The wonderful world called Melloblocco

Go to Melloblocco, and get lost. Not in Val Masino or Val di Mello, and not even while looking at the beautiful map drawn by Michele Comi, since orientating yourself is always the first boulder that needs to be mastered! No, here you get lost in time. It seems as if space expands, that seconds transform into minutes, minutes into hours, and hours become half a day or way more. As soon as you reach the valley the rhythm changes decidedly, you enter a sort of bubble where the daily frenzy disappears magically and the only thing that matters is doing nothing, except being there. And climbing and spotting, trashing your skin, spending time with friends, sipping a coffee at the bar, having a picnic on the green meadow. Feel the biting cold of the river, the coarse granite, basking in the sun, reading, sleeping. Then, in the evening, spending time with friends, talking about boulders you sent and those you didn't. And of course partying. In short: you immerse yourself in a separate reality, you enter a wonderful world which can only be accessed through the doors of Melloblocco, only once a year.

This year too, once across the bridge over the Mello, we saw more than we might have imagined. Bouldering, cragging, crashpad, dogs, slackline, yoga, Tai Chi. Massages, trad, big wall and crack climbing workshops. Paragliding, bongos in the woods, techno in the tent. Evenings with some of the best climbers in the business, followed by beer, wine, pizzoccheri, sciat and taroz. Even a spectacular solar storm that made the sky purple-pink, against which the snow-capped peaks of upper Val Masino stood out clearly. And obviously there were loads and loads of climbers. It is impossible to know precisely how many people came to the 4-day event; the only certain number is that over 2600 registered officially, but you have to bear in mind all those who came but didn't register. Something in the region of 8000 climbers in the valley sounds like a fair estiamte. The fact is that on Saturday, below the bright mid-May sun, Val Masino and in particular Val di Mello appeared fuller than ever before. But as always, the crowds were a delight to be with as they engaged in a harmonious chaos that has characterized the event ever since its inception in 2004.

Just as last year, several new boulders were on offer and, once again with a view to restoring the existing problems, the route setters decided to clean various sectors that had fallen into disuse. The idea of rediscovering old problems put up by Simone Pedeferri many years ago and restoring them back to their former glory proved a winner once again. And once again the team of route setters comprised of Matteo De Zaiacomo, Andrea Pavan, Marco Bufalo and Valmasino Climbing was absolutely crucial to the success of this edition. Especially on the most difficult problems, the prize money blocks. Giulia Medici, Lara Neumeier and recordwoman Barbara Zangerl completed all 8 boulders, while the magnificent four men who sent all 8 were Stefano Carnati, Elias Iagnemma, Michael Piccolruaz and Simone Tentori. Piccolruaz deserves a special mention as he was the first to free the valley's old project, Produzione artigianale. While Jacopo Larcher also sent all problems, but the last - Produzione artigianale as it happens - came right after the buzzer. His super workshops proved too popular...

Also worth mentioning are the beautiful evenings hosted by Katiucia Piazza and De Zaiacomo. Paolo Masa and Jacopo Merizzi relived some of the funniest moments of their discovery of the valley, while Andrea Pavan explained the meticulous work of cataloging all the boulders for the new guidebook. Caroline Ciavaldini convincingly explained how to "Choose who you want to be" and Jacopo Larcher teamed up with James Pearson to realve with equal certainty the mysteries of trad climbing. Elias Iagnemma gave a glimpse of how much skill, passion and dedication it takes to climb a 9A boulder problem and, at the end of the series of evenings, Klaas Willems made it strikingly clear how beautiful climbing and, above all, life is. Hats off.

As for the last 20 years, it was strange to say goodbye to all this considerable beauty, this collective embrace of climbers, at the end of the event. But to be honest, it wasn't that hard. Because everyone knew that, whatever happens, they will return next year. To get lost once again in the wonderful world called Melloblocco.

By Nicholas Hobley

P.S. Kudos to the Englishman who reached the valley by bike. After cycling through Spain, Portugal and Morocco, he weaved his way up through Italy in search of good bouldering. "A crash pad doesn't fit on my bike" he explained "So I did a search on Google and came here." Well, he certainly got what he was looking for!

PRIZE MONEY PROBLEMS
Women
La boccia sospesa (16): Roberta Longo, Bara Pospisilova, Siara Fabbri, Barbara Zangerl, Lara Neumeier, Giulia Medici, Ema Galeova, Miriam Fogu, Giulia Rosa, Katya Dickson, Mina Markovic, Alice Tavola, Alessia Gatti, Lea Kempf, Elisa Lauretano, Katerina Zimova.
La carrozza di rame (16): Barbara Pospisilova, Katerina Zimova, Ema Galeova, Siara Fabbri, Lara Neumeier, Babsi Zangerl, Roberta Longo, Katya Dickson Miriam Fogu, Giulia Rosa, Lea Kempf, Giulia Medici, Chiara Sansottera, Caterina Bassi, Alessia Gatti, Giulia previtali.
Dj set (21): Bara Pospisilova, Barbara Zangerl, Roberta Longo, Lara Neumeier, Giulia Medici, Caterina Zimova, Ema Galeova, Eliska Handlirova, Miriam Fogu, Caterina Bassi, Giulia Rosa, Siara Fabbri, Alessia Gatti, Katya Dickson, Martina Frigerio, Elisa Lauretano, Marta Aviles, Lucia Malacarne.
Running in the wind (14): Roberta longo, Marta Aviles, Siara Fabbri, Bara Pospisilova, Barbara Zangerl, Lara Neumeier, Mina Markovic, Giulia Medici, Miriam Fogu, Ema Galeova, Lea Kempf, Alice Tavola, Elisa Lauretano.
Inshallah (14): Siara Fabbri, Roberta Longo, Babsi Zangerl, Lara Neumeier, Miriam Fogu, Giulia Rosa, Ema Galeova, Giulia Medici, Alice Tavola, Alessia Gatti, Lea Kempf, Federica Califano, Bara Pospisilova, Elisa Lauretano.
Godzilla (3): Barbara Zangerl, Lara Neumeier, Giulia Medici.
Berimbau (3): Barbara Zangerl, Giulia Medici, Lara Neumeier.
La V (3): Barbara Zangerl, Giulia Medici, Lara Neumeier.

Men
Per voi che non sbagliate (18): Martino Quintavalla, Gianluca Bosetti, Simone Tentori, Davide Bassotto, Stefano Carnati, Francois Rotasperta, Jacopo Larcher, Pietro Vidi, Lorenzo Bogliacino, Stefano Togninalli, Alessio Scognamillo, Matteo Paloschi, Elias Iagnemma, Davide Buoso, Alfons Dormauer, Michael Piccolruaz, Stefano Parzani, Pietro Biagini.
Elefante con le ghette (21): Gianluca Bosetti, Stefano Carnati, Lorenzo Bogliacino, Davide Bassotto, Stefano Motta, Jacopo Larcher, Pietro Vidi, Stefano Parzani, Filippo Lorena, Antoine Moutou, Simone Tentori, Pietro Giorello, Alfons Dormauer, Michael Piccolruaz, Elias Iagnemma, Giacomo Raimondi, Pietro Biagini, Luca Strepparava, Simone Mabboni, Daniele Venturi, Stefano Togninalli.
Inshallah (35): Stefano Togninalli, Stefano Motta, Simone Tentori, Gianluca Bosetti, Jacopo Larcher, Lorenzo Bogliacino, Stefano Carnati, Matteo Paloschi, Marco Colombo, Francois Rotasperta, Pietro Vidi, Stefano Parzani, Filippo Lorena, Alessio Scognamillo, Elias Iagnemma, Antoine Moutou, Davide Bassotto, Lucas Falch, Lorenzo Binetti, Davide Buoso, Giacomo Raimondi, Daniele Pistolesi, Pietro Giorello, Diego Cameroni, Daniele Venturi, Andrea Secci, Pietro Biagini, Luca Strepparava, Simone Mabboni, Thomas Alessi, Federico Bagarin, Matteo Beltrame.
Jager (16): Jacopo Larcher, Stefano Carnati, Pietro Vidi, Stefano Parzani, Simone Tentori, Lorenzo Bogliacino, Davide Bassotto, Stefano Togninalli, Alfons Dornauer, Michael Piccolruaz, Antoine Moutou, Elias Iagnemma, Diego Cameroni, Gianluca Bosetti, Cesar Grosso, Simone Mabboni.
Stampede trail (7): Jacopo Larcher, Pietro Vidi, Simone Tentori, Stefano Carnati, Davide Bassotto, Simone Mabboni, Elias Iagnemma.
Motosega (8): Pietro Vidi, Simone Tentori, Davide Bassotto, Stefano Carnati, Pietro Vidi, Elias Iagnemma, Jacopo Larcher, Michael Piccolruaz, Alfons Dornauer.
Yogurt intero (8): Simone Tentori, Pietro Vidi, Jacopo Larcher, Davide Bassotto, Michael Piccolruaz, Elias Iagnemma, Stefano Carnati, Simone Mabboni.
Produzione artigianale (4): Michael Piccolruaz, Stefano Carnati, Simone Tentori, Elias Iagnemma.

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MELLOBLOCCO 2024
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When: 8 - 11 May 2024
Where: Val di Mello / Val Masino (Valtellina, Sondrio, Italy)
What: the world's biggest bouldering meeting
Who: for all those who love bouldering, from across the globe
What for: climb the numerous boulders and valley rock faces
Organisation: Associazione Operatori Val Masino
Info: www.melloblocco.it / Instagram / Facebook