François Cazzanelli, Giuseppe Vidoni establish 'L’Esprit des Murailles' on Grandes Murailles

François Cazzanelli and Giuseppe Vidoni started the year in the best way possible, opening a new mixed climb on Wednesday 1 January up the southeast face of Grandes Murailles, directly above the Cherillon Glacier in the Matterhorn group. Called L’Esprit des Murailles, the 500m outing is described as "a challenging climb with a difficult pitch on a roof, a splendid gully and a great pitch on excellent rock". After Banana Sprint in 2014, Hyper Couloir des Grandes Murailles - Couloir Franco Oberti in 2020 and Triplo Zero in 2022, Cazzanelli has now added 'another gem' to this mountain with difficulties up to AI4, M5, 6a and A2.

Speaking to planetmountain after the ascent, Cazzanelli explained, "I'h had this line in mind for a while, but it's a bit hidden and I wasn't sure about the conditions. On December 30th I had retreat from the Lion's Ridge on the Matterhorn with a client because this one wasn't in condition, so the new route is a really nice present at the start of the year. We were fast on the first section, then we reached the main difficulties that included an overhanging cave that we hadn't expected at all. A big cam would have been useful there, but unfortunately we didn't have one so instead we placed 2 small pegs. The the route then continues through the gully past good rock, before reaching the Albertini Ridge. I'm really happy, it's a nice route, with Bepi it was one of those climbs where everything goes really smoothly, perfectly. Two climbing partners who are in good shape, who work efficiently together, on a beautiful wall. The route wasn't easy to protect, but when you have a good climbing partner and you feel on form, then maybe you dare to push things a bit more. Yes, I'm really happy."

The two abseiled down the route. The overall time for the ascent is also noteworthy: taking advantage of the trail they broke a few days earlier, the entire round-trip from and to Cervinia, including 900m skinning with skis, took only 10 hours.