Antro della Perciata, Monte Pellegrino (Palermo) · Sicily (Palermo) · Italy
A steep, very exposed line up the left side of the double cave on the north flank of Monte Pellegrino, weaving through stalactites and concretions over a big overhang. The difficulties are never extreme for such steep ground, with the 6c+ crux on pitch 5 and 6a+ obligatory. Modern stainless bolting from 2020.
Climbing mode: Big type, screen kept awake, tick pitches as you go.
Highest point about 400 m above sea level (estimate: terrain height at the mapped point plus the height of the route).
6c+VIII-5.11c7 pitches · 180 mBail with caveats
Ramage climbs the left-hand side of the Antro della Perciata, the huge double cave on the north side of Monte Pellegrino above Palermo. Maurizio Oviglia and Eugenio Pinotti looked for the easiest logical line through a forest of concretions on a strongly overhanging wall, and the result is seven short pitches that are always exposed but never desperate. The crux pitches (6c and 6c+) cross the big overhang in the middle of the route; 6a+ is obligatory. It is fully bolted with stainless steel and the descent is a rigged abseil line off the back of the ridge.
The atlas doesn't show topos: they are the work of the people who bolt and document these routes. See the topo at Planetmountain – Ramage, Monte Pellegrino (topo by M. Oviglia), or in Di Roccia di Sole - Falesie. Arrampicate in Sicilia.
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6aVI+5.10a | 30 m | Ramp and corner up the left side of the cave. |
| P2 | 6bVII5.10c | 30 m | A ramp with concretions, then a traverse on big stalactites to the belay. |
| P3 | 6b+VII+5.10d | 20 m | Up the red overhang hung with stalactites. |
| P4 | 6cVIII-5.11b | 25 m | Through the overhangs above. |
| P5 | 6c+VIII-5.11c | 30 m | The crux pitch, following a split in the rock. |
| P6 | 6aVI+5.10a | 25 m | Easier ground leftwards; the topo marks two blocks with an exclamation mark here. |
| P7 | 6a+VII-5.10b | 20 m | Past a small roof and up a corner to the top. |
From central Palermo cross the Parco della Favorita towards Mondello and follow Viale Regina Margherita to a junction with traffic lights. Turn right onto via Monte Ercta, the road up to the Santuario di Santa Rosalia. After the Valdesi crag and a right-hand bend, drive about 500 m further and take a road downhill on the left (via Annone); park at its end.
Go through a small gate in the fence on the right and follow a path left to the Grotta dell'Addaura (single-pitch sport climbing). Pass through the cave, keep following the path left along the foot of the wall, then climb the scree to the obvious double cave. The route starts on its left-hand side at an obvious ramp, about 25 min from the car.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Coordinates · crag
Point from planetmountain topo GPS (access section)
Contains the route point.
Points from published sources, not surveyed.
Coordinates: 38.18323, 13.35838 (crag)
From the exit walk right along the ridge for about 100 m and look for a large wild olive tree near the edge of the wall, fitted with cord and a maillon. Abseil 50 m to a small terrace among the overhangs, then 55 m in free space to a ledge, then 30 m to the ground. The stations are fitted with rings. Use 60 m ropes: the topo insists on it. Abseiling down the route itself is possible but described as extremely laborious.
Bail with caveats
The belays are bolted, so you can abseil, but the route is steep and overhanging and the openers describe abseiling the line itself as extremely laborious. Above the overhang it is usually easier to finish and use the rigged descent.
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
38.18323, 13.35838
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).
12 quickdraws and two 60 m ropes (the rope length is required for the abseils). Helmet.
North-side cave at about 300 m, close to the sea. The first ascent was done in November and early in the year, in the shade of the cave. The season given here is inferred from that and from the aspect; no source states one.
Forecast · next 7 days · 400 m
Loading the forecast.
| Measure | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High °C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Low °C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rain mm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chance of rain % | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Strongest gusts km/h | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Model forecast for 400 m. It cannot tell you whether the rock is dry. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
Time plan · 7 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 · N-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 | Feb | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 12 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 14 |
| Mean daily low °C | 7 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 8 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
● usual season. 1991-2020 averages at about 328 m; rain is for a 10–25 km grid cell. Weather and climate data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
Straight-line distances, up to 30 km.
No reports yet.
Italy · Sicily (Palermo)
A sustained modern sport multipitch on the wild north wall of the Addaura, a few hundred metres from the city. Every pitch is 6c+ or 7a with 6c obligatory, on limestone that needs to be dry. Fully rebolted with 12 mm stainless in 2022.
7aVIII5.11d7aVIII5.11d5 pitches180 m
Around 6c+ · about 7 pitches
Spain · Costa Blanca (Peñón de Ifach)
The sport classic of the Peñón: a thin slab, a corner crack that steepens into an overhang, a pillar, then a wild exit from a big cave 200 m above the sea. Sustained at 6b with a 6c fifth pitch on polished slopers and a 6c+ last pitch whose crux can be pulled through on a bolt.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c7 pitches220 m
France · Calanques
Seven short, steep pitches up the ochre sea cliff of Cap Canaille, through three kinds of rock: overhanging jugs low down, a leftward traverse on huge fragile holds into a cave, a big roof and a thin wall of sandstone, then vertical conglomerate where you choose your cobble. Homogeneous at 6b to 6b+ with one harder move leaving the roof. The lower two pitches are sandy and friable.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c7 pitches150 m
Read the cautionsCommitting
France · Verdon
Seven pitches of compact grey water-pocketed wall high above the mouth of the Verdon gorge, with a view over the Lac de Sainte-Croix. It zigzags a great deal, so both leader and second need to be happy on traverses. A short, bouldery 6c+ bulge (6a/A0) is the only move above 6b+, and the final pillar pitch is the highlight.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c7 pitches160 m
Committing
Spain · El Chorro
Four pitches in a row at 6b+ to 6c+ on extremely rough limestone: technical water-pocket moves that are hard to read, then an athletic pitch up easy tufas to a hard pull over an overhang. Quiet and steep, with 6b+ obligatory.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c7 pitches200 m
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.