Zestos Psicobloc deep water solo climbing competition in Sardinia

The fourth Zestos Psicobloc deep water solo competition took place on Saturday, August 27, 2016 on the sandstone cliffs overlooking the beautiful bay of Santa Caterina di Pittinuri, in Sardinia’s Oristano province. The competition had originally scheduled for the first weekend of August but had to been postponed twice due to rough seas. But then again, the west coast of Sardinia is a popular destination for surfers from around the world, much more so than for climbers. The mistral wind blows across Sardinia three hundred days a year and that’s why it’s not uncommon to witness waves of up to 2 meters whip across the bay.

The forecast for the 27th of August was good, with no wind whatsoever and in the early afternoon climbers from all over the island, and some even from other parts of Italy, gathered in the beautiful "Sa Culumbera" bay. A huge natural cave has formed there and the deep, emerald green and crystal clear waters provided conditions for this deep water solo contest.

This fourth edition proved to be an unexpected success. More than fifty climbers worked their way up the six qualifying routes and the final climb, filmed by the local TV. The athletes were cheered on by a enthusiastic crowd of spectators.

The men's final climb, set by myself and Filippo Canu, proved exciting, as it took place at dusk on a route that crossed through the most overhanging section of the cave and reached 16 meters in height.

Zestos Psicobloc is a unique event in Sardinia, invented by Filippo Canu, a climber from Oristano and a "local" at Santa Caterina. Canu, more than anyone else, knows the bay like the back of his hand, for it is here that as a young boy he used to go diving.

Filippo has got me involved in this project for the last four years. Deep water soloing, or rather Psicobloc as he prefers to call it, first took place at "Su riu" - another bay at Santa Caterina - about 15 years ago when Filippo tried to remain fit in summer by traversing across the water. The first psico routes, more than 8 meters high, were established later. The first was Primera ola, 6a+, and a short while later I contributed in developing this sector by freeing all the currently hardest routes.

A few years later Filippo rested on a rock, catching his breath after a bad 6m fall, and imagined a multitude of climbers at the sea cliff, all sharing the same excitement of the water surface getting further and further away, of that sense of freedom you feel when you climb without a rope and harness and you can’t shout “take" if things get too difficult, and a dive downwards becomes inevitable. And so now his dream has come true.

We’re now thinking about the next edition, with new ideas about how to play this game of rock climbing above the sea here at the Santa Caterina di Pittinuri sea cliff.

This contest came about thanks to the help of many sponsors who provided the technical climbing equipment as well as prizes for the winners. A dutiful thanks goes also to our friends Tore Vacca and Cinzia Puggioni, always ready to lend a hand.

Results Zestos Psicobloc
Women:
1 Ilaria Martinez
2 Stefania Lai
3 Manuela Marongiu

Men:
1 Marco Ambrogio
2 Giacomo Deiana, Marco Corda, Dante loi (joint equal)
3 Shanty, Daniele Castello (joint equal)