Placche Zebrate (Dro) · Arco & Valle del Sarca · Italy
Easy to bailBolting confidence: medium
Seven pitches in the right-hand part of the Placche Zebrate, finding its way between smooth slabs and the odd grassy runnel. It saves the best for last: a long, perfect slab on protruding water runnels where you sometimes climb on palms alone. The rock is less polished than on the older classics.
The route
Via Spinelo is a modern slab route on the right side of the Placche Zebrate, opened in 2003. Most of it is around UIAA 5, with a harder slab at the start and the crux on the last long pitch. Bergsteigen.com notes that one of the lower pitches is poor but the rest is good, and that the final slab is a tremendous finish. A direct start at about UIAA 7 is also bolted and signed. Unlike the routes further left, you abseil the line, which shapes the day: when several parties are on it there is congestion and stonefall from the ledges.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a | A slab, mostly about 5b with a move of 6a. |
| P2 | 3+ | Easy ground. |
| P3 | 5b | A slabby traverse, mostly grade 4 with a 5b passage. |
| P4 | 5c | A long pitch following a fine crack in the slab, mostly grade 4 with a 5c passage. |
| P5 | 4 | Easy. |
| P6 | 5b | Grade 4+ with a 5b passage, finishing on runnelled slabs. |
| P7 | 6a | The key pitch and the highlight: a long slab on protruding runnels, grade 5 with 6a. The last belay has the route book. |
Getting there
The Placche Zebrate are the big slabs at the foot of Monte Brento, beside the main road between Dro and Pietramurata. From Arco drive north through Dro; after a conspicuous fish farm there is a large car park with a toilet block on the left of the road, close to the bar 'Parete Zebrata'. Coming from Pietramurata it is on the right. Bergsteigen.com says you can come by bus to the bar. Leave nothing of value in the car: bergsteigen.com warns that cars are often broken into here.
About 30 min. From the car park take the good path towards the slabs. At the second forest track below the wall keep right. You come to a large, almost level area of scree under the slabs. From there climb right to the rocks and follow traces of path to the start. Both 'Spinelo' and the direct variant are painted on the rock in red.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Parking marked on bergsteigen.com
Point from bergsteigen.com marker for the Placche Zebrate (touren/klettern/via-trento-placche-parete-zebrate); the route is in the right-hand part of the same slabs
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: 45.99540, 10.91710 (crag) · Parking: 45.99550, 10.92640
Getting down
Abseil the route from the end of pitch 7 with two 60 m ropes. Bergsteigen.com allows 30 min. Take care not to knock stones off the ledges, and return by the approach path.
Retreat
Easy to bail
Abseiling the route is the normal descent, so you can retreat from any belay with the two 60 m ropes the route calls for. The only reported trouble is congestion and stonefall when the route is busy.
Safety
Sun and weather
East facing, base at about 400 m. Bergsteigen.com marks February to November. Allow 2 h 30 min for the climb and 3 h 30 min in all.
Sun on the wall · E-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 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Mean daily low °C | −3 | −2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 4 | −1 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 6 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 8 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 527 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
12 quickdraws, a few slings and two 60 m ropes for the abseils. No nuts or cams. A helmet is essential.
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 Via Spinelo.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Italy · Arco & Valle del Sarca
This is the archetypal long, easy Arco slab, first climbed in 1971. It wanders up the lower bands and then improves into a superb water-worn chimney system in the upper half. It is very polished and very busy, so start early. Original grade 6- UIAA per bergsteigen.com; gulliver gives 5c max.
5c16 pitches400 m
Read the cautions
Italy · Arco & Valle del Sarca
A succession of short walls and slabs separated by ledges, with the first two pitches shared with Amazzonia. The crux is a single 5c/6a move just below the P5 belay. It's a relaxed, well-protected outing above the Sarche gorge.
5c10 pitches250 m
Italy · Arco & Valle del Sarca
An easy, relaxing sport route on low-angle Zebrate slabs, trending left to right to join Cane Trippa at the fifth belay. It's an excellent first multipitch. Gulliver gives UIAA III / II–III / IV / IV–IV+ for the first four pitches, converted here.
5b6 pitches240 m
Italy · Arco & Valle del Sarca
Eight sustained pitches up the wall opposite the Laterna restaurant, rarely easier than 6a. The crux is a short overhanging wall on pitch 5 that can be pulled through on the bolts. Less cleaned than its neighbours, with some broken rock on pitch 6.
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Around 6a · about 7 pitches
Spain · Riglos & Agüero (Mallos)
This is the gentlest way to sample Riglos. Polished pockets and two bulging 'panzas' lead to a 6a crux that can be pulled through on the bolts (A0). The upper spur is easy, and the Pisón towers loom close by.
6a7 pitches175 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Zillertal
A granite slab route beside a washed-out stream bed and a small waterfall, described as the new slab classic of the Zillertal. Mostly around UIAA 5 on fine slabs, with short harder passages and a 6/6+ exit. Never very exposed, with a view of the 3000 m peaks.
6a7 pitches255 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
A pretty plaisir route on edgy, quartz-studded granite slabs beneath the Mont Blanc massif. The crux is a short bulge and steep juggy wall on P4. Camptocamp rates it 'great'.
6a7 pitches180 m
France · Briançonnais
The gentlest way up the big limestone wall of Le Ponteil: short walls and slabs that slant leftwards across the south-west facet, with a ledge walk in the middle. Most of it is 4b to 5c on very featured rock; one well-bolted move round a block gives the 6a. It gets better as it goes, and pitches 4 and 6 are the ones people remember.
6a7 pitches200 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.
