Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
Thanks for that Alberto; I prefer the look of the Bondone Does your Mum live in Riva?

Now, if you want some real British climbing you should look at Travs post about the road just North of Coniston that goes over the Wrynose and Hardknott passes - with genuine stretches of 1 in 3! Seriously hard and closer to you than Lake Garda as the crow flies
Yes, my Mum lives in Riva. She was born in nearby Arco, spent adulthood in Milan (I was born and grew up there, very ugly place, only good thing of Milan is that it's 3hr drive from MtBlanc to the West, 3hr drive from the Dolomites to the East, and 1hr drive from other mountains to the north). After retirement she went back to Riva. All my life I visited Riva/Arco regularly, but it was always only visiting family. Nothing wrong with that, but wow it was dead boring just watching my mum playing cards with her sisters and chatting football and school with my cousins. It took me long to realize that since gorgeous mountains are there, when you are in the area just better make use of them.

I think I did the Wrynose and Hardknott already, in the 2005-2010 years I lived in the North West. I remember the luxury of cycling into the peak district directly from home, or driving to the Lakes for hiking etc. It was really super.