Amiata, new boulder problems in Tuscany by Michele Caminati

Italian climber Michele Caminati has opened the bouldering and climbing season at Monte Amiata by establishing the highball Apollo 7B+and making the first repeat of the sports climb Alibracciapinne 8b freed recently by local Bengio Chiesi. As can be gleamed from his report, the area still holds plenty of potential and those who want to help out - brushing and cleaning - are advised to contact Caminati directly or Bengio via the Amiata Climbing blog. It is worth noting that many boulders are located on private and on which climbing is prohibited until the end of October and that - as usual - maximum respect is needed to safeguard this uniquely beautiful area.

Climbing at Amiata, autumn 2012 by Michele Caminati

It was still really hot last weekend, but now that the chestnuts have been harvested one could say that the official season has now begun! Apollo and Alibracciapinne aren't two extreme climbs, but they're both excellent examples of the quality and the potential that Amiata offers. The first is one of the many highballs located at the Sector Vetta. It's graded 7B+, maximum 7C and I was really happy to have cleaned and climbed it in a day. Alibracciapinne for its part is a really short route which my friend Bengio Chiesi freed last week and which I made the first repeat. It's a real boulder problem with six or seven extreme moves, but climbed with a rope: the grade might be somewhere in the region of 8c, but there certainly aren't the kind of moves you'd expect to find on a typical 8b sport climb... I hope the weather in November and December will be good and we're in need of help to develop the new sectors which are still completely untouched!