Between the sky and the stars

Climbing & Hiking

On November 12th, 2006, the inauguration of the cliff climbing of Mount Castellaro di Alpicella, located in the Varazze hinterland in the province of Savona, was announced.

The task of cleaning, removal and equipping the rock face began in September 2005 and continued until July 2008,
at the same time as the publishing of the second edition of a brief, yet exhaustive guide to cliff face by Renato Berruti,
one of the six mountaineer volunteers (jokingly known as the “Vecchie Beline team”) who salvaged the area.
Its nearness to Genoa and the fact that it is one of the first towns on the Piemonte-Ventimiglia railway line,
makes Varazze, and consequently Alpicella, a very practical and accessible area.

The Mount Castellaro rock arena is ten minutes away from where you must park your car.
As of today, it has 55 rock climbing itineraries, ten of which are between 2 and 4 rope pitches, the remainder are single pitch.
About 80% of the itineraries range between the 4+ and 5+ difficulty level on the French scale, 15% exceed 6a and 5% exceed 6b+.

It follows therefore that the climbing site is especially suited to those who want to learn the ropes or perfect their skills.
The route equipment, and the safety measures of the entire site are above-par,
the stopover equipment is safe with attention paid to the smallest detail.
Since most of the various climbing sectors face east and south, and thanks to the lush vegetation and its height of 500 meters above sea level,
the rock arena may be utilized the whole year round.
The rock wall guide is available in some local businesses,

for additional information please contact Renato Berruti at 335-6444452.