Free climbing Italy

Rock climbing gym – The “gray quarry” – Colle di Monsummano Alto
Rock climbing gym: an open-air climbing gym a few hundred meters from the center of Monsummano, on Colle di Monsummano Alto. A particular, unique place, which has no other equals and which brings with it charm, emotions and the desire to experience the thrill.
The Cava Grigia of Monsummano Terme has always been an excellent gym for those who want to take their first steps on rock. The quiet area and the favorable climate allow you to practice climbing all year round on short itineraries and longer routes of medium/low difficulty. For decades the quarry has been an ideal terrain for the activities of the Italian Alpine Club Schools, with hundreds of participants in courses organized in different disciplines.
But the Cava Grigia is also history and geology, a way to touch and see with your own eyes what natural evolution has done on our territory. In fact, the Monsummano quarries are a small but important portion of territory which in the rocky layer of the walls contains a good part of the geological history of Tuscany.
In 1997 the Municipality of Monsummano, following the danger of falling stones, issued an ordinance prohibiting climbing and access to the paths in the area surrounding the walls, including the interesting geological path.
Subsequently, the Mountaineering Schools Commission of the CAI of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna began a process in 2010 together with the Municipality and the owners of Cava Grigia by presenting a project, technically supported by some geologists from the University of Florence, containing a series of interventions risk reduction that would allow the Municipality to lift the ban dating back to 1997.
Following the 2013 agreement, the CAI also equips the central face of Cava Grigia with climbing routes with close anchorages suitable for beginners and also for children. A part of this wall is also suitable for paraclimbing, an activity dedicated to climbing by disabled athletes, including blind children.
The mountaineering, climbing, youth mountaineering, hiking and speleology courses of the CAI are thus divided, including the frequent and necessary exercises of the mountain rescue and civil protection operators and the refresher training of the instructors and companions of the Italian Alpine Club.