Mounatineering history
Mountaineering history The original guidebook Rock Paradise describes the entire Gran Paradiso Massif, which is why large space was dedicated to the alpine history written about the southern slopes of the mountain. However, the previous book of mine focused on the rocks of Courmaon, the Becco di Valsoera and the Becco della Tribolazione, which Giusto Gervasutti had got interested in just after World War II. It was not until the very end of the Sixties that the rock faces of the lower Orco Valley were considered worthy of attention. In order to tell the history of the Orco Valley we must first of all tell the history of Caporal and Sergent: only as a result can we explain what the true significance of the Nuovo Mattino is, a movement which is commonly considered the origin of rock climbing in the lower portions of the valley. The real big bang is likely to have occurred towards the end of the Sixties, in an era when a couple of alpinists began to show concrete interest in those granite bastions below Ceresole. This is why our story not only begins but also ends at the car park beneath the shield of Caporal... 1972: the year of changes. For the first time in history the rock walls of the valley floor are taken into consideration. Let us record the first attempts carried out by Cotta and Saviane on the rock face of Ancesieu, in the Valle di Forzo, along with those of Machetto and Gogna on the Scoglio di Mroz at the beginning of the Valle di Piantonetto. The first ascent of Caporal, accomplished by two parties guided by Motti and Manera occurs at practically the same time, and marks the beginning of a new chapter. 1973: an epic year during which the former difficulty standards are surpassed during some “symbolic”
Giusto Gervasutti
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Giancarlo Grassi
climbs inspired by the philosophy of the Nuovo Mattino which Gian Piero Motti had elaborated. Together with Cerruti, Gogna continues the exploration of the Scoglio di Mroz by opening the Via della Torre Staccata, a line of remarkable beauty, although the enterprise of the year is no doubt the ascent of Sole Nascente on Caporal by Motti, Grassi and Kosterlitz. More or less the same team becomes the first to set hands onto the rock of the Torre di Aimonin. At the same time, Galante and Grassi discover Sergent, tracing “Cannabis”, a small work of geniuses in terms of free and aid climbing. Spurred on by the waves of enthusiasm, Manera puts up the Via della Rivoluzione on Caporal, a masterpiece of mixed climbing. 1974: the rock structures of the gorge of Balma Fiorant in the lower valley are being explored more intensely, but what is really new are the free ascents of Galante, truly extreme and audacious, representing a veritable jump in quality as compared to the era of Gervasutti. Galante and Bonelli ascend the Diedro del Mistero and the Fessura della Disperazione on Sergent, as well as the Diedro Nanchez on Caporal, where they most likely touch the limits of upper grade VI by placing as good as no protections at all. Manera explores the Parete delle Aquile and the Parete dei Falchi next to Caporal, rock faces that were however bound to remain in the shadow of Caporal and Sergent. 1975: compared to the previous years, this is a period of stagnation with very little to speak of in terms of new ascents; the two important openings are Motti’s new line on Caporal (Itaca nel sole) and Grassi’s Grotta Fiorita on the Parete delle Aquile. 1976: new climbers appear on the scene, Roberto
Danilo Galante