David Leduc climbs solo in the Valley of Dreams on Agner and Spiz di Lagunaz

At the end of July David Leduc completed two big solo ascents in the Dolomites. The 29-year-old Belgian started by soloing Agner's classic Spigolo Nord arete and, two days later, the Diedro Casarotto-Radin on Spiz di Lagunaz; while climbing the huge corner he self-belayed all vertical pitches. The 1600m arete were savoured in 3.5 hours to the summit, while the +20 pitch corner required a 2-day adventure, given the length of the approach and the descent, with 11 hours of effective climbing.

"I had been waiting for the right moment to set off on these routes on my own for a few years. I had climbed them 5 years ago, but given my love for this valley and the number of days spent at its rivers and in these mountains, I knew that one day the dream of returning in complete intimacy would come true."

Mount Agner and the Pale di San Lucano are wild mountains, offering old-school climbing where athletic performance is just one factor. Each climb is important and just getting to the base, and descending from the summit, are huge undertakings. Some of the routes are reputed to be among the most beautiful in the Alps, and the Diedro and Spigolo are among these.

"I consider I just had a beautiful trip: I visited the two opposite sides of the Valley of Dreams, perfect for a dreamer like me." explained Leduc. "Everything went well, apart from the bivy on Spiz de Lagunaz: I had no shelter and, contrary to the weather forecast, there were two showers during the night, and the stormy atmosphere with flashes of lightning prevented me from sleeping because I was afraid that my dream would turn into a nightmare. Fortunately the real thunderstorm didn't start until the next day, just after I had finished all the rappels and started walking back down."

"The "heaviness" of my ascent of the dihedral was the opposite to how I felt on the Spigolo. It was a delightful lightness to ascend this endless ridge, gallop down the hill, hitchhike to the valley and be at the terrace enjoying a beer in the early afternoon... An important thing for me is the fact that I took little risk during these climbs; by now I have the necessary shape and experience, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it"

"By the way, a hug to the other world, to Lorenzo Massarotto and Marco Anghileri, romantic mountaineers who hung out in these mountains long before I did."