Routes and crags on the pearl of the Emilian Apennines
The Appenines in the Emilia region have a pearl of rock which just like a fairy tale towers above the gentle slopes of the park. “La Pietra”, as it is called informally by those who have been going there for a long time, is an area which is beyond time and space, so much so that Dante Alighieri took inspiration from it to describe his mountain of Purgatory. In this meticulous work, which has reached its second edition, the authors describe the multipitch routes and crags with up to date information, clear and precise drawings and spectacular photos of the various sectors. The precious and fundamental contribution of all the local alpinists of varying generations has allowed a unanimous guidebook to be achieved with references to the history of climbing in Pietra through narratives and personal stories. Enriching this volume (a detail not present in the first edition) are a series of spectacular images taken from a drone, which as well as fascinating the reader make orienteering around this spectacular monolith much easier.

Diego Filippi: born in Trento in 1967, is an alpinist, an academic member of CAI and a Mountain Guide. His love for climbing makes him move from Valle del Sarca to Pietra di Bismantova, two worlds which are climatically different and which he visits alternating periods, following the seasons’ tantrums, since one is right round the corner and the other well connected to the city he was born in and in which he lives. In both cases he has put passion to paper, writing the multipitch guide book of the Sarca Valley (now at its fourth edition), and the guide book of Pietra di Bismantova (second edition), together with another “commuter” who has acquired ‘Bismantovian’ citizenship: Matteo Bertolotti.

Matteo Bertolotti: deals with cinematographic art-house distribution and is a passionate mountaineer. Climbing instructor and president of the board of the CAI alpinism school in Lombardy, and to this day has climbed more than 800 routes on rock and high mountains, from the Dolomites to Mont Blanc and from the great classical ascents to other more researched ascents.