Embrace Gravity – A Ticino bouldering story

The first time I went to Ticino was in 2016. I turned 18 that year and was allowed to drive by myself. I have just bought my first van, invited two friends, and we drove to Switzerland.  

Straight away I fell in love with Ticino and I knew that this would be the bouldering area I want to spent my time, to repeat all those classic king lines and establish new boulders.  

I soon put my attention to the Val Bavona. It’s a side valley of Valle Maggia and the first time I went there, I was overwhelmed by the endless number of boulders in that valley. You drive up this narrow valley, and right from the start, there are fields of blocs to the left and right of the road. The special thing about Bavona is that most of the established boulders are 8a or harder. There are more than ten boulders 8C and harder in this small valley. I don't know of any other place in the world where this is the case. 

I’ve spent hours and days walking through the forest and up the hills looking for boulders.  I’m driven by the idea of finding that one boulder that stands out over all the others. To be honest, I don’t even know what this boulder must look like. For sure it should be tall and hard, overhanging, with clear features. But in the end, it’s hard to imagine this bloc and that’s why I keep on exploring and I’ll probably never stop looking for that one boulder. 

A quick personal journey into the early days of bouldering in Ticino

“…my eye caught the countless boulders with fine surface texture. My heart instantly started to beat faster and my eyes were astounded by the tremendous bouldering opportunities.”

Richi Signer, born ´58 in Switzerland is a sport climber and boulderer of the early hours, even today in his retirement he spent most of his free time climbing or still searching for new boulders.

He was one of the first climbers to discover the endless bouldering potential in Ticino, he just loves the simplicity of the activity, read his story about Ticino here:

In 1982/1983, an enthusiastic climbing friend of mine who loved café latte and red wine asked me to join him in the sunny part of Switzerland. There was great potential for new tours and a helping hand when drilling (by hand!) was always welcome. Upon inspecting a wall above the Cresciano, my eye caught the countless boulders with fine surface texture. My heart instantly started to beat faster and my eyes were astounded by the tremendous bouldering opportunities. Just a few weeks later and I was finally able to dive into this unique cosmos of boulders, only disturbed by a few goats. No names, no tick marks, no arrows pointing the way: just a huge personal playground. Speaking of names and ratings though: Sometimes there were names and only two ratings: either you go up, or you don't. Ranging through the woods of Cresciano equipped with just a couple of climbing shoes, a rag and a chalk bag...what could be better!? 

Just two years later, again by chance, the discovery of Chironico, the next universe of boulders. Straight away on the first boulder, called the "Borderline” boulder today, my hold broke and I landed somewhat roughly on the ground. In the days without a crash pad (they first became the standard at the end of the 90s) and without a spotter, it was a rather unpleasant incident. My experience with the broken hold and the multitude of rather unfavorable fall locations then limited my visits to just a few times, but I clearly still preferred Cresciano. It’s a good drop and has more sun in the winter, because I clearly visited mostly in the winter. Even today, after forty years, one of my favorite destinations is a parkour through the “whole” area with around fifty boulders. Around the end of the 80s, I was surprised to find someone else's traces of chalk here, so someone else had to be climbing here.