Location
The route is located in the Orco Valley in Italy, above the village of Rosone. This place is known by european climbers as a "little Yosemite" assuming the shape of the valley and the
quality of the cracks.
History
Marco Pedrini putted 2 bolts in the eighties, then Roberto Perrucca added another one. After Perruca's death, Gianmario Bellini (a Roberto's friend) rebolted the roof: 5 bolts and a belay at half the length to
the lip in Perrucca's honour.
On the 17th of August 2003, on his first visit, Didier Berthod, a young swiss climber, cleaned every bolt and putted only one above the lip at a no-hand rest ledge.
As nobody's given
any name to this crack and nobody's climbed the entire roof, he named it «Greenspit» to reflect this attitude...
Eventually Didier redpointed it on the 14th of September 2003.
Difficulty
Here's Didier's grading's proposal:
"About numbers: this route could correspond to a 5.14a (8b+) in the valley... Indeed, the grades of crack routes on each side of the Atlantic are very different. As
an example, famous routes like «Entrez dans la Légende» (8a/5.13b) or «Les Intouchables» (7c+/5.13a) both located in the Mont-Blanc massif would rather fit a 7b/5.12b grade!
The lack of experience in this
kind of climb can explain a part of the gap. With a difficulty of 5.14a/8b+ on trad, "Greenspit" is with no doubt among the most difficult crack climb in Europe. The redpoint was done with pre-placed
gear. European crack grading would possibly suggest a 9a... To reflect this huge gap i decided to grade it 5.14 (8b+/9a). Repetitions will precise it..."
Who is Didier Berthod?
Didier is 22 years old and lives in Switzerland. He's already climbed 8c's and an 8c+ on limestone. About cracks: "Phoenix" (Yosemite, 5.13a), "Cosmic Debris" (Yosemite, 5.13b), "L'Histoire
sans Fin" (Petit clocher du Portalet, Switzerland, 7c+, opening and FFA, see Vertical number 34 june 2003), "Ave Ceasar" (Petit clocher du Portalet, Switzerland, 7 pitches, 7c, opening and FFA).
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