Punta Su Mulone - Sa Costa ‘e s’Aidu

Climbing in Sardinia news: modern and trad multi-pitches 30.01.2015 by Maurizio Oviglia Winter update by Maurizio Oviglia about the latest climbing news from the island that just keeps on giving: three new climbs in Sardina. .... As to new multi-pitch sports climbs, the most active were climbers from the Czech Republic. Prague-based Jan Kareš, perhaps best known for his guinness record of pull-ups, teamed up with Slavek Dostal to create a 410 meter sport climb up the large face the overlooks the the sea at Pedra Longa, just across from Punta Giradili. This face, known as Costa ‘e s’Aidu is actually a buttress of Punta Su Mulone and had attracted the attention of many would-be first ascentionists, but the Czechs got there first. As famous Sardinian comedian Benito Urgu put it "those who get there first are already there"! In truth though, others had attempted the face in he past, such as Corrado Pibiri and Alfredo Papini whose trad attempt in 1981 ground to a halt after two pitches. Others, such as young Battista Incollu, rose to the challenge of climbing the entire face; this occurred back in 1947, when Battista was a mere 20 years old and he did so free solo (as we’d say nowadays), logically exploiting the weakest section of the peak. It’s even rumored that some pastors surpassed this natural challenge and soloed sections up to grade V and VI. Stories of their achievements are documented in the book by Sebastiano Cappai entitled "Iscalas ‘e Pizzos". But let’s get back to present day and the Czech route, called "Saratoga". This pleasant outing cleverly exploits the features up the cleanest section the face with the clear aim in mind of creating a route that would become highly popular. Sandro Buluggiu and I immediately repeated the line and confirm its beauty but recommend it to climbers who have a fair bit of alpine experience. I’ve traced a route topo, published along with this article, and more news can be found on 27crags.com. ... Maurizio Oviglia (CAAI) full article: http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=42455