Rock climbing, sport climbing and bouldering in the Camonica Valley

The Camonica Valley (also known as Val Camonica or Valcamonica) is one of the largest valleys of the central Italian Alps.  It runs from the shores of Lake Iseo at an altitude of 185m to Edolo at an altitude of 720m. All along its length the valley is sprinkled with lots of great crags offering a great variety of rock climbing, with hardy any crowds.

The great variety of rock climbing found in the Camonica Valley is partly due to different rock types found here.  The majority of the crags are limestone and Lombard verrucano that is a compact type of red sandstone.  Also found are granite, schist and conglomerate crags.  The crags are scattered throughout the Camonica Valley both at low level and in the mountains that make it possible to climb here throughout the year.

There are 39 rock climbing areas in the Camonica Valley with the largest crags being Via Mala (limestone), Cividate (limestone), Cimbergo (Lombard verrucano) and Passo Della Presolana (limestone).  The majority of the routes are single pitch sport routes spread across a wide range of grades from F4’s to F9a, with over 100 routes graded above F8a.  Also at a number of crags there are some multi-pitch routes up to 100m long, plus a couple of limestone crags with routes between 200m and 400m long.  These are Corno Clem E Corno Lino (some trad gear is required for this crag), and Val Baione with fully bolted F7 multi-pitch routes.

There are 3 excellent bouldering areas in the Camonica Valley, with the largest being Cimbergo and Valle Adame. Cimbergo is a lovely crag in the middle of the valley at an altitude of 700m. Amongst the sport routes found here, there are also over 180 boulder problems graded from F4c to F8a+ on Lombard verrucano rock. Valle Adame is a long flat valley at an altitude of 2,000m. Here there are almost 100 boulder problems graded from F5a to F7c+ on granite rock.

There is a comprehensive guidebook called the Camonica Valley rock climbing guidebook.  It describes 1,000’s of routes covering 35 sport climbing areas, 3 bouldering areas and 2 long multi-pitch rock climbing areas.  Buy the Camonica Valley rock climbing guidebook from our shop.

Getting to the Camonica Valley is very easy with the closest airports being at Brescia and Milan.