must be great climbing on the face but without and published guides and no strong climbers at work, I put it to the back of my mind. Now, just in the last year, 3 new guides are out - all of them covering different areas but still local.

We were at the trailhead, gear sorted and walking around 5:30. Heres the proof:


The approach, which is about an hour, goes up to a focce (saddle) Soggio where you pick up the via ferratta but for descent. This is Yan where you pick up the ferratta.


The top of the saddle also gives you the first views of the whole face (route indicated):


The first 6 pitches are low fifth (5.6 or so) so we simul climbed the first three and then re-racked for the second three.
You start on some face moves up toward a large bulge and then traverse right on a ramp beneath an overhanging section until the start of the first of the harder pitches. This is Yan low on the route just before the ramp:


We had great views of the ridgline (the one in the center with the sun on it) we used to descend. The ferratta is installed just on the crest - pretty cool way for people to get in some exposure with low commitment.


Yan low still pretty low on the route but on perfect, easy rock:


It is cool to see the valley from different perspectives. Because of the shape of it, when you are doing the ferratta, you cant see where you came from. This time I could see my whole running route from my previous trip. This is a shot of the Val d'Vinca showing also a very small, but still active, marble mine.


Despite being dubbed the mega classic of the entire range by the local guides, the route was pretty much empty on a Saturday save for one other party of Italians. It does have a bit of the DNB type of mystique (not that I have done that route). One guide friend said "Forse la tua prima volta e anche il tuo ultimo" - your first time is probably your last as well. So far, thought the route was really high quality. The Italians had bivvied at the base and were three pitches ahead of us when we started but they were pitching out the whole route so we caught them whilst simul climbing. We met up just at their second was following the first of 5 5.9 pitches - a nice but loose face leading into a chimney:


Looking out at the Appenine mountains - the weather at this moment was pretty amazing - Chimney climbing sucks just as bad here as it does in Cali though...


Some weather rolled in as we were finishing three 5.9 chimney pitches in a row with adequate spatial separation between rusty old 1940s pins and the occassional gear placement. A shot looking out from the top of the chimney at the weather.


I had been going on about how nice it was being able to use some crack technique on the lower portions of the route and also talked about some of the chimneys on the sierra classics - Yan arrived at the top of the chimneys asking if I really did like cracks and if so, WTF do you like about them... hahahahahah...



After a pitch of pretty serious 5.9R pitch (lots of huge loose blocks and only a few spots to protect the moves, we were getting close to the top - only a couple of pitches of low fifth and a 5.8 to the top.


After a brief episode of getting off route and the ensuing un-screwing ourselves, were were on top... 11 hrs on the face


There were some amazing clouds on top - we were treating to a pretty amazing lightening show over the Apennine during the descent!!!



Another one of the local classics in the bag - Pretty amazing day out!!!