Varazze

Fourteen years have passed since I discovered the first boulders at Varazze and what's incredible is that we continue to discover new areas, new challenging boulders that trash our skin in this seemingly never-ending game. Last year a new guidebook was published to the are with over 1100 problems and numerous new lines.

It was back in 1999 when, together with my dog Carlotta, I discovered La Cava, the first sector at Varazze. It occurred to me that I could get in touch with an old friend of mine, Christian Core, who in the meantime had become a strong and famous climber. I thought I'd show him my problems, thinking that for him they would be nothing special, seeing that he'd climbed and travelled extensively, sending beautiful problems worldwide. Much to my surprise though, he was astonished and it seemed extraordinary something so beautiful could be right at our doorsteps.

From that day on we formed a perfect team. I discovered new areas, new boulder, while Christian and Stella Marchisio helped me clean them and - and this is the most beautiful part of all - free them.

Day after day, year after year, we continued to be amazed by how many problems we unearthed and climbed at Varazze. Rampage, Gioia, Nem, La Mongolfiera are just a handful of those that particularly impressed us for their purity and beauty...

Even now, after fourteen years, I still find new boulders lost in woods and am amazed at how nature has created such beautiful rocks that seem to have been drawn by the hand of an artist.

Climbers from all over the world have visited Varazze, thanks also to the numerous videos of Christian Core on the internet. Meeting them has always been really interesting and enriching. The bouldering world is like a big tribe, everyone is joined by a common thread, and it's great to feel this harmony.