Versante Sud Presolana climbing guide

Versante Sud Presolana: Classic and modern climbs on the Queen of the Orobie. Behind Bergamo, the Valle Brembana, the Valle Seriana, and the distant Val di Scalve deeply carve the pre-Alpine reliefs that rise from the plain until they fade against the Orobie mountain range. Mountains and valleys gathered in the wide embrace formed by the Lario lake mirror and the deep grooves of Valtellina and Valle Camonica. The Bergamasque Prealps and the Orobic Alps reveal themselves without veils, on clear winter days or after summer storms, to those traveling the highway between Brescia and Milan, perhaps heading towards more distant alpine destinations. Among these valleys lies a varied and unexpectedly beautiful environmental heritage, featuring peaks and walls on which interesting pages of mountaineering history have been written. The undisputed queen of the entire range is the Presolana, not just a simple mountain, but an articulated and complex massif, a long bastion that rises between the Valle Seriana and the Val di Scalve, whose profile, marked by the succession of its five peaks, is easily recognizable from any perspective. To its lunar limestone walls, its over 250 routes, and its rich mountaineering history, we dedicate a true monograph, in which you will find not only technical reports, accompanied by clear and precise maps and drawings, but also the stories of the first climbers and repeaters, as well as reproductions of valuable historical archive materials, all enriched by numerous photographs to complete the tale of the Queen of the Orobie.

Maurizio Panseri was born in Bergamo in 1964, lives in Olera, a small historic village immersed in the woods of Alzano Lombardo. Since adolescence, he has been passionate about the mountains and explores the entire Alpine arc. The Orobie and the Bergamasque Prealps remain his "home" mountains, those behind his house, to which he feels intimately connected and that still amaze him today. He has always documented and narrated his moments of life among the mountains. He has collaborated and collaborates with numerous industry magazines. With Versante Sud, he has already published Valli Bergamasche – Crags and modern routes (2016), MTB from Bergamo to the lakes of Endine and Iseo (2018), Ski mountaineering on the Orobie (2021).

Matteo Bertolotti, born in Osio Sotto (Bergamo) in 1980, is involved in the distribution of essay cinematography. In 2003, he founded the website sassbaloss.com with some friends to publish reports of repeated routes. To date, he has climbed about 1400 rock and high mountain routes, from the Dolomites to Mont Blanc and from major classic climbs to many sought-after ones. He does not disdain artificial climbing and often enjoys spending days hanging from the gear. A fan of old mountain books, he is a national mountaineering instructor at the Valle Seriana School and has been a member of GISM (Italian Group of Mountain Writers) since 2013. With Versante Sud, he has already published Pietra di Bismantova – Routes and crags on the pearl of the Emilian Apennines (2021) and Ice of the Orobie (2023).