The Return to Ulassai – Week one

By Gaynor

Our previous visit to Ulassai in the spring of 2025 was a wash-out, 10 days of mostly rain and only 4 routes climbed. All through the summer we felt like we had unfinished business at this small hilltop town in Sardinia, we had been so inspired by the quality and quantity of the rock, that we felt we had to go back. The challenges of getting there without flying were an obstacle (especially the thought of two more long ferry journeys whilst suffering with seasickness), but we decided that if we were ever going to return, we should do it soon. So we planned a return visit for the last two weeks in October, and kept our fingers crossed that the weather would be more amenable this time.

It turned out to be perfect timing. We had 13 days of dry, warm, weather and only one day of rain. The Mistral winds varied in their intensity, but generally did not cause us too much of a problem as the heat of the sun kept us on the shaded east facing crags, so we were generally sheltered from the westerly winds. The whole atmosphere in Ulassai was different this time, there were many more climbers both walking around the town and at the crags. October is high season for Ulassai climbing and this did have an impact on the whole experience for us. The most striking sectors were always very busy, often with groups of 3-6 people hanging out around certain routes. In March our route choice was limited because the others were wet, in October our route choice was limited because the others were occupied. Having said that, all the routes we did do were superb and at most crags they would be the star routes, so we did not feel like we were missing out too much.

Jon and I both had particular routes in mind from our previous visit that we wanted to do. For Jon it was the classic 6c+ Lo Scialle della Luna up the arête on the Torre dei Venti. This was a route that had inspired Jon even before he arrived on the first visit to Ulassai. On the second day of the trip the conditions were all favourable for climbing on this notoriously windy sector, so we seized our opportunity. We arrived at the crag to find several teams already climbing on the easier routes round the corner, so we went over to the only other warmup route available, Tenendo per Mano il Sole (5c), a pleasant climb up the edge of the sector but very much a side show to the main crag. As we finished the climb we could see more teams heading up towards the crag, so Jon decided to get on his route straight-away, missing his usual second warmup. The route, Lo Scialle della Luna (6c+), is a technical wall climb on small holds, up an exposed arete. It is sustained with a continuous level of difficulty up its entire 38m. In usual Jon fashion, he climbed it slowly and steadily, a few nerves were apparent in the early section, but once he settled into the route he looked comfortable all the way up. The limited warmup did not appear to cause any problems as he reached the top and, with a sense of jubilation, ticked off one of his main objectives for the trip.

I also had particular route that I wanted to climb, Arcipelaghi (6b) located at the start of the Canyon Sa Tappara, an impressive canyon which contains some spectacular and incredibly difficult climbs. It took me several attempts to get on this route as it is a popular climb up a fist sized crack feature. However, on our 5^th day at Ulassai, after warming up at the other end of the canyon we returned to Archipelaghi and found it free. Jon made short work of taking the rope up for me, (he had already onsighted it in March, so grumbled that he wouldn’t get an extra tick!). I tied in and started heading up the crack. It was one of those rare moments in climbing when everything seemed to come together for me. I was totally relaxed and unfazed by the way the route unfolded, I adapted as the crack changed and didn’t worry when my hand jams were no longer holding, I simply switched to laybacks (which I hate), but again it didn’t bother me. In no time at all I was at the top and threading the anchor, thrilled to have climbed it clean, but also really pleased with the way in which I climbed it. No stress, no panic, just calm control all the way up. It was a really enjoyable route, but I think it is also becoming a victim of its own success as it was one of the most polished routes we climbed on at Ulassai.

Jon meanwhile was working towards his other objective, on-sighting 7a’s. This was proving a little elusive. The first attempt in the canyon was on a route he had spotted in March, but he fell in the middle of a tricky and powerful move halfway up. Frustratingly when he got back on, he made the move comfortably and finished the route without any other problems. The second 7a was located next to three 8a routes in a little gully, and the level of polish suggests that it is used as a warmup route by the very good climbers. It was a little intimidating setting ourselves up beside three teams working the 8a routes, routes that we can barely see the holds on let alone contemplate using them! It felt a bit like we were in the wrong place.

After 2 days climbing in the canyon we were beginning to struggle with the crowds, and with finding routes at our level. If you can warmup on 7a then there is loads of choice, I was now warming up on 6a+ through lack of any other option, which although fine for Jon, and in most cases okay for me, it is not ideal. So after a rest day which involved walking round a lot of the other sectors to see what they looked like, we ended up at the Su Fundu sector. This is split into a lower sector with routes graded 5c-7a on beautiful grey limestone and an upper sector which is on much steeper orange limestone and has the 7a-8a routes on it. We walked to the crag from our apartment in the village but despite the 30min approach we arrived a bit too early as the rock was still in full sun. We did a couple of unimpressive warmup routes on the very edge of the crag before the main grey wall went into the shade. As we transferred to the now shady crag, the climbers who were there moved “upstairs” to the harder stuff, so we had the crag to ourselves, bliss! This was my idea of the perfect climbing crag, slightly off-vertical with small, positive holds, it was time to test out my finger strength. We got onto Capezzoli al Cielo (6a+), a lovely journey up the face of the wall, one which meandered a bit so the line was never obvious, and finished with a powerful sequence on very small holds. Commitment was demanded, and given, and we both reached the anchor with a sigh of relief. Jon then on-sighted his second 6c+ (Deck of 51) making the top crux look relatively straightforward.  We returned the next day, slightly later to avoid the sun, and climbed Gloria (6b) and, to my intense satisfaction, Mira (6b+). Both were superb routes, very thin in places, but always in balance with your weight on your feet (or rather the very tip of a toe!). Jon then finished the day by getting his first 7a on-sight for this trip, up the much more challenging Unting. Unfortunately for me, this required a level of strength to get through the top roof that I don’t currently possess, however I was very pleased to do all the moves on the lower crux. We walked back having enjoyed every aspect of the day, the climbing was fantastic, the setting was lovely, the conditions perfect, and we were both happy with what we had achieved.

That evening we ate really good pizzas at a local restaurant and celebrated a successful first week. We planned to have a rest day the following day, and then pick up where we had left off for week two. That was the plan… but not everything goes to plan!