The Caporal is always beautiful, and so this time my slightly twisted mind comes up with the idea of climbing Rattle Snake. We take it easy at the start—after all it’s only six pitches, and then we’ll have time for Incastromania, the Kosterlitz crack, the “crack of despair,” and whatever else we can fit in! Even the first pitch is tricky; the “ear” is beautiful, but too many cams on my harness make it hard to find the right size, so I end up doing more rests than strictly necessary. Jacopo leads the terrifying slab of “Itaca nel Sole,” a 6b+ pitch for geckos, which we solve quite easily by clinging to the bolts and expansion pitons. A quick look upwards and the decision is made: maybe it’s better to leave Rattle Snake for another time. The dihedral is not hard, the chimney is not terrible, but the exit looks mysterious from below—and then there’s that overhang… The third pitch is not even worth discussing… The slab of “Itaca nel Sole” with its tiny cracks is incredible though! I will definitely come back someday. So we traverse left, with our big-wall gear (just in case the cams aren’t enough, since I already placed six of them on the “elephant’s ear”!). We climb the three pitches of “Tempi Moderni,” which go quickly and are perfectly equipped, then a bit of meadow, a rappel into an intimidating void, and we’re back on the ledge at the end of the slab of Itaca. “What do you think, Jacopo… shall we try Rattle Snake on top rope?” “Not really… let’s go down!” And so we head to the traditional Kosterlitz crack, which, incredibly, I manage to climb! All that’s left is to reward ourselves with a proper snack and head home!