Spigolo di Canne d'Organo edge

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Spigolo di Canne d'Organo edge

Page Type:	Route
Lat/Lon:	42.38426°N / 11.18885°E
Route Type:	Trad Climbing
Season:	Spring, Fall, Winter
Time Required:	Half a day
Difficulty:	III-IV passages of IV+ UIAA
Number of Pitches:	5
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Overview

Aerial view from the pitch 4

Monte Argentario (635m) is a promontory located in southern Tuscany, near the border with Latium. This mountain, rising from Tyrrhenian sea, is connected to the mainland by three narrow strips, forming two beautiful lagoons.
The mountain is covered by mediterranean scrub forests, with some limestone rocks emerging among the thick woods. At one of these cliffs, there's the climbing area of Canne d'Organo ("Pipe Organs"), nowadays few visited.
On the evident edge of the cliff of Canne d'Organo, runs an easy and beautiful trad-climbing route, quite long and offering wonderful views.
It's an ideal route for beginners which want to practice the placement of protections, but is also good for every kind of climbers that want enjoy an easy climb among the blu of the sea and the scent of mediterranean plants.

Difficulty: III-IV with some passages of IV+ UIAA
Lenght: about 180m
Rock quality: good, but keep attentions to some unstable rocks
Exposition: South-Southeast
Best season to climb: Autumn, Spring, Winter. The edge is usually windy, so you can climb in late spring (but the approach and descent paths are very hot!). Avoid the more windy days in winter

Getting There and Approach

From Rome: take Roma-Civitavecchia motoway, then Aurelia route, until you reach the town of Orbetello.
From Orbetello, follow the signs to Monte Argentario and Porto Ercole.
From Porto Ercole, in the near of the Hotel Don Pedro, take the Panoramica route toward Porto Santo Stefano.
The route rise up toward the mountain: after few kilometers, you can park the car in a parking area on the left, near a metallic net. Above, you can see the Canne d'Organo edge.

From the parking, continue walking along the route for about 50m, until you meet on the right the start of a path (cairn).
The path climb in the thick scrub, rising some rocky step, also with the help of fixed rope, until it reach the base of the rocks.
From there, bear toward the left (W) until you find the start of the route: a little dihedral with crack, placed on the right of a tree (40min from the parking)

The start of the route

Route Description

In red the route, in yellow the approach path, in blue the descent path (click to enlarge)

The route climbs the south-west face of the edge for the first two pitches, then it follows quite accurately the edge line, and exit on the summital plateau of Monte Argentario. The difficulties, very mild, are concentrated in the first two pitches.

Pitch 1: Climb up the dihedral along the crack (IV+) or on the smooth face on his right (harder), then climb some easier steps (III) to a live oak tree where you can belay (25m, IV+, III, three cordelettes on tunnels)

Pitch 2: From the tree, climb a quite vertical cliff slightly on the left (15m IV, passages of IV+), then bear toward the edge, on your right, until you reach a bolts and chains belay (40m, IV with passages of IV+, cordelettes on tunnels, pitons)

Pitch 3: Now climb on the edge, on esy rocks with some harder blocks (IV). Belay on old cordelettes in a big tunnel (30m, III with passages of IV, cordelettes)

Pitch 4: Keep climbing the edge, that here is less steep (it's more a ridge than an edge...). Here the route is aerial, but easy. There's an old chain on bolts to belay: we preferred to belay on an emerging rock, few meters above (30m, III, cordelettes)

Pitch 5: Keep climbing the easy rocks on the top of the ridge, with beautiful view on the bay on yout feet, to the exit on the top of Spigolo (55m, II, III, cordelettes)

Descent

You can descent by trails running in the gully on the left (rising) of the edge: from the exit of the route, walk some meters toward north, then take a path on the left (some rare crains). When you are at the head of the gully, enter in the thick and steep forest, following the narrow trails (is more a path for wild boars than for humans!). When the gully splits in two, bear on your right: two fixed ropes help you to descend a rocky step. Here, you are few meters above the start of the route, so you can take the approaching path and reach the road (about 1h from the summit)