Alpe Gorta / Fort Apache (Crevoladossola) · Val d'Ossola · Italy
Easy to bailBolting confidence: high
A long, sunny friction-slab route of about 35 m pitches on excellent rock, ideal for learning footwork. The hardest move is a short crack-and-chimney finish on the last pitch. Allow about 3 h up and 1 h down.
The route
Thirteen pitches and about 430 m of low-angled friction slab on excellent gneiss above the old Simplon road near Crevoladossola. Twelve of the pitches are pure padding at 3a to 5a; only the last pitch changes style, with a crack, a traverse and a wide chimney at 5b. Bolting is very close stainless steel, so it suits anyone wanting to build slab confidence, though some find so much slab monotonous. The main seriousness is the long abseil descent and the seepage that often runs down the wall.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5a | 35 m | From the painted name climb a vague spur on a very uniform slab. A few footholds look chipped. |
| P2 | 4c | 35 m | Easier slab (4a on camptocamp) to a belay on a step. From here traverse horizontally right through the trees, following blue marks and a blue arrow, to the foot of the next wall. Do not continue straight up: that is another route. The traverse is often wet. |
| P3 | 4a | 35 m | A short vertical wall, exited on the right, then easy-angled slab. |
| P4 | 5a | 35 m | Easy slab, a step with one athletic move, then a harder 'wavy' slab. |
| P5 | 4a | 35 m | Easier slab. A wet streak here can be turned on the right. |
| P6 | 5a | 35 m | Compact slab with one nice harder move; often crossed by a water streak. |
| P7 | 4a | 35 m | Easy-angled slab to a small step, passed on the right. |
| P8 | 4a | 35 m | Easy-angled slab. |
| P9 | 3a | 35 m | Easy slab. |
| P10 | 4c | 35 m | The slab steepens after an easy start. It is easier, and on more featured rock, just right of the bolts. |
| P11 | 4c | 35 m | Varied slab to the belay. |
| P12 | 5a | 35 m | A slab sculpted like a chute that threads up into the vegetation. One of the nicer pitches. |
| P13 | 5b | – | The best and hardest pitch, and the only steep one. A fine crack at the edge of the slab, a traverse right, then a wide crack-chimney climbed with some difficulty (the crux; A0 possible), and a slab to the final belay. About 15 bolts. Just after leaving the belay, where you move right, there are two very large blocks resting on earth: treat them gently. A pole with a flag and a tube with the route book are beside the top belay. |
Getting there
Base is Crevoladossola, just north of Domodossola. Take the old Simplon (Sempione) road towards Varzo past the hamlet of San Giovanni and through a short tunnel, and park on the right in a small lay-by at about 400 m with a sign "Vie di Roccia Fort Apache", near the Roman bridge. Road warning from 2023: the old road was closed by a landslide on the Domodossola side, so you had to drive through the tunnel on the main road towards Varzo, turn back and reach the parking from the Varzo side, passing the road-closed barriers (the landslide is further on). Current status is not confirmed.
10 to 15 minutes. From the lay-by take the path that climbs past the rockfall fences, following red paint marks, to the base of the slabs at about 490 m. The start has the route name painted on the rock, next to the via A. Protti. The Dattilo-Zenié and three 70 m routes (Masciaga, Fattibene, A. Protti) start in the same area.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from gulliver.it "Gorta (Alpe) - Il Solitaire"
Contains the route point. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 46.16824, 8.28451 (crag)
Getting down
Abseil the route from belay to belay, all on two bolts with chain and ring: 11 abseils down to belay 2, from where you can walk down through the trees instead of abseiling the first two pitches. With 2×60 m ropes most abseils can be paired, but one linked abseil measured 62 to 63 m and another pair left only a couple of metres spare, so knot the rope ends and expect some stations to be only just reachable. Allow 1 to 2 hours. Most belays are hanging stances on the slab with no ledge. There is no known walk-off from the top.
Retreat
Easy to bail
Yes. Abseiling the route is the only descent, and every belay has two bolts with chain and ring. Reports say you can stop at any belay and abseil. One party turned round at R11. From R2 you can walk down through the trees.
Safety
Sun and weather
South-west to west facing, at low altitude (400 to 800 m). In April the sun reaches the wall at about 11:00. Climbable for much of the year, including winter days, but too hot in high summer. The slabs seep: after heavy rain allow at least two dry days, and one party still found water streaks after three fine days. The traverse after pitch 2 and pitch 6 are the usual wet spots, and the top can run like a stream. The rock grips well even when damp.
Sun on the wall · SW-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep (usual season) | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 4 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 4 |
| Mean daily low °C | −5 | −4 | −1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 0 | −5 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 10 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 643 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis. Temperatures are adjusted to the height of the crag; rain comes from a grid cell of about 10 to 25 km, and summer highs on sea cliffs can read a few degrees low. The wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
What to carry
Single 70 m rope (Gulliver's recommendation) or 2×60 m half ropes if you want to link pitches and abseils. 10 to 13 quickdraws for single pitches; 15 for the last pitch; 16 if linking pitches. Helmet. No cams or nuts needed.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Il Solitaire.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
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Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.