San Vito lo Capo: L'abito non fa il monaco

Short report of "L'abito non fa il monaco", one of the most beautiful multipitches routes in San Vito lo Capo.

Established by Calabrese, Cutietta, Oviglia and Pinotti on the North face of Monte Monaco, 260m in length, almost all equipped with expansion bolts. The approach and the climb down are short and quite comfortable, a short walk away from the sea of San Vito lo Capo. Recommended in winter and during the mid seasons.
Turi Poma on the top, preparing the abseil
Turi Poma on the top, preparing the abseil
Turi Poma

"L'abito non fa il monaco" is one of the most amazing multipitches routes in San Vito lo Capo.

Established by Calabrese, Cutietta, Oviglia and Pinotti on the North face of Monte Monaco, it climbs the rocky structure shaped like a praying monk, that gives rise to the name of Monte Monaco (Monte Monaco = Monk Mountain).

The rock is good, and the route is almost all equipped with expansion bolts (in good conditions). Only the last pitch (the easiest one) is not equipped for sport climbing.

The route consists of 8 pitches, and it's 260m in length. The max difficulty in free climbing is about 6b, (6a in aid climbing).

Bring an 80m rope, or a 60m double rope.

Bring helmets, quickdraws, locking carabiners. Bring some nuts, friends and slings for the last pitch, and the abseil equipment.

The topo of L'abito non fa il monaco
The topo of L'abito non fa il monaco
Turi Poma
L'abito non fa il monaco

List of the pitches

Pitch Grade Length
P1 6a+ 35m
P2 6b 15m
P3 6b 40m
P4 5c 45m
P5 5b 15m
P6 6b 40m
P7 5b 40m
P8 4b 40m
About the pitches
  • All the belays have two expansion bolts
  • The first pitch has spaced bolts, and an uncomfortable belay. If you have an 80m rope, you can join this pitch with the second one, arriving at a nice small terrace, where is located its comfortable belay.
  • The difficulty of the route is about 6b, but it's concentrated in a few short stretches, where, in aid climbing, the difficulty is approximatively 6a.
  • The last pitch (almost 4b) is the easiest one, but has to be done in trad climbing. Often it's ended at a comfortable flat terrace, a dozen meters under the top, using a tunnel for the belay. Then you can climb in free solo up to the top (because there are only two big rocks). Otherwise, you can use some sling to reach the end of the route.

 

Approach

Park your vehicle as for Cattedrale nel Deserto (see the free part of the app ClimbAdvisor, or the page of Monte Monacom in this site, for more info), and go to the right toward the evident rocky pillar shaped like a praying monkey. Them traverse up to the arête. "L'abito non fa il monaco" is the last route equipped with expansion bolts.

Climb Down

The climb down is along the East face of the wall (that is on the other side of the "Monk"). the first part is one or two abseils (there is a rappel down station in the middle). Then you can continue on foot up to the parking spot, following a quite evident path.

If you use a 60m double rope, pay attention to the node, because frequently the node gets stuck in the rocks.

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