Manolo and Bellissima... six hours to bolt it, six minutes to free it

"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable." - Christopher Reeve

For three years, Walter continued to repeat the same thing again and again: a beautiful wall, amazing rock, strange, blank, at times rough, other times smooth, it’s grain is almost soft, perhaps it’s unclimbable… I don’t want to ruing it… Come on Magician! You should at least go up there and give it a look, just once to see what it’s about.

My friend, if it’s that blank… forget it, it’s no longer my cup of tea!

Tenacity is fun, Hesse once said! But there had to be a reason for such stubbornness, and Walter was adamant that when I finally walked up there, my eyes glittered!

Six hours, six hours is what it took to place a handful of bolts! ... that’s how much it cost me to find a way through that compact wall. One centimeter after the next the holds slowly unfolded into a sinuous line, kind almost, bringing to the surface an almost imperceptible drawing, millions of years old. And it's nice to see who something that resembles a thin pencil outline can provide a ray of hope within the impossible.

It took over forty years of climbing to discover that there may be a vertical climb this hard, devoid of any violent of painful holds. It’s amazing how a creative exploration can resemble the process of reducing reality, so similar to the radical transformation of “minimal art" experienced during the art movement of the sixties.

... Thirty-five meters, describing them as something hard for the pensioners may be exaggerated, simply because power - surprisingly - isn’t needed here. And there’s not even the usual nightmare of having to deal with stamina; everything annuls itself by simply climbing, all you need to do is adapt smoothly, and if you’re not able to do so, you can always find other solutions… easier said that done, among the myriad of "sidepulls"! ... And suddenly I slip off!

On my second attempt I climb smoother, everything becomes incredibly easy and almost without realizing it I reach the top. But how difficult can a route be that I free on my second attempt? It almost seems like it’s made fun of me... whispering to me that I have not understood a thing, and that I won’t even manage to give it a grade!

It’s right, I still have a lot to learn but even if I’m no longer as strong as I used to be, I have come to understand something. This line is neither extremely easy nor extremely difficult, but ... simply Bellissima. Gorgeous!

Thanks Walter* and thanks also to you, Daniele*, because feeling in tune with the ''other end of the rope" isn’t always easy or something that can be taken for granted.

Also a heartfelt thanks to “overwhelming ” Vincenzo Lancini, who is even more stubborn than Walter.

Maurizio 'Manolo' Zanolla

*Walter Bellotto - *Daniele Lira
Manolo uses La Sportiva and Montura

Bellissima (35m) climbs the SW Face of Picco delle Aquile, Monte Coppolo, Val Nuvola. The route starts 50m to the left of Shakti.