Colt

Colt, along with Padaro, is one of Arco's best and most recents strengths. There are many routes, from easy to super hard ones, and also some fantastic multy-pitches. Colt has nothing to envy to the more famous Massone and Nago!!!

This topo collects all the crags of the rocky belt of mount Colt. On the west face it is possible to find the huge Red Point wall, while on the east face there are all the others. From south to north: Monte Colt, La cantina del Bibo, Pizarra, Ottava Meraviglia and Ceniga.

Red Point Wall:
Red Point wall is a huge crag having about 100 pitches of all difficulties.
The crag has three sectors. The upper one is a small with easy routes on grey rock. Some routes have artificial holds.
In the middle there is a nice vertical wall of about 30 meters, with excellent rock. The routes are pumpy and the bolts are quite distant sometimes.
The lower sector is the biggest one. It has a huge 60 meters wall with vertical sections and overhangs. In this sector the routes have a lot of different styles and lengths.
The approach is short and the crag base is comfortable.
It absolutely deserves a visit in Spring or Autumn or in the Summer mornings. The crag is still growing up with new lines.

Monte Colt:
Monte Colt is well known for the beautiful multi-pitches facing the Sarca valley. The routes are spreaded along the long rocky belt of mount Colt, just over the wall of San Paolo.
The rock generally has a fantastic grey-yellow limestone and the climbing is mainly technical and fingery.
The routes are well equipped with spits and the difficulties goes from 6b to 7b (although in the hardest sequences it is possible to A0).
The easy approach, the good equipment and the beauty of the routes make this crag the perfect place to spend the day climbing, both for strong and less experienced climbers.
When you get to the top of the routes, walk west direction and you should find an evident path that comes back to the car park.

Besides the multi-pitches, the crag offers also a small sector of sport routes with almost 20 routes from 6a to 7a. This wall is mainly vertical, technical and the routes have a nice rock, but pay attention to the quite old equipment.

La cantina del Bibo:
La cantina del Bibo is a small sector on the way to Pizzarra and Ottava Meraviglia crags.
Unfortunately the crag is not frequented at all, so the routes are quite dirty and the vegetation has grown close to the wall.
It is a pity since the equipment and the rock are good! There are also some short multi-pitches that require a helmet and some slings.
The crag is twenty meters further north than Pizarra.

Pizarra:
Pizarra is one of the newest gems of Arco. The wall is incredible, a smooth overhang of about 100 meters long where finger strength is fundamental to reach the top. There are almost 30 routes from 6b to 9a, but other routes will be equipped soon.
Since Pizarra is very close to Ottava meraviglia, it is also possible to warm up in one crag and then reach the other one.
Pizarra equipment is nice and the base is very comfortable.

The crag is very aesthetic and the area is quiet. If you climb over 7c’s you surely have to visit Pizarra!

Ottava meraviglia:
Ottava meraviglia is the italian translation of “Eighth Wonder” for a good reason. The crag is really nice and offers a lot of different climbing styles, from technical slabs to big pumpy overhangs. The difficulties go from 6b to 8b and the equipment is good.
The crag base is comfortable and the area is quiet and beautiful.

Ceniga:
Ceniga is the northernmost crag of the Colt rocky belt and it is clearly visible from Ceniga village. It offers beautiful long routes, mainly vertical on crimpers and slopers. The rock is super and the bolts are new and close to each other.
In the last years Ceniga has been completely re-styled: old routes were fixed and new ones were born. The crag base has been set up properly, but still remains a little bit uncomfortable and not adapted for children.

The new Ceniga absolutely deserves a visit, both for the quality of the routes and the beautiful landscape over the Sarca valley.

On the left of the wall of Ceniga, it is possible to find another multipitch sector with few but interesting lines. The rock is generally good, routes are short and have good protections with spits, bolts and handlebars. Additional info in the routes description.

Red Point Wall:
The crag was discovered by Diego Mabboni, who bolted the sector in the middle, and then, helped by other climbers, gave birth to the lower sector. The upper sector was set up by Roberto Paoli, local guide, to put in touch beginners with the rock.
Recently Red Point wall has come back in vogue. A lot of new lines were bolted in the lower sector and so new projects.

Monte Colt:
Giuseppe Mantovani is one of the most active equippers of Monte Colt crag. All the sport routes were born thanks to his passion and the same happened to a great amount of the multi-pitches (in the middle of the 90s). Part of the work was done also by Diego Mabboni, Roly Galvagni, N. Tarolli, M. Eisendle and D. Depretto.

La cantina del Bibo:
La cantina del Bibo was discovered and bolted by Alberto Damioli, helped also by S. Carocci. Part of the equipment was sponsored by Sportland Company

Pizarra:
The first route that was bolted was “I riflessi del rosso”, a 4 pitches route set up by Alberto Damioli in 2006. 6 years later Marco Zanni started to equip new routes and the remaining work was done by Roni Andres, Alessandro Gandolfo and Davide Negretti.

Ottava meraviglia:
Ottava meraviglia was discovered and bolted by Sauro Merighi. Some new routes on the extreme left side of the crag were equipped by Marco Manfredini. I. Micheletti also helped with the work.

Ceniga:
Ceniga was discovered by C.Giovannini and A. Zanetti, who bolted a tens of routes, but in the following years the crag has been abandoned. 2018 and 2019 were the years of Ceniga rebirth! The unstoppable Sauro Merighi and the local climber Jacopo Biserni gave new life to the crag, by fixing the old lines and equipping new ones.