Sardinia, Punta Cusidore, 'Merchants of Chiacchere'.

Punta Cusidore - SARDINIA Via 'MERCHANTS of CHIACCHERE

R. Larcher, M. Oviglia, R. Vigiani

Report of the new route: 7a obligatory Climb from the bottom in style CLEANunequipped. A series of friends up to the blue Camalot and a series of stoppers, webbing, lanyards and a few pitons for a few belays are required for the repetition ...

HISTORY

In May 2002 I found myself and Rolando spending our family holiday in Sardinia and, like every year, we were on the lookout for a wall that would satisfy our cravings as climbers. Of course finding a virgin wall like Hotel Supramonte was impossible, but back in 1984 during the repetition of the route 'il lamento della civetta' on Punta Cusidore I remembered a beautiful crack that cut through a grey limestone shield at the top of the wall. Certain that someone had climbed it, given its logic, I called Maurizio Oviglia who, despite having opened 13 new routes on this wall, did not even know of its existence. And as if by magic, 18 years after my first ascent of Punta Cusidore, I found myself at the base of the NW face at 6 a.m., climbing the first metres of this new project of ours. Naturally, together with Rolando and myself, we invited the legendary Maurizio Oviglia to bring a Sardinian (adopted!) into our project. Given the extreme logic of the itinerary, we wanted to climb using only natural protections, and we purposely left the drill and bolts at home. The story of the ascent is the same as that of other routes, but the exceptional quality of the rock, the ascent in 'Clean' style (i.e. 'on Sight') by the lead climber by placing the protections while climbing, and last but not least, the beauty and logic of the itinerary should certainly be highlighted. In conclusion, what emerged was a fantastic itinerary, certainly the most difficult in this style in Sardinia, with around 200m of continuous 7a and the rest of it more extensive on the best rock on the island. For a repeat, bring a set of friends up to the blue Camalot and a set of stoppers, webbing, lanyards and some pitons for a few belays.

Roberto Vigiani