Parete Striata · Muzzerone (Portovenere) · Italy
The best-known multipitch on the Parete Striata, straight above the sea near Portovenere. Technical slabs and corners on varied grey and yellow limestone lead to a steep, juggy 6b+ crux on pitch 4, then an easy link pitch and a last 6a wall. Short approach by abseil, walk-off descent.
Climbing mode: Big type, screen kept awake, tick pitches as you go.
Highest point about 450 m above sea level (estimate: terrain height at the mapped point plus the height of the route).
6b+VII+5.10d6 pitches · 220 mBail with caveats
Kimera climbs the left side of the Parete Striata, the wild sea cliff below the Muzzerone fort near Portovenere. It is six pitches: three of technical slab and corner climbing at 6a to 6a+, a steep crux pitch through overhangs, a short scrambling link along a fixed rope and a final 6a wall. The bolting is modern stainless steel and every belay is chained, so you can abseil from any stance. Repeaters consistently describe it as the best line on the wall, with superb rock and big exposure above the sea; the 6a pitches are not given away.
The atlas doesn't show topos: they are the work of the people who bolt and document these routes. See the topo at thetopo – Muzzerone, or in Muzzerone - Falesie e vie moderne.
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6aVI+5.10a | 45 m | Technical slab that needs reading, to a comfortable belay slightly left of the start. Ignore the rusty old bolts and anchor about 5 m to the right. Camptocamp gives 5c. |
| P2 | 6a+VII-5.10b | 40 m | Hard fingery wall straight off the belay, then technical slab and an awkward mantel left over a short roof or arête. The route passes through a tree above the belay. Two ledges early on make a fall unpleasant. |
| P3 | 6aVI+5.10a | 35 m | Technical leaning corner, then delicate slab to a belay below overhanging juggy tufas. |
| P4 | 6b+VII+5.10d | 40 m | The crux: a hard start on slopers, a short overhang with a boulder move, a flared technical corner and a juggy bulge. Keep right in the crack and follow the bolts. Belay shared with Marinai Spit e Guai. A 2026 party thought it 6c. |
| P5 | 3a | 20 m | Link pitch: follow a fixed rope across a short earthy band, then easily left to the next belay. |
| P6 | 6aVI+5.10a | 40 m | Short steps, then right and more short technical steps to a juggy bulge at the exit. Camptocamp and Mountain Project give about 5c. |
Drive from La Spezia towards Portovenere and turn right before Le Grazie (signed), then follow the narrow road up towards the Muzzerone fort and park at the last hairpin before the fort. Bus 11P runs from La Spezia to Portovenere if you prefer to walk up the ridge path 1a from the village (about 30 minutes to the crag).
Most parties now approach by abseil. From the car park walk up past the fort (picnic tables), leave the bunker with the antennas on your right and descend the ridge path; after 100 to 200 m a path on the right with crosses leads towards the old marble workings, where new stainless abseil anchors start. Three or four abseils of 30 to 40 m reach the base of the wall (gulliver says four abseils with a 70 m rope, the first exactly 35 m; camptocamp parties in 2025 and 2026 did three of 30 to 40 m). The alternative is a traverse on cables and fixed ropes from the Pilastro del Bunker, which is reported to be in poor condition. Walk left along the base almost to the left end of the wall; the name is painted at the start, below an easy-looking slab with the first bolt about 5 m up.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Coordinates · crag
Point from Mountain Project route GPS for Kimera (Parete Striata sector); the camptocamp Muzzerone waypoint 359849 is a general point about 1.5 km away
Contains the route point.
Points from published sources, not surveyed.
Coordinates: 44.05530, 9.82700 (crag)
From the top a faint path leads uphill to the bunker and the fort car park in about 5 minutes. You can also abseil the route from any belay.
Bail with caveats
Every belay is chained and gulliver says you can abseil from any of them. Abseiling only returns you to the base of the wall above the sea, though, and the way out from there is the fixed-rope and cable traverse towards the Pilastro del Bunker, reported in poor condition, or reascending the abseil approach.
Italy
112Emergency, where the single number is in service
Emergency, where the single number is in service
Where 112 is not yet the single number, call 118 and ask for CNSAS.
Position of the crag
44.05530, 9.82700
Marks the crag, not the route: give route and pitch.
Say what happened, how many are hurt, and where you are. Checked October 2026 (sourceofficial sources).
14 quickdraws. Two 60 m half ropes are recommended (gulliver); the abseil approach needs a rope long enough for a 35 m abseil. Helmet.
South-facing sea cliff at low altitude, in the sun from late morning; best from autumn to spring and on sunny winter days, too hot in summer. The lower slabs can be dusty. Sea spray corrodes old fittings at the Muzzerone, but this route's bolts are stainless.
Forecast · next 7 days · 450 m
Loading the forecast.
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| Low °C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rain mm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chance of rain % | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Strongest gusts km/h | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Model forecast for 450 m. It cannot tell you whether the rock is dry. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
Time plan · 6 pitches
Working out sunrise and sunset.
An estimate. Queues and route finding cost time, and shaded walls go dark before sunset. Local time (Central European time), flat horizon.
Sun on the wall · S-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
From the aspect alone; terrain is ignored. Local time, 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan (usual season) | Feb (usual season) | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec (usual season) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 9 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 10 |
| Mean daily low °C | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 5 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 11 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
● usual season. 1991-2020 averages at about 253 m; rain is for a 10–25 km grid cell. Weather and climate data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
No reports yet.
Around 6b+ · about 6 pitches
Austria · Hohe Wand
Steep slabs and a fine corner on very solid rock on the Hohe Wand's steepest wall, sustained around UIAA VI. bergsteigen.com counts it among the best routes in eastern Austria; with A0 on the crux it goes at about 6a+.
6b+VII+5.10d6b+VII+5.10d6 pitches195 m
Italy · Lecco & Valsassina
The harder companion to La Lumaca di Vetro on the second spur. Delicate slabs with spaced bolts lead to cracks and flakes, then a strenuous last pitch through an overhanging corner and a bulge that goes at 6b+ or mostly on aid. Varied and less travelled than its neighbours.
6b+VII+5.10d6b+VII+5.10d6 pitches145 m
Read the cautions
Spain · Vilanova de Meià (Roca dels Arcs)
Six steep, physical pitches on the right-hand side of the Roca dels Arcs, with a hard pull or two on every one: bouldery starts, big overhangs on jugs and little difference in effort between the 6a and the 6b pitches. Sport-bolted, which is unusual on this wall. Grades feel tight.
6b+VII+5.10d6b+VII+5.10d6 pitches170 m
Croatia · Dabarski kukovi (Velebit)
Four steep and technical pitches of 6a to 6b+ followed by two easy ones up the water-runnelled top of Rujičin kuk. The hard climbing is on compact, less featured rock than Paklenica and relies on footwork, including two delicate traverses. A quiet inland crag that is far cooler than the coast in summer.
6b+VII+5.10d6b+VII+5.10d6 pitches145 m
Read the cautions
Researched and aggregated by AI from published sources, last compiled October 2026. It can be wrong, and bolts, anchors and access change: check a current guidebook and read the disclaimer.