Zucco dell'Angelone – Secondo Sperone (Barzio) · Lecco & Valsassina · Italy
Read the cautionsEasy to bailBolting confidence: high
A 1979 Ivan Guerini line up the big slab of the second spur: friction climbing on compact limestone with a few steeper steps, a fine third pitch and a corner to finish. Grades are even, around 5a to 5c, and the bolts are far enough apart that slab confidence matters. You abseil off.
Sound glue-ins and quickdraws only, but the slab bolting is spaced, a large loose block was reported on the last pitch in 2024 and the status of the 2025 closure ordinance should be checked.
The route
La Lumaca di Vetro climbs the broad slab of the Secondo Sperone of the Zucco dell'Angelone, the plaisir crag above Barzio. It is mostly padding on water-worn limestone with short vertical steps, and the difficulty is steady rather than concentrated. The guidebook gives it four long pitches; using every belay it is six, which keeps rope drag down and communication easy. The glue-ins are sound but spaced by sport standards, and recent parties are divided on whether to call it plaisir. Descent is by abseil down the route on its right.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4c | 20 m | An easy diagonal on the slab to the first belay. Most parties run this together with the next pitch (the guidebook gives the two as one 40 m pitch of 5c). |
| P2 | 5c | 20 m | Straight up the slab with one move that is more a matter of nerve than strength. |
| P3 | 5b | 30 m | Right past a tree, then a small rib on good holds and excellent rock. Often named the best pitch. Camptocamp grades it 5a. |
| P4 | 4c | 20 m | Straight up, then well right. Belay at the hanging stance, not at the tempting terrace further right. |
| P5 | 4c | 20 m | A traverse, then straight up. The guidebook treats pitches 4 and 5 as one 40 m pitch of 4c; camptocamp gives a 5c move in this section. |
| P6 | 5c | 20 m | Leave leftwards over broken, somewhat grassy rock, then a fine corner to the top. In November 2024 a very large loose block sat to the right of the corner just above the belay. Do not link this pitch with the one before: both wander and the drag is severe. |
Getting there
From Lecco drive up the Valsassina to Barzio and follow signs to the Piani di Bobbio cable car, parking in the large car park at the lower station. The car park is paid and often full on winter days when the ski lifts run; parties then park in one of the free car parks in Barzio and take the skiers' shuttle or walk about 20 minutes. Reports from May and June 2026 found the lift closed for works and reached the path by stepping past a gate or fence beside the station.
15 to 30 minutes. Take the path that starts beside the cable car bar and enters the wood; signposts point to the various spurs. Follow 'Secondo Sperone': the path climbs steeply, passes a short equipped step and the foot of the Primo Sperone, drops a few metres with a chain, then climbs the wooded gully on the right of the second spur to its end below a large slab covered in glue-ins. The Gulliver description puts the route on the right of this slab; camptocamp calls it the rightmost line but also says you abseil the route to its right, so identify it from a topo before starting. A November 2024 party warns that the approach gully is eroding badly. The alternative approach from Introbio is longer, and a February 2026 party found that path vague and crossing an unstable slide.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Barzio - Piazzale funivia (camptocamp access point 112436)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 41720
Contains the route point and parking. 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: 45.96009, 9.46039 (crag) · Parking: 45.95560, 9.46452
Getting down
By abseil on the line to the right, looking in (La Striscia della Citrosodina). With two ropes: a long abseil from the top passing one station to a belay in a clump of trees, a second down a clean slab and a third through bushes to the ground, each up to 50 m. A June 2024 party with a single 80 m rope made four: about 30 m, nearly vertical, from the station right of the top corner to a short step left to belay 4; a short one to belay 3; one down pitch 3; and about 30 m to the ground. The rope runs directly through the two glue-ins at each station.
Retreat
Easy to bail
Abseiling is the normal descent, down the neighbouring line, and every belay on the route is a pair of glue-ins. Parties in 2024 abseiled with both double ropes and a single 80 m rope without reported trouble.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South facing at about 900 to 1150 m and in the sun for most of the day. Local sources call the Angelone climbable all year but advise against summer because the limestone gets hot. Winter days are common, although the car park fills with skiers. The bushes on the spur give some shade.
Sun on the wall · S-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.
Climate figures for Lecco & Valsassina are not available yet
What to carry
13 quickdraws and two 50 m half ropes (Gulliver); a single 70 m or 80 m rope has also been used with more abseils. Slings and karabiners to link the two glue-ins at every belay. Cams and nuts are not needed. Helmet.
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 La Lumaca di Vetro.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Italy · Lecco & Valsassina
The first route opened on the Zucco dell'Angelone, following the natural line of the fourth spur by corners, cracks, a chimney and friction slabs. Eight varied pitches at 5a to 5b with an easy crest to finish. Never hard but never trivial either.
5b8 pitches220 m
Italy · Lecco & Valsassina
Three friendly pitches up a striking arched flake and compact slabs, then a short wall with one hard, reachy move that most people pull through. A 1980 route by the Savonittos and Alessandro Gogna, and the usual first half of a link-up with Gli Schiavi della Pietra on the spur above.
6b+4 pitches90 m
Read the cautions
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+6 pitches145 m
Read the cautions
Italy · Lecco & Valsassina
A short, varied introduction to the Angelone on the first spur, the closest to the car park. A friction slab, an easy traverse, a featured wall and then a small overhang and a fine cracked slab that is harder than old topos suggest. Quick to do and quick to abseil.
5c4 pitches80 m
Read the cautions
Around 5c · about 6 pitches
Spain · El Chorro
A friendly six-pitch route that climbs half-way up the Frontales Altas and abseils back down. Most of it is easy, with good rests and some low-angle ground; the crux third pitch takes a neat little arête. It shares its first two short pitches with Blue Line.
5c6 pitches148 m
France · Vanoise (Grand Bec)
A short, sunny high-mountain route at 2800 m in the Vanoise: five 25 to 30 m pitches of 4b to 5b with one or two moves of 5c that can be pulled through, then an easy scramble. The bolting is generous enough that parties with little experience enjoy it. The setting, below the south-west face of the Grand Bec, is the reason to walk up.
5c6 pitches180 m
Italy · Gaeta & Sperlonga
The easiest and one of the most repeated long routes on the Gaeta sea cliff. You abseil to a terrace just above the waves, traverse left, pull one polished 5c move and then climb chimneys and clefts beside a huge detached needle to the cliff top. The setting is the attraction: bridging in a chimney hanging over the sea.
5c5 pitches155 m
Committing
Austria · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand)
The easiest worthwhile line on the lower tier of the Geierwand. Most people know only its first pitch as a single-pitch climb, but four more good pitches continue to the big ledge on edges and pockets, with a long traverse and a short chimney in the middle. Mostly around 5a with a few 5c passages.
5c5 pitches130 m
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.
