Erto

Erto is a crag of an incredible historical importance for the climbing in Italy, thanks to the concentration of high level routes and the numerous climbers who spent days and days of training here. The wall is located on the back of the Vajont dam, theatre of a terrible disgrace in the 60’s (have a look at the history section for some insights), and at the foot of the medieval village of Casso.

The crag is divided into two sectors, “Big” and “No Big”, that were named after the difficulties of the routes they offer. There are over 240 pitches, serving good both beginners and more experienced climbers, especially those who are fans of physical and pumpy sequences.
“No Big” sector is mainly composed of grey slabs and vertical walls, with difficulties from the fourth grade to the sixth. The climbing here is technical and recommended to both beginners and climbers who juggle well on 6a/6b lines.
“Big” sector is the most celebrated cave in Italy! It features huge reddish overhangs and very exciting routes. The pure physical strength is not enough to climb here. You have to be very skilled with heel and toe hooks and have a good amount of body tension. Difficulties goes from the sixth grade to 9a and most of the routes can be climbed also when it is raining.
All the pitches of both sectors are safe and nice thanks to the effort of Mauro Corona, the main equipper of Erto, and other local climbers. The access is incredibly short and easy and the crag base is comfortable.

The huge amount of routes for everyone, the ease of access and the historical importance of Erto are really an attraction. These facts have led to a great frequentation of the crag over the years, so the lines could result polished. In any case, Erto continues to be a masterpiece in the Italian climbing history.

Best season?? Winter, for sure!
All the walls have south exposition and the temperatures by the crag base are always mild.

The municipality of Erto and Casso has provided some public toilets by the car park of the “Big” sector, make good use of them!

There is a lot of history that can be told about Erto.

The crag is one of the most famous in Italy and its overhangs are known everywhere. Mauro Corona placed the first bolts along the walls of the “Big” sector in the 80’s, by hand and ground-up. Years later, Mauro took also the initiative to equip sector “No Big”. In those years the team of climbers who frequented Erto was composed of Mauro Corona, Sandro Neri, Icio Dall’Omo and Mario Dimai and their addiction to climb was so strong that they earned the nickname of “I ragazzi dello zoo di Erto”. Other known climbers of the period were Maurizio Zanolla (Manolo), Gerard Horager, Ferruccio Svaluto, Giorgio and Andrea Stanchina, Bruno Menego Menardi, Stenio Perin, Nanni De Biasi, Gigi dal Pozzo and many others.

Erto is known also for a terrible disgrace happened in the night of October 9th of 1963. A huge landslide (260 million cubic metres of rock) poured into the artificial reservoir of the Vajont, producing an enormous wave that got over the dam and destroyed Longarone, causing 1910 victims. This event is known as the “Vajont dam disaster”. The dam did not suffer any serious damage, but its construction was the cause of the landslide of mount Toc.