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Maurizio Tufoni tells us about his last climbing spot: Gole del Velino.
Amazing wall, strategically located in Central Italy between Lazio, Umbria, Marche e Abruzzo, with lines of medium-high and high difficulties.
A toy for strong climbers, but with well-protected routes, equipped with certified anchors, on which can play everyone else. the topo, edited by Maurizio Tufoni, has just been published on the ClimbAdvisor app. Download the new release of the app and have a look!
Gole del Velino: The history of this crag starts in 2010, when, as always, looking for some new spot where to climb, I was browsing an old book guide of the Piceno area [the area around Ascoli, n.d.T], named "Piceno verticale", and published in 1996, I came across the Gole del Velino spot, which is not exactly located in the area of Piceno...
I read that there were only 4 routes, set by him who at that time was the climber number 1 of the Ascoli: Stefano Romanucci.
Immediately the seed of curiosity was implanted in my mind, and so I decided to have a look, doing the 100 kilometers which separated me from the spot.
But, once I got there, I was only able to have a fleeting glimpse at the wall, because there was no chance to park my vehicle for works in progress on the road.
Thus, the idea has remained in my pocket for six years, until in my yearning for adventure, I went back there with greater determination, and this time I was able to get to the bottom of the wall. Once at the base of the walls of the area that I then named "Superattico", I immediately noticed that the old routes were on the left, in a state of complete abandonment, with even a broken cord dangling from an old rusty chain.
I immediately guessed no one has ever (or almost ever) climbed here, and also because the routes seem so hard and so few as certainly not encouraging the attendance.
Though I was impressed by the majesty and the beauty of the wall, that in its right part gets overhanging and higher, and I began to glimpse futuristic lines of more than 40 meters in the folds of the rock.
Thus the decision is quickly made. I started to garden and clean the first approach. In total, I've had to do three different paths!!!, changing three time on the basis of the progress of the roadworks.
This adventure lasted for a year, during which, in pleasant solitude, I faced the rock wall and its challenges, from riveting below enormous ice stalactites dangling on my head in winter like swords of Damocle, to furious attacks by the swallows in springtime, to the unforgettable summer storm with air-frying lightning, that I heart while was dangling from the wall, sheltered by the enormous overhang of Arecibo.
Riveting this wall and leaving a part of me to future generations it's been a unique experience that I'll never forget and that made me understand that anything's possible if really desired.
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