Via Bolago established on Quarto Campanile degli Armi in Brenta Dolomites

Davide Dallago and I had been planning on opening a route in the mountains for some time, and succeeding right in the heart of the Brenta, in the style we love most, represents something very special for us. It is difficult to explain in words the excitement we felt at the top of the tower.

A year ago the imposing wall caught Davide's attention while repeating a route on Primo Campanile. We quickly began to search for information and soon discovered that the only route on the face is a Detassis/Graffer, established in 1939 on the NE arête.

On 6 August 2023, by now really intrigued and rather impatient, we set off from Molveno to reach Croz dell'Altissimo in the morning with our e-bikes, without being in a rush and without too much gear. The idea was simply to go and have a look, we doubted that we'd manage to get to the top, and we were almost certain that we'd end the day retreating from the wall at some point.

At 10.30 we reached the base of the route. We started climbing and to our great surprise we manage to free climb all the pitches up to the base of the overhanging yellow section. Luck and motivation were fundamental that day, and after climbing a sustained pitch across yellow rock, which was followed by an exposed traverse, we managed to get past the greatest difficulties. Now one last pitch separated us from the top Quarto Campanile degli Armi

We made the first ascent of the route in just a day and in the style we love most. All the pegs were placed (and left in-situ) without hanging on pro or resting, except for a peg on pitch 5 which was placed using a cliffhanger.

On August 19th we carried out the first repeat, made some minor modifications, added a few pegs (initially we placed only 9 pegs) on some of the pitches, at the belays, and added some threads (pro marked in red on the topo).

by Daniele Bolognani