UKC

Thinking of a week in Arco in early March on our way north. 
I’ve never climbed there and see a huge amount of cragging and climbing around the north end of Garda. 

Can anyone help with narrowing down the options please…

Looking for sport climbing, single pitch, in the high 6’s through to high 7’s/8a with straight forward access and (fingers crossed) not tooooo polished and not too cold.

Which of the many crags would be our best option/s?
Many thanks.  

Mike. 

In reply to mike reed: Maybe try Iain MacDonald aka Chalk_Dust_66 on Instagram. He and Julie now the area well.

In reply to mike reed:

Can’t speak with a lot of authority having only visited the area once , but I thought Nago was good across the grades and not polished and Massone is supposed to be a must visit venue in the higher grades but I thought the 6’s a bit polished. Both easy access and both south-ish facing. 

In reply to mike reed:

Hi Mike, there is just so much climbing there it’s hard to narrow it down.

Obviously the crags that are the most polished are ones that were the first to be developed and that was for a reason, they’re the best and most accessible, which is what you are looking for!

Personally I like San Siro, faces south, classic crag with the grades you want, bit polished but not too bad especially in the upper grades. Massone is the most accessible and perhaps the most polished crag I’ve ever climbed, but it is a great wave of rock and I enjoyed the few times I went.

Basically the further from Arco town you go the less polished the routes tend to be. 

I’ve been there around 6 times so am no real expert but you can’t go far wrong tbh.

Jack

In reply to Jack Geldard:

Thanks Jack. 

In reply to mike reed:

Hi Mike, if you’re looking for unpolished, then you could take a look at Terre Alte. It’s very new and you can find it in the latest Versante Süd guidebook. I have never been there (I don’t climb that hard) but Fabio Leoni only bolts quality crags so I’m sure it’s good. If it’s cold but sunny then Falesia Dimenticata is a good tip. It’s about 45 minutes drive from Arco but it’s a lovely open crag with grades from 5 up to 8a. It’s conglomerate, so good training for pocket pulling if you are going via Frankenjura on your way north. It gets very  busy at weekends. Have a good time.