La Sportiva climbing meeting: at Rodellar in Spain the best climbers in the world

The 2018 La Sportiva climbing athletes meeting took place during the traditional climbing festival in Rodellar, from 21-23 September, in a historical climbing venue and home of the only single-brand store in Spain. The meeting brought together the La Sportiva family of athletes and offered a chance to talk about new projects and new ways of sharing them. A few years had passed since the last La Sportiva athletes meeting, but it could be said that it was worth the wait thanks to a summer that does not want to end and that still grants long days of sunshine, thanks to the calm Spanish way of life, and, without a doubt, thanks to the unique spectacle offered by the Rodellar cliff, Aragon, thanks to this perfect scenario, but above all thanks to the presence of some of the most important top climbers in the vertical world, who for two days performed on the overhanging limestone walls of the Mascun Valley. From James Pearson to Barbara Zangerl, fifteen of the most iconic ambassadors of the Italian brand met in Rodellar together with the R&D and Marketing team from La Sportiva to exchange ideas on new products, to talk about future projects and news ways of sharing them, but above all, to spend some time as “a family”. Because although operating globally in the outdoor market sector, after ninety years of activity La Sportiva continues to be a family run business, which sees its athletes as the extension of that family born in 1928 in a small cobbler’s store at the foot of the Dolomites. “It is difficult for me to think of La Sportiva simply as a company with which I collaborate – says Jacopo Larcher – for me it is more a family.” But an athletes’ meeting means above all, climbing, and it wasn’t long before the athletes moved to the first nearby canyon, where a myriad of caves, arches, towers and plaques, formed over thousands of years by the relentless Mascun river, gives access to about 200 routes of every difficulty. The climbers were able to enjoy the vastness of this natural playground, focusing mainly on the La Surgencia sector where two routes were waiting to be opened. It took only a few hours for Jorg Verhoeven to put his signature on what he calls a tough 8c, “Hashtag Bandits”, while Silvio Reffo opened the route “Olympia”, 8b+. Saturday, instead, was the day open to the public, thanks to the different activities organized by the traditional Rodellar Climbing Festival, the event saw the participation of about 300 climbers who had the opportunity to climb together with the big names in world climbing. Athletes present at the event: Nalle Hukkataival, Caroline Ciavaldini, James Pearson, Anak Verhoeven, Katharina Sauerwein, Jorg, Verhoeven, Kilian Fischhuber, Federica Mingolla, Jacopo Larcher, Barbara Zangerl, Roger Schaeli, Silvio Reffo, Patxi Usobiaga, Iker and Eneko Pou. https://youtu.be/h9mgjCwlZ2c [gallery link="file" ids="27827,27829,27831,27833,27835,27837,27839,27841,27843,27845,27847,27849,27851,27853,27855,27857,27859,27861,27863,27865,27867"]