Apuan Alps, Torri di Monzone, 'Ciaociciu'.

Towers of Monzone - Ciaociciu (by R. Vigiani)

Davide della Valle - Roberto Vigiani
Autumn 2000- development about 200 metres
maximum difficulty 7b+
obligatory difficulty 7b

Sector: Pala dei Fiorentini
Quota: 1251
Exposure: east
Rock: limestone

From the road leading to the village of Vinca, leave your car at the start of a cart track that crosses the river over a plank bridge. Follow the cart-track, taking care to spot a thin track that descends to the right (red marks) into the gully, which is always dry. Cross the gully following some cairns and find the track that cuts across a scree, then with tiring hairpin bends aim at the base of the wall that is reached by climbing directly into the wood. About 40′.

From the provincial road to Vinca just before the hairpin bends that lead to the village begin, on the right, a small bridge made from railway planks allows you to cross the stream. Follow the dirt road for about 500m and near an evident cairn descend into the valley and climb up the evident steep track to the base of the Fiorentini shovel. (40 mins.)
Technical notes: you reach the attack by skirting the wall to the left from the base of the Sara route, and using a fixed rope you climb a steep section up to the obvious holm-oak tree visible, at the base of the large red erosion, from the road at the bottom of the valley.
L1 and L2: (5c and 6a) - The first two pitches run along grey slabs to the right and are very spaced out (about 8 metres) with little opportunity to add additional protection.
L3, 6a: The third pitch climbs a fairly easy red dihedral and continues on a more open wall with distant protections (4/5 metres); it is possible to add protections between those existing in the dihedral but the second part of the pitch is difficult to integrate.
L4, 6c: The fourth pitch is a white landslide dihedral with acceptable rock on the whole (at the opening it was very bad) and halfway up it has a large jammed block which would appear to be poised but in reality is well wedged (at the opening I crawled up the slab on the right without touching it then we tried, rappelling, to knock it down but the results were poor. The bolting on this pitch is quite close (3/4 metres) due to the quality of the rock which, in the opening, gave quite a few problems.
L5, 7b+: the last pitch after a series of consecutive overhangs leads to a very overhanging crack that ploughs through the summit overhangs (also visible from below) in a truly 'Lavaredo' environment. Spaced nailing(4 metres) and challenging obligatory passages between the bolts.
The rock on the route as a whole is good but still requires a certain amount of attention until it is well cleared of repetitions (if they are numerous). The descent is on foot through the gully to the left of the last pitch of the "Sara" route, which leads to the abseils of "no pasaran" with a 25-metre rappel.