Simon Gietl quests Can you hear me? on Cima Scotoni in the Dolomites

Between 2016 and 2017 Simon Gietl from the South Tyrol, Italy, made a rope-solo first ascent of Can you hear me?, a 21-pitch outing up one of the most important faces in the Dolomites, the immense Cima Scotoni. The line had been identified by Gerhard Fiegl during the first winter ascent of nearby Waffenlos, which the Austrian climbed in February 2015 with Gietl. The two promised each other they would establish the new route together.

Unfortunately fate decided otherwise and Gerry Fiegl perished in 2015, while descending from the summit of Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif (Nepal) together with Hansjörg Auer and Alexander Blümel. After an initial period of confusion, Gietl decided to keep his word in the best way possible: by forging the route on his own.

After the first ascent, Gietl closed the circle with the first free ascent on 15 August 2020 belayed by Andrea Oberbacher. The 550m outing, climbed ground-up and without bolts, has been graded X- overall, but this is nothing more than a minor detail seeing that the overall experience produced the most important route that Gietl has ever established in his backyard mountains.

Link: www.simongietl.it, FB Simon Gietl, Salewa