Zanzara Sud climbed free on Monte Colodri at Arco, Italy, by Marco Cordin

For years I've dreamt about the Zanzara pillar, every time I saw the fixed rope dangling into the void down the south-facing overhang on Monte Colodri. When I discovered that Gianni Canale, Aldo Mazzotti and Franco Cavallaro had established a line ground-up right through the middle of this strikingly beautiful sheet of rock, with a demanding obligatory section, I became extremely motivated to try it.

The route was on-sighted up to the crux pitch by Stefano Salvaterra, who subsequently returned to free the 8b pitch, what was missing therefore was the first complete free ascent. The crux pitch is very close to my limit: for this reason Erica Bonalda (a very talented friend of mine) and I decided to try it for a couple of days.

On 4 February we set off slowly, skipping the first 7b+ pitch which we remembered from the first session as being very technical and not ideal as a warm up. After fighting hard twice on the crux pitch, I managed to send it! I was delighted and at dusk we reached the top of the route, but there was still that first pitch that needed climbing. We abseiled off and at 7 we were back at the base of the route, this time with headlamps on our helmets, ready to set off up the first pitch.

I was anxious because, given the time, I knew that I only had one go, but a call from my mother who asked me if I'd be coming for dinner before calling me "mad" was enough to remind me that this is just a game. Having fun is the only thing that matters and, making the most of this energy, I managed the send!

I want to thank the first ascensionists for this line which, in my opinion, is amazing, Matteo Pavana for the beautiful photos and La Sportiva for the support.

by Marco Cordin

TOPO: Zanzara Sud, Monte Colodri, Arco, Italy