Spettacolare new rock climb on Petit Capucin Roi de Siam

Last summer experienced climbers Lumír Fajkos and Vaclav Satava from the Czech Republic completed a new multi-pitch rock climb on the slender Roi de Siam granite tower located directly in front of the Petit Capucin in the Mont Blanc massif.

Satava - who has repeated routes such as Voie Petit, Digital Crack and Entrez dans la légende - and Fajkos chose what they have described as "a forgotten line on the Petit Capucin tower", right in the center of the SE Face, between Petit Capoussin established by Gérard Long and Romain Vogler in 1989 climb and the classic Boccalatte route.

The new route was first attempted in 2016 after having "acclimatised" by on-sighting Les Intouchables. Satava and Fajkos climbed the first three pitches before stashing their gear and returning in August 2017 to add a further 5 pitches to reach the huge ledge. From here they followed Petit Capoussin for a further 5 pitches to reach the top of the mountain. Poor weather forced them to leave without having made a free ascent, and so they returned in September to make the first free ascent. Established ground-up, the climb sports 20 bolts and is equipped with twin-bolt belays for the abseils.

Called Spettacolare, Lumir told planetmountain.com the following about the name of the route: "Although our route is of course also spectacular, the name was inspired by an Italian couple climbing up Grand Capucin who were enjoying their climbing so much that all day long they shouted out into the valley: SPETTACOLAAREEE!"


TOPO: Spettacolare Roi de Siam, Petit Capucin, Mont Blanc