Diedro Fouzigora and Via Evergreen, old and new climbs in the Dolomites

Since the route offers some great climbing the two members of the Scoiattoli climbing club decided to retrobolt the route and the final two pitches don't follow the original line chosen by Bianchi and Menardi but climb slightly to the left. Thanks to Massimo and Samuele we can now safely repeat this route: all belays are quipped with twin bolts and some bolts have also been placed along the pitches.

For the record, Fouzìgora was the nickname given to Marino Bianchi (nicknames are widely used to distinguish the various family members and avoid confusion) and in local Ampezzo dialect means grasshopper.

Via Evergreen, Lastoni di Formin
In October 2013 a new, relatively short multi-pitch sports climb was added to the second bastion of Mondeval, the beautiful pillar that together with the others forms the sunny south Face of Lastoni di Formin. The route in question is called Evergreen and was put up by my friend Bruno Sartorelli and by Danilo Serafini, two expert members of the Fiamme Gialle Mountain rescue team. While I don't know Danilo well, Bruno and I have been friends for a long, long time.

Bruno Sartorelli, a Mountain Guide and member of the Scoiattolo group, has always been one of the most talented climbers in Cortina; apart from numerous difficult repeats throughout the Dolomites and holding his own at the crag, over the course of the years he has also established numerous great new routes. These include, amongst others, "Excusez moi… la va de qua?" put up in 2002 on the West Pillar of Lastoni di Formin together with Massimo Da Pozzo, the famous local climber and, like Sartorelli, a member of the Fiamme Gialle Mountain Rescue team

But let's get back to Evergreen, our route. As I mentioned earlier the climb isn't particularly long but it offers great climbing up excellent rock. Just one short section at the start of the fourth pitch is somewhat friable but in time this will be no doubt be cleaned. Belays are equipped with two ring bolts except for the final one, at the end of grade III climbing, which has been fitted with a single bolt. Should it prove necessary you can abseil down the route, and to do this you'll need a 70m rope.

Sartorelli was born in 1965 but is "evergreen" :-) He's certainly less famous than a whole bunch of other alpinists but I can assure you he know's his stuff! So thanks to Bruno and Danilo for this great new route. Ah, I almost forgot, the obligatory grade is 7a, but we look forward to thoughts and confirmation from future ascentsionists.

by Enrico Maioni


TOPO: Evergreen, Lastoni di Formin, Dolomites

TOPO: Diedro Fouzigora, Cason de Formin, Dolomites