Never give up– new route on Tofana di Rozes, Dolomites

This summer the Slovenians Marko Lukic and Andrej Grmovsek made the first ascent of a new route on the Tofana di Rozes, “Never give up”, VIII+/IX-, VIII+ obl., 500m. Opened from the ground up in two wekends in July, the route takes a line to the right of "A quarant'anni dalla Cima" (Dal Pra, 1996) and takes the large roof direct, using a mix of natural pro and bolts. According to the first ascentionists, who have repeated important Dolomite testpieces such as Couzy and Camillotto Pellesier on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, on their new creation one can expect a "modern old style climbing adventure."

Put in other words: "The climbing is never extremely hard physically but it is constant and always serious. It’s hard to compare our new route with others we've climbed in Dolomites. We climbed physically harder ones, but probably none were so complex. Maybe the route could be compared to some serious Marmolada routes (like Specchio di Sara), where natural protection and long runouts are common. But loose and insecure rock in Tofana’s overhangs is far from the excellent Marmolada limestone. Especially because of this, climbing new ground in Tofana was a big adventure with many physical and mental battles."


"Never give up"
Pilastro di Rozes, Tofana di Rozes, Dolomites
First ascent: Marko Lukic e Andrej Grmovsek 07/2007
First free ascent: Andrej Grmovsek e Luka Krajnc 08/2007
Grade: VIII+/IX-, VIII+ obl.
Length: 500m
Gear: bolted belays. Some bolts along the route, bring a set of cams to 3#, small tricams, slings
Note: rock still loose in places. Some long runouts.