With the huge amount of climbing available along Scogliera Di Salinella, within a few minutes of the campsite, it would be easy to ignore the wealth of other crags within a half hour radius. There’s a massive variety, to complement the largely single-pitch, west-facing and vertical-ish fare on offer on Scogliera: big multi-pitch adventures (trad and sport); spectacular north-facing caves; tufa-tastic walls and even a sunny slab. The local guidebook dedicates as many pages to both. We only managed to tear ourselves away for four side trips, so here’s a quick run down:

Rocca di Cerriolo – about half an hour’s drive to the west, this chunky monolith stands out on the foothills of Monte Cofano. There’s something for everyone, from a shady north face; to a brutal west face (full of 7cs); a sunny  and slightly more amenable south face; and the much more user-friendly Cactus Garden. We only investigated the latter two (unsurprisingly!)

Here’s a view of the south face with Monte Cofano in the background.

Ginger, 6a, is outstanding but pretty stiff at the grade. The same could be said of its neighbour Cannolo Scomposto, 6b – here’s a couple of shots of a guy trying it:

It takes the compelling steep flake crack above the climber.

Cactus Garden is just that – presumably created as a horticultural curiosity, there’s every shape and size of spiky plant you can imagine.

Happily the routes weave their way between the obstacles and are better than they look. Here’s Helen on Hecho, 5c

Never Sleeping Wall – just a few minutes further down the road from Rocca di Cerriolo lies another tufa-plastered mega-crag (also just a couple of minutes from the car). This had been the highlight of my trip to Sicily about ten years ago…

More Tufa Tussles

… and Helen’s rest day was a good opportunity to revisit.

Hard to get an impression of the steepness from this wide-angle shot.

We arrived to find a few teams already in situ, mostly Polish, making the most of the morning shade.

There are only a handful of routes under 7a, and most of them were occupied, so I was really pleased to find that the only 6b was vacant AND had the clips in. Result. I asked around to make sure it was OK to “borrow” the clips, and I was handed a few spares as the owner hadn’t managed to get to the chain. That’s when I realised I’d miscounted and was about to jump on a Bella Susanna, 7a, as my warm up. Pride made me press on, despite my current level of unfitness and the dripping tufas. It even carried me one bolt further up the wall than my new Polish friends…

… but I ground to a halt one bolt short of the top.

Someone else on one of the lines to the left.

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, 6b+, and La Rosa Tue, 6c, were a bit more amenable (but not much!) They don’t give them away!

Placca di Maccari – Scogliera has plenty of amenable routes, but they’re mostly near vertical and plastered with holds. Not much to offer if you fancy a good old fashioned slab fix, but nearby Placca di Maccari has you covered. Perched at the foot of a pretty sizeable chunk of rock…

… the actual Placca is a bit more modest, but still offers about a dozen sunny routes of almost 30m from 5b to 6a+

Il Nono Comandamento, 5c, and Under Hundred, 6a, were both recommended…

Whereas Che Poi Dice No, was a complete sandbag at 5c

… albeit a photogenic one!

Sperone Est – this was our only dip into the extensive multi-pitch options in the area, and we plumped for the most classic and popular outing: Via della Punte also know as Via Fratteli Titt.

The full route covers almost 400m to the summit of Monte Monaco, but we opted for the first 6 pitches which allows for a straightforward abseil descent and still allows you to clock up almost 200m of climbing.

The approach is fairly obvious, but we found the best path zagged right to follow a fence line before heading up the hill, rather than blasting straight up.

No mistaking the start…

We climbed with an 80m rope, which was perfect for the raps, and a dozen draws, which allows you to run the first couple of pitches together. We didn’t take a rack, and whilst the bolting is spaced it was also sensible. Plenty of natural threads available if you did want the occasional extra bit of gear. You’d also ideally want a bit in hand – the pitch grades are a bit stiffer than typical at SVLC, and the crux 5c pitch is traversing so not one for the less confident second.

Here’s Helen setting off on the start of pitch 3

… on the crux P4 traverse

… and nearing the pitch 5 belay.

Pitch 6 takes an airy traverse out to the arete…

… before heading up easier ground to a large ledge, beyond which the angle eases.

Our abseil descent went smoothly, but with the spiky rock and traversing nature of the route, not to mention the occasional huge cactus or palm tree, the scope for a stuck rope is quite high. As it was, we were up in 3 hours and down in less than one. Time for another well-earned sundowner at the campsite.