Altri cieli, art and climbing at Ulassai in Sardinia

The first climb at Ulassai, a small village nestled between vertical "fins" of rock in the Ogliastra region of Sardinia, was established in 1981. But unlike many other climbs, this route wasn’t the fruit of the imagination of a rock climber or mountaineer. At the time things evolved for different reasons and the route saw the light of day thanks to the genius of an extraordinary artist. Maria Lai, a pupil of Martini and a great friend of Gramsci and Mila (to name just a few of the great artists and intellectuals who accompanied her throughout life) decided that the houses could be united by a blue ribbon and that this could be fixed to the rock, connecting the entire village to the mountain. This was a unique event, full of symbolism and intrinsically linked to local legends, but also a sign of love towards the villagers, the countryside and the mountains. The mountain loomed over the village and was deemed inaccessible, hence the most experienced Sardinian climbers were called in. Corrado Pibiri and some friends managed to establish a route on the day of the celebration, beneath the astonished eyes of the villagers while another great artist, Tonino Casula, documented the happenings.

Many years have passed since then. Climbing initially took off in the neighboring village, Jerzu, while the first sports crags at Ulassai were developed slightly after the start of the new millennium thanks to local climbers Gianluca Piras, Simone Sarti and Vlady Selis. In those early days rock climbing and the art of Maria Lai, as well as that of other artists scattered across the entire territory, were vaolourised independently. But at the end of the decade, when I first started to develop a crag immediately above the village, these two apparently distant worlds discovered they had something in common.

With my wife Cecilia Marchi they had met Maria and, struck by her charisma, they had asked permission to name the crag in her honour and name the routes after her works of art. This seemingly straightforward request could easily have been answered with a simple yes or no. But not so for an artist like Maria Lai, who saw something much more profound in our idea. In the end she even granted us an interview (which was later published in the magazine Alp) during which she asked us plenty of questions and even requested to be photographed! Then she decided to give a name to the routes herself… which naturally weren’t chosen by chance, but were based on what she saw in the rock.

From that day onwards climbing has developed significantly at Ulassai, so much so that is has become one of the most famous areas in Italy! A sort of new frontier for climbing in Sardinia, with an immense potential, on a par to the popular areas in Catalonia. Maria passed away a couple of years ago her presence at Ulassai can be felt everywhere, not only through her works and the museum dedicated to her, but also on the walls of the houses, in the streets, on the paths. And also on the rock faces where we often return to go climbing.

The town council is aware of this and has organised events to promote bolting new areas, to spread the word about the beauty of this area. Altri Cieli, made by myself with the help of my daughter Sara and many other friends, is only the latest piece of this beautiful jigsaw puzzle I wanted to share, through spectacular images of the landscape, the rock fins and also the legends and the recollections of those who come from Ulassai. Merely a year ago, while making the film, did we experience intense and unrepeatable emotions: we ascended two virgin towers, stumbled across sensational cracks and successfully climbed next to spectacular waterfalls. All of this is documented in the film, in addition to the usual images of very difficult routes or the ensuing village celebrations.

"Altri Cieli", other skies, or other heavens, is an expression that Maria used often to indicate the horizons of art and the spirit we should all strive for. The film has now been completed and will premiere at Ulassai on 20 February. Here's a trailer, published by the Ulassai town council

by Maurizio Oviglia