Fascinating Friulian Dolomites new mixed climb on Mount Duranno

Sometimes if you really believe in them, dreams can come true... and this time they did!

One morning a few days ago I was walking close to home with my binoculars I was focusing on the mountains; I must admit that in addition to taking in the beauty of it all, I was also on the lookout for something, and on the righthand side of Mount Duranno I noticed a grandiose chimney that splits the north face from top to bottom. I thought I glimpsed a thin drip of ice, but I couldn't make out if it could be climbed on not. Perhaps I'd found what I'd been looking for and, with the helpt of a map, I managed to find out the name of the wall I was admiring: the North face of Naso del Duranno, the Duranno Nose.

Due to a series of unfortunate coincidences (which in hindsight turned out to be fortunate), when I got in touch with Mircone (Mirco Grasso) in order to decide what we'd climb, the only option we had left after contemplating our thousands of other ideas was to poke our nose into this unknown corner of Duranno. At this point it seemed obvious that we'd call Luca Vallata and ask him to join us on our adventure; who knows the mountain better than him? No one. Luca managed to join us and and the team was ready.

On a very windy Christmas Eve, at the crack of dawn we were at Forcella della Spalla del Duranno, from here we descended briefly onto the north face and traverse across a wide ledge we reach the start of the chimney. Much to our surprise, there was a lot of ice! We were overjoyed, because with this much ice at the base, it was likely that the entire line was in condition.

We couldn't wait to start climbing, and my partners left me with the honour of establishing the first two pitches which turned out to be not particularly challenging but nevertheless beautiful. At the end of the second pitch I reached a cave, closed off at the bottom by a vaulted overhang which ended in a hole right in the middle which accessed the upper part of the route. At this point it was Luca's turn to demonstrate his skills as a ace Dolomite mountaineer, and after a bit of toing and froing he breached the valut which, although not the most difficult pitch on the route, was certainly the most complex. Outside that first arch he immediately entered a large, second cave, which culminated in a hole decorated with stalactites. Luca resolved this section by making the splits that would have made Italian prima ballerina Carla Fracci proud.

Other challenging pitches followed during which Mirco and I swung leads. The route never ceased to surprise us with a third arch, negotiated via simpler terrain; an easier variation exists here, too. At the end we climbed past a fourth huge arch, and this turned out to be the penultimate pitch.

Once away from the vertical, Luca took the lead once again. We remained roped up until we reached the circular ledge via classic, not too demanding terrain. From here we followed the ledge and then descended the normal route down to Forcella del Duranno in an hour, chasing Luca who at this point was in working in cruise control...

We concluded this beautiful Christmas Eve at the renowned pub in Erto, where with a full stomach we found out, or rather discover, the name of our route: Archi del Vento.

by Francesco Rigon, francescorigon.com

Francesco thanks: Karpos
Mirco thanks: Karpos, SCARPA
Luca thanks: SCARPA