New Four-Pitch M10 Climbed in Switzerland
A multi-year project was completed by two longtime climbing partners
Tommaso Lamantia and Luca Moroni have made the first ascent of Gli Artigli di Dade, a mixed route in Gondo Gorge, Switzerland. They first started the project in 2017.
About the route, Luca Moroni said on Planet Mountain, “The pitch is very demanding, with a first part that is very technical, involving small, slippery holds and long moves, and a second part that completely changes style: a physical crack with always tricky and distant holds and small footholds.”
It took Moroni two days and five tries to redpoint Gli Artigli di Dade. “Two were spent figuring out all the sequences,” he said, “and three were for the free ascent. In the end, on Jan. 13, I managed the redpoint. As for the difficulty, I rated the pitch as M10.” The temperatures rise about freezing next next week, so hopeful repeaters should head there soon.
Switzerland has several test-piece mixed climbs, such as Rostigraben, a three-pitch bolted M10+ first climbed by Jeff Mercier and Simon Chatelan. During the same cold season in 2018, Chatelan and Ron Koller established Loch, Keile et Compagnie in Switzerland at M9+ WI4+.
