Slovenian climber and our ambassador Jernej Kruder set out to explore a remote wall in Val Bavona together with Davide Visconti. With a narrow weather window and high expectations, the trip quickly turned into a true test of persistence, skill, and commitment on some of the valley’s most demanding multi-pitch lines.
Together with Davide Visconti we decided to visit a relatively unknown wall in Val Bavona. Finally, a good weather window and a pre-agreed partner put high hopes on the line. In the small, hidden valley beneath the cable car, the wall hosts two superb lines opened by Alexandra Schweikart and Christopher Igel – Space Force and Dalla Funivia. On the first day we attacked Space Force. Onsighting the first pitch (7c) wasn’t too hard. After a 6b+ pitch came an overhanging, 20-meter-long 8a pitch with only three bolts; the rest was protected with removable gear. The cold weather wasn’t on my side, but I fought hard and managed to onsight it. The next two pitches didn’t cause problems until I reached the crux pitch (8a+). I was climbing confidently and passed all the cruxes quickly. Eventually I arrived at what was probably the easy part of the pitch – which turned out to be soaked with water, mud, and lichen. In these conditions I couldn’t even hold a jug. With sad faces, we rappelled down the route.
Day two seemed more promising. We hoped that Dalla Funivia would be less exposed to such conditions. I easily onsighted the crux pitch (7c), with only one bolt, as a warm-up. The ease continued throughout the overhanging pitches until, once again, we reached a wet section. We barely managed to escape from the wall due to its steepness. With sad faces once more, we spent the afternoon working on our projects on the wall of Coup de Grâce.
Although the beautiful weather continued, I kept falling victim to small wet spots on the walls. I had a good onsight attempt on Beautiful (8b), a solid flash on Icarus (8b+, sent on the next try), and I now have a good chance to finally finish Apnea Totale 2 (8c). I was a bit luckier on Poetic Face Direct (8a), which I managed to onsight.
Dry walls fortunately followed me to Parete di Sonogno, where I aimed to onsight Ritorni Notturni. Everything went perfectly. After one of my greatest fights on the crux pitch (8a+), I managed to clip the anchor. The sun hit the wall, and a short 7c+ traverse pitch awaited. With a big dose of confidence, I reached halfway through the pitch. The sun was hitting the slopy holds, and I fought hard not to slip from them – but the wall won. Without resting, I returned to the previous anchor and finished the pitch. A bittersweet moment followed after completing the last pitch.
Nevertheless, I’m happy with my performance and even happier to have felt confident on every move I made during the trip.
– Jernej Kruder, Slovenia