Via Sandro Pertini, Cima Grande di Lavaredo by Krajnc and Grmovsek

Climbers from eastern Europe have always had a penchant for the Dolomites in general and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in particular. In keeping with this tradition, in mid-July visiting Slovenians Luka Krajnc and Andrej Grmovsek travelled to the Cima Grande di Lavaredo where they carried out the first free ascent of Via Sandro Pertini, a route established in 1981 by Umberto Marampon & Renato Piovesan and which has, surprisingly, remained dormant since then.

The Slovenians freed the line quickly on Saturday - Krajnc redpointed the crux pitch second go while Grmovsek flashed it - and Grmovsek explained "We climbed the route in 6 pitches, enjoyed unusually good rock (for the Tre Cime group) and we managed to free all the pitches including the crux one over the huge roofs. The difficulties were up to 6b, with the crux around 7c. The route has all characteristics of the modern alpine free classics and we really recommend it."

Two days later Grmovsek managed to redpoint the Via del Cattedrale up the immense South Face of the Marmolada, while a complete redpoint eluded his partner Krajnc. Last summer the duo carried out the first repeat in a single day of Donnafugata (first ascended by Christoph Hainz and Roger Schäli in 2004) on Torre Trieste, Civetta, Dolomites.

	VIA SANDRO PERTINI, CIMA GRANDE DI LAVAREDO