Antonio Boscacci, legendary Val di Mello climber, has gone forever

Antonio Boscacci. 'Bosca'. This suffices to trigger thoughts, dreams of all those who love climbing in its purest form. Fantasies that tumble down one after the next. That trigger words, places and links, almost symbollic... Val di Mello. Sublime and impossible friction. Mountains and rock faces interpreted with an infinite vision. Desecrating irony at the service of beauty... Climbing as a pure game... And then Luna Nascente, one of the most beautiful climbs of all times... and all the others which marked the small, great invention of Val di Mello and an entire era. Antonio Boscacci was perhaps all of this. But probably he was much, much more. He has now gone forever, what remains are these thoughts. His dreams. His decade long battle against illness. His courage. And, also, his desire to have fun. His irony. That way of interpreting the world "upside down", to discover it's other, hidden side. And this is why we want to remember him with this short text written by Jacopo Merizzi, as well as the interview with, once again, his friend and partner during the numerous vertical raids, Jacopo. The interview, at present Italian only, was published on 24 December on www.valdimello.it, the must-read anthology of Val di Mello and its climbing. We enjoyed reading it at the time. And there is no better way to remember Antonio Boscacci now... with his visions and his (and our) dreams.


Antonio Boscacci seen through the eyes of Jacopo Merizzi
Seriously teetotal, passionate about sixteenth-century literature, a great calculator (with a degree in Mathematics) and supreme frictioner. The following are legendary: his extraordinary ability to stick to the rock, his self-control, his insight and rapid climbing of pitches which shaped the history of Val di Mello. He was the one who discovered the smooth soled, polyurethane foamed gym shoes "From sports": the link between boots and climbing shoes. Tireless ascentionst of superbly engaging routes, he wrote to guidebooks about the valley: Val di Mello (Tamari 1980) and Mello (Albatros 1990). A selection of his routes includes: Sette Aprile, Nada por nada, Il Paradiso può attendere, Nuova dimensione, l’Albero delle pere, Oracoli d’ulisse, Luna nascente, Flauto magico, Okosa, Quadri di una esposizione…


INTERVISTA: Antonio Boscacci di Jacopo Merizzi