Its hardly surprising with all these mountains that there is a lot of rock climbing in the area, and many people come to the area just to climb – particularly Italians, Swiss and Germans. The main areas are Chiavenna valley, Albigna (see the section on walks), Val Bondasco and Val di Mello. There are enough routes to keep you busy for several years eg the sport climbing guide (versante sud – see below) has 330 pages.
The routes in Chiavenna valley are on a series of bolted granite crags, all easy to reach from the road. If you don’t have one of the guidebooks below then the tourist office publishes a free guide book to the area, which has about 200 routes in it – ranging from French 4c-7c.
Because of all the climbers in the area, there is also an indoor wall at the Centro Sportivo in Piuro (+39 0343 32327).
If you do come here to climb then you will doubtless be heading for Val Bondasca and Albigna. The huge granite walls and spires offer some of the most exciting climbing in the world, whether you are heading for classic routes like the north ridge of Piz Badile, or more serious routes on the kilometre-high North face of Pizzo Cengalo or the rock spires of Sciora.
For the best bouldering in the area you should head Val di Mello. If you coincide with their bouldering festival MelloBlocco (normally the first weekend in May) you’ll have the chance to see some of the worlds top climbers in action.
For more information on climbing in the area
- www.summitpost.org
- www.bregaglia.ch
- www.sysaworld.com
- Plaisir Sud (2003). Filador. ISBN 3906087174. A good overview of the main valley and alpine routes with good topos
- Alpine Club Guide to Bernina and Bregaglia (1995). ISBN 0900523603.
- Arrampicate Sportive + Moderne in Valtellina, Valchiavenna, Engadina (2004). Versante sud. The 330 page guide to the sport routes in the area.
Canyoning
You can spend a few hours or a whole day in the spectacular canyon of Val Bodengo, just south of Chiavenna. The whole route will take 8 hours, but you can also spend a few hours on one of the easier sections with the guides from Top Canyon.
