Freggio - Via Veterano (5c+)

In the past I had always rather flicked past the topo of Freggio, thinking it was too much of a walk in the park. While it boasts 700m of climbing, out of its 22 pitches only four exceed 5a with the crux pitch being 5c+ (5a 1 p.a.). But this time, recovering from a bruised rib, it seemed like the ideal objective to have a great day out without straining the upper body too much. And indeed, on this route you are in for a pretty decent leg day! In particular, as the grades are rather old school - when flicking past the topo I had missed to take notice of the first ascendant Franz Anderrüthi (*1931 †2020) - a famous Swiss climbing pioneer! I had only noticed the time of the first ascent (1989), which had seemed recent enough to conform with "modern" standards. Instead, the difficulties are always a noticeable tad higher than on paper. The protection before the intermediate exit after 14 pitches is on the lower end of "gut" (topo: gut+), afterwards the terrain gets easier, and the run outs accordingly (even) longer. Sure, if you are on top of the difficulties, the protection is by far sufficient, and the crux sections are well bolted in any case. Nevertheless, many obligatory sections remain where you don't want to find yourself forced to consider falling an option. I would think it is fair to say that this route has the potential to pose an adventure for any party, even more so for beginner parties.

View of the routes from the parking lot at Freggio.

The guide suggests a climbing time of 6-8 hours, which is absolutely realistic, in particular, if you are not moving swiftly.

For comparison, with minimal breaks, and simul-climbing most of the time, we topped out after 5:15 hours. As the route has already been described in much detail elsewhere, the rest of this report focuses on simul-climbing specifics, and remarkable observations.

Even though we missed the correct turn in the approach, we managed to find the start in 20 Minutes from the parking lot. Make sure you take the path to the right just after the info board (first few meters through forest). You remain on the right hand side of the creek, and cross over only at the very end. The Filidor topo depicts the approach quite misleadingly.

The route label Via Veterano (5c+).

For the climb we brought a 60m single-rope, 18 draws, and three tiblocs. This way, we took five intermediate belays (L7, L11, L15, L17, L21).
The first seven pitches are quite linear, so no problem running out the entire rope. Moreover, the belay after L7 is nice and shady. Getting there with 18 draws requires to skip/recollect several clips. The next four pitches (L8-L11) traverse a lot, so that it is difficult to skip clips without putting your follower into a free-solo situation. Consequently, the draws last only so far (L11). In hindsight, it would have been better for this part to shorten the rope, and reduce the significant rope drag. The belay after L11 is not very comfortable, but if you have a tibloc left to put in (as we did), you can move a bit higher to belay from a spacious, shady spot.

For the next four pitches (L12-L15) we shortened the rope to about 40m, but extended it again to 60m for L16+L17, which are very long, and zig-zag a lot. Here it would have been much better to stay short, in particular, because at the end of L17 not only rope drag is maximal, but also the difficulties step up quite a notch.
The next couple pitches (L18-L21) are long, and fairly linear, so that we could use up all our gear again, which lead to a final stop before the last pitch L22, which Miriam was kind enough to lead (my feet had started to hurt really, really badly!).
In terms of gear, we would rather bring a 40m single rope next time, and add one tibloc (four in total).

The entrance pitch (4a). The surface is rather slick, probably because it is close to the creek, which used to polish the slab even more.

Looking back at the slabs in L5-L7 (3b-5a). The rock is pretty good here.

L1 4a
Slick, and polished slab, quite an entrance exam! Bolts rather spaced in what could be 5a.

L2 2a

L3 3c

L4 3c
Don't follow the old, red bolt to the right, but stick with the inox-bolts to the left! I had to down-climb quite a bit, and it did not feel like 3c at all!

L5 5a
The crux section is impressively slabby for the grade - could be 5c/+. Challenging!

L6 4b

L7 3b
Negotiate a step going to the left, certainly the hardest 3b I have ever climbed! :D

L8 6a (4b)
Crux is totally avoidable, and it is not really logical to climb it at all.

L9 5c+ (5a 1 p.a.)
Steep passage, hard to judge, because I chose to aid due to my bruised rib. The day before I could climb the 6a crux in Quarzo (Speroni di Ponte Brolla) with little sweat, but here I did not see a rib-sparing solution. But Miriam onsighted the crux, and thought 5c+ was ok.

L10 4b

L11 5b
What a delicate, and tricky slab! It has structure, but only so much...The rope drag was quite annoying, but I would say even without it, it would have been challenging. Rather 5c/+.

L12 3c + L13 3a
Great rock, pleasure climbing! At the end of L13, the last bolt misses a hanger. It used to protect the slabby crux (5a/b?) to the belay, but probably somebody figured that it was easier to climb to the right, and removed the hanger to force the "logical" path. They should have removed the thorns, too, though!

L14 5a
The notorious, the dreaded traverse! Indeed, it even features a down-climb section, which is supported by some fixed strings (not that they are necessary...). In fact, this slab pitch deemed me the most accessible one (still 5c/+ish). There are several tiny crimps which make you feel a bit more secure than in pure friction climbing. Moreover, the bolts are placed quite fairly.

Looking at L16 (3c) and L17 (4a) in the upper section. Does not look that bad, but the variation Via del Pivello probably takes a nicer path over the slabs in the upper right corner of the picture.

From L15 onwards, the protection is noticeably more spaced.

L15 3c

L16 3c
Funny split step where you have to fall towards the face on the other side. Strongly reminded me of a very similar move in Annika at Hoch Fulen! The long traverse afterwards might be logical, but you need to clean your shoes every few moves to avoid slipping when you step on rock in between...

L17 4a
Tough finish (for the grade) - face climbing on juggy crimps...rather 5b.

L18 4a
Several routes cross at this point. Go for the closest bolt (different, non-shiny hanger) straight up/a bit to the left, and continue up and diagonally to the left. Even if you read it well, it could feel harder than 4a. Take your time to find the optimal sequence ;)

L19 3c + L20 3a
Mix of easy slabs, and vegetation. Bolts far apart, and hard to spot. As a rule of thumb stick with the good rock.

L21 3b
Steep corner, probably more like 5a.

L22 4b
Structured slab with a tricky, very obligatory crux before the second bolt. Don't take that whipper...but should be ok if you feel solid at 5b. Finish along ramp with flaky flakes. Steep exit on roots.

Finally, I got to remove my climbing shoes for good! The last five pitches had been quite painful, as I had just broken in a new pair of (supposedly) comfortable shoes...but it had been just the adventure we had looked for, and we felt really satisfied :)

The Salbit Südgrat is probably a good comparison in terms of difficulties and length, but at Freggio the terrain is clearly more vegetated, especially the second half after the optional exit. However, one could use Via del Pivello in this upper section, which looked like a real upgrade in terms of rock quality.

The protection is spaced according to the difficulties, but sometimes it did not feel entirely logical. Some new hangers have been removed again, while some old bolts have been left in place. I found the old bolt in L4 very misleading, and it even sent me off-route - quite delicate down-climb (if you are simul-climbing with a tibloc...)! And I really missed that one hanger at the end of L13, where the ground is so close that you basically need to solo the "crux", even on a rope (well, you would get away with bruises, the dirt looked kind of soft). In the upper section the bolts could have been placed a bit more orientation-friendly, two meters up or down don't matter much if the run-outs are around 15m. And sometimes it is just a detail like the first hanger in L18, which is of a different kind that make you doubt whether you are going the right direction or not...Lastly, I understand that it is hard to localize "cruxes" in grade-IV terrain, but often I felt like the bolts had been placed a bit arbitrarily. Or to put it differently, the difficulties at some bolts would not have made me pause, while I often found myself looking for a solution afterwards. But never mind my whining, the obvious cruxes are protected perfectly, and the overall protection will not have you crap your pants.

The descent is marked well with yellow/red/pink color. At some point (46.501581°N, 8.753638°E, after the initial traverse), the marks suggest that the path splits (keep left, and descend here, the other path leads to Cioss). While the path is never terribly hard, exposed, or difficult to find, it would be considerably more difficult in the dark! Going easy, it took us 1:20 hour back to the parking lot. At last, you take the same path back as during the approach.

Helpful sign to study the approach/descent paths. The approach path leaves the road to the right hand side immediately after this sign!