Zucco dell'Angelone – Secondo Sperone (Barzio) · Lecco & Valsassina · Italy
Read the cautionsEasy to bailBolting confidence: medium
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.
A glue-in route with abseil stations in current use, but the bolting is long on the slabs, the detailed reports are twenty years old and the 2025 closure ordinance should be checked.
The route
La Striscia della Citrosodina climbs the right side of the big slab of the Secondo Sperone on the Zucco dell'Angelone. The first two pitches are easy, the middle of the route is thoughtful slab and crack climbing at 5b to 6a, and the difficulty is concentrated in the last pitch, a tiring sequence of overhanging corner, bulge and steep flakes graded 6b+ and partly aidable (6a and A0). The equipment is glue-ins with two-bolt belays, and the route is its own abseil line. Recent first-hand reports of the climbing are lacking, so treat the details as older information.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4b | 20 m | Climb the first slab starting at its right-hand end and working back left. A ledge with small trees is followed by a few more metres of smooth slab with one providential pocket. |
| P2 | 3 | 25 m | Slant right over broken rock, easy but a little dirty. Gulliver grades it 2c. |
| P3 | 5b | 25 m | Straight up water-worn slabs, linking the occasional pocket. The bolts are not close. |
| P4 | 5c | 25 m | Cracks to begin, then a slab that slants right: rather delicate and with long gaps between bolts. |
| P5 | 6a | 25 m | Easier overall than the two pitches below, with the grade in one move. Good cracks and flakes lead to a delicate traverse left onto a slab under an overhanging step. Climb the step direct (6a, aidable) and continue up cracks, with one more delicate move, to a comfortable ledge. The bolts of La Lumaca di Vetro arrive from the left. |
| P6 | 6b+ | 25 m | Go right to an overhanging corner bolted on its right wall and climb it, strenuous. Traverse right on easy rock, then surmount an overhanging bulge with effort (partly aidable) and a delicate mantel. A short move right leads to another overhanging section on small flakes, then a good crack and a small ledge; step two metres left across a smooth slab to the belay. Tiring, and A0 in places. |
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.
About 20 minutes. Go to the far end of the car park and take the path into the wood on the right (signs for the Angelone crags), then follow 'Secondo Sperone'. The path climbs through the wood, takes a short equipped rock step on the left, passes the foot of the Primo Sperone, descends a few metres and, after a short chain, climbs steeply right up a gully to its end. The route starts on the right. A November 2024 party warns that this gully is eroding badly.
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
Abseil the route: two abseils of 50 m and one of 25 m, or five of 25 m. The stations are two glue-ins through which you thread the rope. This is also the line used by parties descending from La Lumaca di Vetro, so expect ropes from above.
Retreat
Easy to bail
Abseiling the route is the normal descent and every belay is an abseil station of two glue-ins. The line is also the regular way down from the neighbouring route, so the stations see constant use.
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.
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
Quickdraws (no count is published for this route; 13 are listed for the neighbouring Lumaca di Vetro), some slings, and cord or a sling to link the belay glue-ins. Two 50 m ropes for the long abseils, or one rope and five short ones. 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 Striscia della Citrosodina.
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
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.
5c6 pitches120 m
Read the cautions
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
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 6b+ · about 6 pitches
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+6 pitches145 m
Read the cautions
Italy · Arco & Valle del Sarca
Six pitches of steep wall and corner climbing up a pillar, almost never below 6a. Closely bolted and on good rock, so it works as a first 6b+ multipitch. The slightly overhanging slab on the last pitch catches out tired arms.
6b+6 pitches170 m
Italy · Sardinia
A sea-level start reached by abseil, then seven short pitches up the seaward face of Pedra Longa. The third pitch is a wildly exposed traverse above a line of roofs; two easy pitches on rock that needs care lead to a technical 6b and 6b+ finish on grey slab.
6b+7 pitches175 m
Austria · Ötztal
A mix of slabs and steep, juggy passages in the Sonnenblume sector, mostly around 5b to 5c+. The one hard move is a small roof on pitch 4 (6b+), which goes easily on aid.
6b+5 pitches170 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.
