Melloblocco 2004, the report of a great success
Val di Mello (So), 8 and 9 May 2004

It has probably been the true Italian wonder of the year. Besides the political meaning of the phrase (the “Italian wonder” is the slogan of a well-known Italian party, ndr), Melloblocco 2004 has been the biggest and most spectacular European meeting of climbers ever in the history of climbing. A great success of athletes, spectators and media. More than 300 boulderers, hundreds of interested persons, the national television officially present. And further journalists, photographers and video cameras everywhere.
To support all this, perfect weather conditions: sun and cool temperature, snow on top of the mountains and fresh air to improve friction.
Optimum also the work of the Alpine Guides of Lombardia, great satisfaction of the technical sponsors of the event, La Sportiva and Petzl.
Nicoletta and Nicola Noe tell us about the event.
Oscar Durbiano

Lots of climbers at Melloblocco
We believe to have the right to affirm, without doubts, that it has been a great, incredibly great event! And above all, in two days, Val di Mello has given drops of pure energy, of will of success, desire to stay together, like huge asteroids that explode outside the atmosphere to fall in fragments on the earth, with the form of orange T-shirts, everywhere! Many aspects to tell about, from the participation of athletes of all levels, to the many people just looking, to entire families making picnic on the meadows, to the incredible number of persons fascinated by this small jewel of a valley, that they saw for the first time, to the admirable environmental maturity of the participants with a strong position against the hydro electrical power plants in Val di Mello, to the excellent work of the problems setters, to the fact that the ambulance was the only useless service of the event…..
Let’s start from the base then, that means from the hundreds of boulderers, weekend warriors, who have crowded the 234 boulders proposed and painstakingly described by Simone Pederferri and his loyal collaborators Gianatti and Pavan. But many of them weren’t true boulderers, they were climbers and mountaineers who had become boulderers just for the occasion, without the typical hunchback that characterizes the specialist: the crash pad. But it wasn’t essential, because under every problem it was easy to find somebody willing to share his pad, in exchange for a mutual spot. And then there were the really big ones, the World Champions of the specialty Christian Core and Mauro Calibani, who, added to the fantastic Chris Sharma and Dave Graham, have more value than eight 8c bloc.
With them our most beloved champions, from Cristian Brenna to Giulia Giammarco, from Stefano Alippi to Stefania De Grandi, to the living icon of the national bouldering Marzio Nardi. Then Liv Sansoz, who with her 8a+ is on top of the world, Anthony Lamiche, Francois Lombard and Toni Lamprecht among the foreign climbers. With them our most promising youngsters like Gabriele Moroni, Michele Caminati, Paolo Leoncini, Geo Progulakis, Damiano Corà and Alessandro Gandolfo. At the end of the two days we could count 57 tops of the boulders controlled by special judges, the Alpine Guides of Lombardia. 24 men reached at least one top, to be precise (with the numbers of reached tops):
Chris Sharma (5, 3 of them flash), Mauro Calibani (5, 2 of them flash), Cristian Brenna (4), Stefano Alippi (4), Christian Core (3), Michele Caminati (3), Paolo Leoncini (3, one of them flash), Alessandro Gandolfo (2), Andrea Polo (2), Antony Lamiche (2), Damiano Corà (2), Gabriele Moroni (2), Marco Bortoletto (2), Enrico Baistrocchi (1), Geo Progulakis (1), Gianluigi Tonoli (1), Giovanni Corbella (1), Luca Parisse (1), Luca Passini (1), Marco Gualtieri (1), Marzio Nardi (1), Matteo Gambaro (1), Toni Lamprecht (1) and Walter Vighetti (1).
Among the women: Stefania De Grandi (3), Liv Sansoz (2, one of them flash) and Giulia Giammarco (1). One problem, whose name is all a program, hasn’t been climbed, "Ul Mustru"!
Obviously a lot of thanks are due to the weather that has blessed the event, although the weather forecast was really bad. What to say more: it has been fantastic, may be unforgettable. See you during the next edition?
Nicoletta e Nicola Noé

Pedeferri and the new boulders of the valley.
With the preparation of the area for the Melloblocco, my friends Christian Gianatti, Max Bosetti, Andrea Pavan and myself, have created more than 150 new problems, with difficulty as follows:
100 new problems from 4 to 7a
15 new problems from 7b to 7b+
14 new problems from 7c to 7c+
5 new problems from 8a to 8a+

plus 25 problems not yet climbed.

Further: in the Visido area I have climbed Tapioca 8a/b and a new unnamed 8a; in the Tarzan area a traverse called Fuori dal tunnel 8a/8a+; at Remenno I prolonged Vega Plus that becomes 8b, and an 8a, Viaggio in nessun luogo, at Sasso delle crepe.
Simone Pedeferri

PROBLEMS AND CLIMBERS

Boulder A (M)
Chris Sharma (flash)
Gabriele Moroni
Mauro Calibani

Boulder B (Melloblocco)
Cristian Core
Chris Sharma
Mauro Calibani (flash)
Cristian Brenna
Luca Parisse
Stefano Alippi

Boulder C (Non rompete l’uovo)
Andrea Polo
Michele Caminati
Crish Sharma (flash)
Mauro Calibani
Stefano Alippi
Antony Lamiche
Cristian Brenna
Paolo Leoncini

Boulder D (Vascelli Vagabondi)
Antony Lamiche
Chris Sharma (flash)
Alessandro Gandolfo
Geo Progulakis
Marco Gualtieri
Paolo Leoncini (flash)
Christian Core
Matteo Gambero
Michele Caminati
Marzio Nardi
Cristian Brenna
Gabriele Moroni
Walter Vighetti
Stefano Alippi
Gianluigi Tonoli
Luca Passini
Giovanni Corbella
Mauro Calibani (flash)
Toni Lamprecht
Marco Bortoletto
Damiano Corà

Boulder E (La forchetta)
Alessandro Gandolfo
Cristian Core
Cristian Brenna
Damiano Corà
Andrea Polo
Mauro Calibani
Paolo Leoncini
Michele Caminati
Enrico Baistrocchi
Marco Bortoletto
Chris Sharma
Stefano Alippi

Boulder F (Ul Mustru)
Not solved yet

DONNE

Boulder G (Il quadrifoglio)
Not solved by women

Boulder H (El vuelo)
Not solved by women

Boulder I (Skate board)
Stefania De Grandi

Boulder L (Zero in condotta)
Stefania De Grandi
Giulia Giammarco
Liv Sansoz

Boulder M (Brutalista)
Liv Sansoz
Stefania De Grandi

Oscar Durbiano