UKH

Back in winter 2019 the Gorge was closed to ice climbers following storm/flood damage to the walkway and bridges that give access to the routes. Does anyone know if the repairs have been done and if the Gorge is open?

Hi Jeff, the gorge is still officially closed. That said, a rough road has been cleared through, and I would imagine providing you are discrete and don't throw yourself off like some kind of oversexed lemming, you should be fine. The main positive will be it won't be kicked to hell so you get the full tick and everything is actually the grade the books says rather than a grade easier They have also made access to the PrezziPazzo canyon, or as I like to call it, the Kannyon, much easier as they have cleared a massive water channel up to it, so there is a track and easy ground right to the mouth of it. I also added a bottom pitch to Right Price so that's now a good 250-300m route. 

I don't know if I had completed this guide when you last went:

https://wildpettorina.com/sports/ice-climbing-val-pettorina/

PS, it's recently started raining and snowing, so after a very dry autumn things are looking a bit better for ice formation. I was there last week and before the rain, the stream which forms Excalibur was basically dry, so hopefully this should beef it up a bit... 

Great information, thanks Mike. Thanks for the mini guide - we did some climbing there in 2019.

I remember! If you end up going again, the trip up to Hypercoldai is really worthwhile as the environment up there is awesome. Also, if its not crazy cold, the area up by the Fedaia dam is worth a shout as it stays very cold there. Although it can be too cold and the ice can become quite brittle if there's been an extended period of extreme cold. But there are lots of lines to go down there... if you have snow shoes, that can help as the walk down can get quite deep and it's not exactly "known" about if you know what I mean.

More good information, thanks Mike. I hope you get that wet Autumn, and no more hurricanes!

Thanks for posting the guide link and additional information 👍 Keep the updates coming on the conditions as they hopefully develop 🤞

I'll be back in December hopefully so should be able to take a quick poke to see how things are progressing!