Andrea Lanfri climbs Gran Sasso d’Italia during From Coast to Coast project

Unlike my previous projects (Pisanino, Etna and M. Serra), this time I started at sea level, on the Adriatic coast, and finished at sea level once again, but instead of returning to my starting point I reached a different sea altogether, the Tyrrhenian sea on the other side of Italy! A 300km adventure compressed into a single day.

This is how things went. The first 80km section was practically all uphill, starting from Montesilvano, just above Pescara in Abruzzo, all the way to Campo Imperatore. Luckily only the last stretch was actually steep.

Here I swapped my prosthesis, taking off the ones I use for the bike and putting on my “mountain" kit; I set off for the summit of Corno Grande, with patches of snow all around. After 2 hours and 30 minutes I reached the summit, and then returned to Campo Imperatore where, after a quick meal, I hopped on my bike to cycle the last 220km, fortunately many downhill, towards Ladispoli.

The times I’d set myself went skew-whiff, not through any fault of my own, but because a road was closed! I’d planned on doing it in 18 hours, in the end I needed a little longer, but now I have the excuse of going back and doing it again. I always say that my From 0 to 0 projects are single editions, once completed I never repeat them, because they’re so tough. But with this one I’ll probably make an exception, because now that I know the route, and if I don’t get stopped by similar obstacles, then maybe I can even do it in under 18 hours!

23 hours and 40 minutes is the time I needed on Sunday, including the enforced stop due to the closed road; I re-baptised it the "24 hours of Gran Sasso"... During this project the stress I felt and the fatigue put my crew to the test, they were all really exhausted. I just hope that there won’t be a hitch like this one on my Monte Rosa edition!

All things considered it was a great experience, an excellent test for the last From 0to0 scheduled some time in September. I don't have a precise date as yet, but it’ll be at the start of the month: start and finish from Genova, after having tagged the summit of Monte Rosa. And after that the various projects I had in mind will be over, but there may well be more. I’ve been considering checking out the Tre Cime di Lavaredo ...

In the meantime though I haven’t even had the time to pack my bags. Fellow paraclimber Massimo Coda and I will try to traverse Monte Rosa massif, from Gressoney to Cervinia, climbing all 21 peaks above 4000 meters. We’re scheduled to start on the 25th of June. Let’s see what happens!

by Andrea Lanfri

Link: andrealanfri.com, IG Andrea Lanfri, FB Andrea Lanfri, Ferrino, La Sportiva

Andrea Lanfri
Born in 1986, in 2015 Lanfri lost both legs and seven fingers following Fulminant meningococcal septicemia. Ex member of the Italian Paralympic team, he won silver at the World Para Championships in London in 2017.