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The guidebook of Falesia di Falcioni, written by Lorenzo Rossetti, has just been published on ClimbAdvisor as a free update of the Gola della Rossa in-app purchase.
Falcioni is a spot with a long history: its walls have been climbed since the seventies. The writer speaks about it.
If a student of sociology had to prepare a thesis on climbing, then the South West face of Mount Revellone might be one of the better places to study the evolution of classic and sport climbing in our zone (that is in the province of Ancona and surrounding areas). And, like always, the evolution is not an ascending parable but a series of steps, where things change fast and then remain unchanged for much longer.
If we don't account (only because there are no official records) for all the trips and the ascents made by pastors, carpenters, adventurers that certainly got their hands, and feet on the rocks of the Mount Revellone (and thus on the rock wall of Falcioni), the first classic ascents date back to the 1930's, and were related to the activities of the local Italian Alpin Club (CAI), with some involvement of visitors.
At that time ordinary people did not have a phone at home. So, to arrange the ascension of a peak people had to write letters, or make deals face to face long before.
With the '60s almost all had the house phone, there were no apps for the weather forecast, but the National TV network RAI 1 broadcasted the impeccable weather report of the General Edmondo Bernacca.
In the '80s home phones and phone booths were everywhere. A fair number of climbers, some of which belonged to the Italian Alpin Club (CAI), some others, instead, escaped from the Club, in the sport climbing Diaspora (at that time sport climbing was greatly repulsed by the most senior and influent members of that Club), opened and free climbed all the most beautiful and relevant lines of Falcioni.
The maximum level was almost 7a, and the features of the Falcioni rock walls fitted very well with this range of difficulties. Popeye and Katmandù, in my opinion, were the hardest lines of that fantastic time. Only if you climb and free that lines, you can understand how big were the dreams of that generation.
But let's have a look at the time of the cell phones and of the texts. Not without criticism, at that time I revamped with expansion bolts all the lines that I considered similar in style to the contemporary ones. We were in the late '90. Some lines didn't change, and some others were rectified but maintaining the same style.
20 years after, a new re-bolting project started. led by the mountain schools of the local Italian Alpin Clubs sections, so that now all the lines of the first climbing area are equipped with glue-in bolts. Of course, once again the routes were all rectified and, if possible, extended.
In the age of the smartphones and of the helicopter rescue service for a sprained ankle, climbing has lost much of its spirit of adventure and of exploration but has certainly has gained in terms of safety and enjoyment.
It has become a widespread practice throughout the region. Falcioni offers dozens of 6a/6b level pitches, and enjoyable, funny and educational climbing, especially for the beginners.
The re-equipping has not yet been completed, but the bolts of the left areas are still good, and so as the belays.
But be careful, because, in the leftmost area (Il Triangolo), unlike the other, the bolts are spaced (and personally I hope that in the future they be just so), demanding physical and mental effort.
Pay attention to the hardest pitches, because often they are characterized by short, bouldery sequences.
In summer the spot is fresh in the morning and in winter it is hot in the afternoon.
When you will climb these rocks, please appreciate the polished holds of the easy lines. Think at those climbers that, with rudimentary equipment and a lot of spirit of imagination have done so much. The sensations that such fantastic discipline gives us have remained unchanged over time.
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