L'Ora del Garda, Larcher and Giupponi climb new route at Mandrea (Arco)

Ora del Garda is the wind that every afternoon, with powerful regularity, blows northwards from Lake Garda. Ora is the delight of all those who wait patiently with a sail in hand, while for those who cling tightly to the nearby rock faces this wind represents cool relief from the summer heat, but also muddled ropes and biting cold when the sun darts across the sky. While climbing we’ve seen all the different variables of this invisible yet tangible element, so much so that we chose to name our new route after it.

One of the last interesting lines still to be discovered in the Sarca Valley was up at Mandrea, next to Maurizio Giordani’s masterpiece Fiore di Corallo. I’d kept my eye on it for a long time but I couldn’t act as someone had already established a first pitch. One day my good friend and photographer Paolo Calzà, nicknamed Trota, generously told me that the attempt had been his and that he’d be more than happy for me to continue the project. I immediately accepted and enthusiastic Luca Giupponi and I began the climb in November 2013.

The line was amazing and overhanging and in fact the third pitch started off with difficulties in line with the surroundings. The difficulties continued throughout the subsequent pitches, increasingly overhanging and increasingly diagonal, right up to the end of the route from where a falling stone would fall 30 meters away from the base of the route.

We needed five days from November 2013 to March this year to reach the top. On the penultimate day we celebrated Epiphany, breaching the last looming overhang in bitingly cold clear skies that provided a magnificent view onto the Apennines.

All said are done there are 10 pitches, 9 new ones plus a final easy pitch shared with another route. The route climbs an extraordinary void, offers a nice variety of climbing styles the demand a disturbing amount of stamina for final redpoint that sealed our efforts. This last demanding act required additional time to remember and optimize the beta.

In March the curtain finally fell for both of us with a last, long, exhausting and exciting day. Moments fraught with tension, intense effort, concentration and mutual encouragement resulted in us reaching the top feeling light and content, enjoying a brief moment of happiness.

Thanks to Luca Giupponi, for his friendship and the love he shares for these adventures.

Rolando Larcher CAAI


THE STORY OF A PRESENT by Luca Giupponi

After all these years of climbing and making first ascents, I’d spent a lot of time hoping to forge a new route in the Sarca Valley, at home, where I’ve spent much of my life as a climber and more. I was looking for a route that summed up all these experiences, that would express a lifetime’s love and the maturity of our climbing partnership. In short, I was looking for something really beautiful.

For one reason or another though we never hit on the right idea. Then we received Paolo’s present, one of his projects at Mandrea, a wall the leans out into the void, an amazing and impressive line full of question marks, ideal to test our style. The time had come to act.

5 days for the first ascent, from sunrise to sunset. A mix of styles and sections, fingers, feet, good holds good with big physical moves, a thrilling final up tufas seasoned with a huge void and the stiff Ora breeze.

The upper section above the ledge is, in my opinion, a work of art of Mother Nature that we followed last year in 3 fantastic pitches! Thanks to my friends, Rolando and Paolo and, as Roberto Bassi once said: "thanks to the Sarca Valley for simply being there."

Luca Giupponi


"L’Ora del Garda" - Mandrea (Arco, Valle del Sarca)
Demanding and sustained climb. Take care if making the descent by abseil; this is complex due to the overhanging nature of the climb and the fact that some pitches ascend diagonally.
First ascentionists: Rolando Larcher and Luca Giupponi (except for pitch 1, put up by Giampaolo Calzà) Date: 10 and 16/11/2013, 17/05/2014, 6/01/2015, 5/03/2015 First free ascent: Rolando Larcher and Luca Giupponi on 24/03/2015 Length: 355m (11 pitches) Grade: 8a max (7b+ obligatory.) Gear: 12 quickdraws, 2 totem blue + 2 yellow + 1 red + 2BD 

Thanks for the technical support to:
Rolando Larcher: La Sportiva - Montura - Petzl - Totemcam
Luca Giupponi: La Sportiva - Mammut

Thanks, as usual, to Giampaolo Calzà for the photographs


TOPO: L'Ora del Garda, Mandrea, Arco