Valle dell'Orco and the La Sportiva Athletes Climbing Meeting 2021

In mid-October Italy’s Valle dell'Orco acted as the splendid setting for the La Sportiva Athletes Climbing Meeting, a three-day event for about thirty LaSpo athletes who had traveled from many parts of the world to meet in person and climb, all together at last, after the lockdowns and these long months of uncertainty.

Many of the world’s best turned up, from hardened trad climbers such as Jacopo Larcher, Barbara Zangerl, Neil Gresham, Siebe Vanhee, Brittany Goris, Katharina Saurwein and the brothers Iker Pou and Eneko Pou, to extremely talented climbers representing the very pinnacle of their discipline, who until entering the valley had never climbed a trad route before. Alberto Ginès Lopez, Stefano Ghisolfi and Martina Demmel are just three of these, who under the watchful eye of their experienced ‘’mentors” didn’t hesitate to put on their crack gloves and immediately try the strange game that is trad climbing. .

The results came in thick and fast: some falls, some heart flutters, but also several new routes first ascended by those who a few hours earlier had never placed a cam before in their life. Fessura dura dura was established by Olympic champion Ginès Lopez, while La Pupilla was first ascended by former European Champion Verhoven, both graded E7 6c (7c) and both at the crag Atlantide, developed for the meeting by two valley locals, Marzio Nardi and Andrea Migliano.

Every athlete was also given the "treasure map" which indicated these unclimbed projects, as well as the new Orco Valley climbing guidebook. 100 Selected Crack Climbs by Paolo Seimandi, edited by Maurizio Oviglia, which provided more than a few interesting ideas about where to climb during the three days of perfect weather. It’s worth pointing out that the famous Kosterlitz crack was climbed in every conceivable way, even with Crocs!

At the end of each day, and after the excellent dinners in the Le Fonti Minerali refuge which served as the base camp for the meeting, there was the presentation of the new TC PRO climbing shoe dedicated to long mountain routes and crack climbing, explained in every detail by the designers Pietro dal Prà and Luca Gabrielli, and the party until well into the night. And also the film Hura with courageous Wafa Amer and the directors Matteo Pavana and Pietro Porro, greeted found with a long, heartfelt and warm applause.

This was undoubtedly the most beautiful and touching moment of the entire meeting - along with witnessing Andrea Lanfri tackling whatever lay in his path with his overwhelming inner strength. Because if it is true that all of us are inherently different, it is equally true that climbing - sport, trad, mountaineering, bouldering, whatever - unites and transcends barriers. Just like a big, close-knit family.

ATHLETES
Wafaa Amer, Viola Battistella, Giulia Bernardini, Pietro Biagini, Marcello Bombardi, Fabian Buhl, Michele Caminati, Marco Cordin, Martina Demmel, Brittany Goris, Stefano Ghisolfi, Neil Gresham, Andrea Lanfri, Jacopo Larcher, Sascha Lehmann, Alberto Ginès Lopez, Nao Monchois, Iker Pou, Eneko Pou, Silvio Reffo, Salomé Romain, Katharina Saurwein, Giorgio Tomatis, Nicolai Uznik, Siebe Vanhee, Barbara Zangerl

Link: La Sportiva