Bouldering in Northern Italy

There are many excellent bouldering areas in the valleys and mountains of northern Italy.  The map opposite shows some of the more popular areas.

The most famous bouldering areas in Italy are Val di Mello and Valmasino where thousands of boulders litter the valley floor.  The boulders are situated in lush alpine meadows and shaded woodlands.  These areas provide a good range of problems across all grades on beautiful granite rock.  Val di Mello has quickly become a top European bouldering venue complete with its own annual festival, Mello Blocco, which is held every spring. 

Situated in Valchiavenna close to the border with Switzerland are the bouldering areas of Cimaganda and Prestone.  These bouldering areas are situated in alpine meadows, and are very accessible from the road.  Again there is a good range of problems from easy to Font 8a on gneiss rock.  The boulders along the riverbed are smooth and frictionless, whilst those in the meadows are course and have excellent friction.

The majority of the bouldering in northern Italy is on either excellent granite, gneiss or limestone rock, across a wide range of grades.  There is so much rock around there is enormous potential for setting new routes/problems.

The altitude of the bouldering areas in northern Italy ranges greatly from a few hundred metres to well over 1000m.  Therefore providing you choose your location accordingly it is possible to boulder throughout the year.

Guidebooks and topos

There are currently 2 guidebooks that cover bouldering areas in northern Italy.  Mello Boulder as the name indicates mainly covers Valtellina area of Valmasino and Val di Mello.  It also covers the Valchiavenna area of Cimaganda and Prestone.  I Bloc also covers these areas including many others in northern Italy such as to the north of Trento, and around Torino.  Both of these guidebooks can be bought from our shop.