New Big Routes in Dolomites, Alps and Andes
Two teams established routes on a remote peak at the same time without knowing the others were there, until they ran into each other near the top
As the rock season comes to an end in most places, alpine and ice climbing is just picking up. Several big new routes have been established on rock and ice over the past few weeks.
On the south face of Torre Trieste on Mount Civetta in the Dolomites, two new rock routes have been established. It wasn’t planned, but the routes were climbed at the same time by two different teams who ended up meeting high on the wall. The team of Alessandro Baù, Alessandro Beber and Nicola Tondini established the 28-pitch Enigma; while the team of Simon Gietl, Vittorio Messini and Matthias Wurzer climbed a new 20-pitch route.
In Italy, François Cazzanelli, Jerome Perruquet and Stefano Stradelli climbed a new route up the southeast face of Grandes Murailles in the Pennine Alps. The called their new mixed route Hyper Couloir delle Grandes Murailles – Couloir Franco Oberti, a 900-metre M4 AI4+. They named the route in honour of their friend Franco Oberti.
And in Peru, mountain guide Nathan Heald and local alpinist Leo Rasalio made the first ascent of new route up the southeast face of Nevado Lasunayoc (5,936 m) in the Cordillera Vilcabamba. It’s the ninth known ascent of the mountain. In a 2021 blog post, Heald said, “These peaks on the edge of the Andean plateau divide the Apurimac and Vilcanota watersheds, as the rivers drop into the cloud forest and then the Amazon jungle. When the Spanish conquistadors took over Cusco, the remnants of the Inca lineage fled deep into the Vilcabamba and lived there for a few generations more, hidden in their impenetrable deep valleys… Mountaineering parties in this range are few and far between. It is a hidden gem where you will most certainly have the entire mountain range to yourself.”
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