UKC

Travelling to Sicily in October and tempted to do the multipitch climb 'via delle punte' that runs up Sperone Est Pillar. I have minimal multipitch experience (one or two shorter multipitch climbs), hence choosing the easiest grade up this wall.

Just wondering if anyone can answer a couple of questions:

 - Can you top out and walk down from the top rather than descending back down the face?

 - Are the bolts any good? Seen a lot of people suggesting a lot missing and sections where a rack is required.

 - Roughly how long does it take?

 - Do I need two ropes or would a single 70m rope be adequate?

Yes, there is a 4x4 road down either side.

The bolting is Alpine, whether you need gear depends on you.

It takes all day, on the first ascent it took two days and we had previously climbed and bolted the lower half. It is extremely long, experienced Alpine multi-pitch climbers cruise it, the rest bail lower down.

What ropes you take depends on retreating or not, once you pass halway it is not easy and longer or double ropes would help.

Only done the one next door, Sogni d'Oro so can't comment on the bits where they doesn't intersect.  Bolting (more accurately protection because there are a lot of in situ drilled threads on some pitches) is fine.

Access is fine - park on the side of the (tarmac) road and walk up (20 minutes?).

We took a leisurely ~8 hours including lunch on the fine ledge/pillar half way, we're reasonably quick and efficient but this wasn't a alpine style rush - just fine pleasure climbing throughout. 

Then the walk off is 1hr 30minutes or thereabouts.  Go to the top, taking in the views, head left (as you face when climbing) and follow the ridge path down to the saddle where it cranks back vis switchbacks to the road 1-2km from the base of the climb (this is the 4x4 track Jim mentions - you'd be hard pushed to get the average Chelsea tractor up here!).

The rock is very sharp and snaggly in places* so retreating above the 1/2 way mark is likely to involve some trouble and should be avoided. Either go the whole way or retreat before 1/2 way because the prospects of snagging an ab rope (either while abseiling or retrieving the rope) look highly likely and rather unpleasant.

Take small rucksac, walking shoes (to get down), sun cream, (no shade), water and a fine picnic. Consider if you need headtorches and a jacket (and a second picnic). Don't leave anything at the base of the climb unless you plan to ab down. Start early (not alpine early, but don't start at midday and expect to finish in the light).

We used a 70m single (basically the rope we used for the single pitch routes) and lots of QDs - some of the pitches are quite long. We had no trad gear.

It's a great day out - you won't quite believe how big it is until you're there!

Enjoy! it's very good.

* if you are familiar with the rock at the coast below El Bahira - it is basically a bigger, sharper, vertical version of this.

Hello

Climbed this in January. It’s a fun adventure with some really good pitches. As others have said there is no hiding from the sun so start early and take a sandwich to enjoy on the summit! The views are spectacular. 

There is a big 4x4 track from the summit back to the road then short stretch on the road to where the car is parked. I think descending the route by abseil would be a nightmare as there are lots of bushes and ledges where ropes could easily jam. 

My wife was 20 weeks pregnant when we climbed it so we weren’t super fast. From a quick look at the times of my photos that day it looks like we were just over 5hrs 30mins on the route and just over an hour from the summit back to the car. 
 

I carried a set of offsets and a few small cams. I remember placing a couple of extra pieces of gear on the crux traverse as I was worried about my wife taking a swing on second as the bolts are a bit spaced. If she hadn’t been pregnant I don’t think it would have worried me so much. If in doubt a small rack of nuts/offsets might give peace of mind. 
 

We only had an 80m rope for the trip. My wife carried a small seconds pack with about half the rope coiled in the bottom so we could climb on 40m of rope to make belay transitions a bit more efficient. 

It was a fun day out and memorable for us as our last big route together before the new arrival! 

Enjoy Sicily! 
 

Iain