Fuori come Merli, new climb at Chiusa di Ceraino, Verona

The right river bank hosts the historic cliff Ceraino, famous for its slabs and top quality limestone, while the left bank (east) contains an air of mystery, almost as if it's not even there.

A first approach is decidedly incumbent, the rock fades from yellow to brown to then turn into grey on the upper reaches. Eyes wander as they follow cracks, corners, slabs and beautiful tufas that reach up to 100 meters in height. A few hundred meters further south there’s the sector Prua that soars spectacularly for 200m up into the sky and wind. Yes, Eldorado and La Prua at Chiusa di Ceraino are spectacular..

The first attempts to climb it are believed to have been carried out by famous Italian mountaineer Milo Navasa who ventured up the face in the ’60’s, only to be stopped by the police due the proximity to the railway. So nowadays we can thank the Italian railway for no longer using this section and allowing us to climb here, and as of 2007 circa twenty routes were added, mainly by Veronese climbers, almost all of which are beautiful sport and alpine outings.

The Eldorado sector is to me a bit like my second home. I’ve grown fond of it as I matured here as a climber while learnt the techniques of first ascending ground-up. After having bolted 8 routes with various partners (see the new guidebook Monte Baldo Rock), the time came to tackle an project I’d put to one side a couple of years ago.

Those superb corals and ripples on the first two pitches had always caught my eye as I abseiled off routes nearby, not to mention that huge tufa and roof of the third pitch... I always wondered whether this could be climbed?! Well, yes: the dream matured and now it’s called Fuori come Merli.

It all started at the bar "Al Platano" while drinking a glass of beer after a great day’s climbing at Sengio Rosso. By chance I got to know Tommaso Marchesini, a small and gracious climber who shoots up the slabs like a rocket and has a burning desire to climb, climb, climb.

After a few days sport climbing together I decided to ask him if he wanted to help me on one of my future projects. Obviously the answer was yes and so after 4 long days we created this new route at Chiusa di Ceraino.

Opened ground-up, using cliff hooks to place the bolts, Fuori come Merli is 120m high and spectacular. Beautiful beyond belief, the first two pitches are a work of art of Mother Nature. The central roof tackles a logical line before continuing up the airy arête past tufas and pocketed slabs, by no means easy to onsight. The distance between the bolts isn’t excessive.

The name of the route came about in part due the cold days we spent in January forging the line (in Italian these days are called the days of the blackbird) and in part due to the route’s exposure. A big thanks goes to Tommy for having shared these great emotions on our first route!

All information about this and other routes can be found in the new climbing guidebook to Val d'Adige called "Monte Baldo Rock" by Versant Sud. Alternatively, check out my blog Andreasimonini85.wordpress.com

Thanks to: Wild Climb, Patagonia, ProAction, birra SLEALE e Laac (Libera Associazione Alpinisti Chiodatori).

by Andrea Simonini

TOPO: Fuori come Merli, Chiusa di Ceraino, Verona, Italy