Cool new multi-pitch climb above Palermo cemetery in Sicily

During the 2023 Christmas holidays we organised one of the usual climbing trips in the Palermo area, where I now feel at home given all the time that I've spent there. As always we were a great group, the weather was fantastic and the psyche was sky high!

Each member of the group had their own objective. Mine was to open a multi-pitch at one of the most incredible locations in Palermo: the Rotoli face, located right above the Rotoli cemetery. Essentially a cave that is 160-200m high and over half a kilometer wide, this was first breached by Rolando Larcher, Maurizio Oviglia, Luca Giupponi and Nicola Sartori in 2011 with the first route on the wall, Pompa Funebre.

While working on those walls for over three years as a specialised rope access technician, I got plenty of time to study the face and identify potential new lines. The idea was to climb something ground-up and with a fair bit of commitment!

From 27 to 29 December my climbing partner Fabrizio Carmina (aka Fafo) and I embarked on this short but intense adventure. Two other friends had decided to join us on the wall and attempt another new line less than 100 meters to our right, namely Caterina Bassi and Martino Quintavalla. Partners in both life and in climbing, in 2023 alone they'd already travelled to Sicily 3 times... could this be love?

Unfortunately Caterina arrived on the island with a fever and for the first two days she wasn't even able to leave the apartment, so Martino found himself enlisted in the Carmina-Bonaventura team and got his first taste of establishing a climb on smooth, 35/40° overhanging limestone. Obviously I'm joking! Martino has already first ascended plenty ground-up, but never on this type of terrain, where slings tied around often fragile limestone tufas are sometimes the only way to protect the climb, rest, drill and place bolts. I think he found it interesting!

During the first day I managed to open the first pitch and half of the second and then, exhausted and with a sore back, I passed the baton to Martino who managed to place another four bolts before darkness fell. Timd to rest, tomorrow we'd continue where we left off.

Day two. Fafo set off, his first time ever ground-up on a multi-pitch.. not easy, psychologically, but little by little he edged his way up, placed some bolts, just how I like it: never too close and always a little spicy! Unfortunately, that day wasn't enough to complete the third pitch.

Day three. Last day, best day! I started from the belay of the second pitch, cleaning and climbing a bit and soon reached the last bolt placed by Fafo. From here continued, adding one more bolt and then the belay. Fafo joined me, I racked up, then set off to forge the fourth and final pitch. After 2-3 hours this was complete! A bit more cleaning, the abseil, then plenty of beers.

Unfortunately my holiday ended here and I had to leave without even having time to try to free the climb, so I was forced to plan another trip to Palermo as soon as possible. At the end of January I got a 5-day break from the Volcanological Guide training courses and I jumped into my van and headed to Palermo. The weather ws beautiful, but this time the tufas were very slippery. Who cares, Fafo and and just had to pull a little harder and a few hours later we'd freed all the pitches. I climbed the first two pitches and the last, while Fafo climbed the third pitch which he'd established almost entirely on his own. It's a truly magnificent pitch, if this were at any crag, there'd be queues below it! We abseiled off, the time had come for beers and celebrations!