What route do you plan to climb when a friend from Sicily comes to visit? Obviously a granite route—something he’s very used to… and which one? Obviously one of those with a shady reputation, a feared route with only a handful of ascents for mysterious reasons… Fuelled by a huge sandwich, we set off from Val di Mello, where finding a parking spot on a Sunday is harder than in Milan on a Saturday night. At the Manzi bivouac, we meet Marcello and Adrian, who are headed for Taldo Nusdeo. Despite the tension ahead of the climb, I sleep well, and in the morning I feel relaxed. We start out in the shade, and the Koller grades immediately give us an idea of the route’s difficulty. Max, forced to stagger his lead to avoid immense friction, transforms into Gordio. The first pitches go fairly quickly, until we find ourselves facing the VII- dihedral, which in the Cekis’ minds likely followed the large dihedral on the left. We take a smaller dihedral, further to the right, from which (after several attempts to figure out where to move) we rejoin the main dihedral. Next comes a mixed aid pitch (hats off to anyone who can free it all—it already seemed difficult enough to me), where the rope friction makes it essential to push hard with your legs. Even on the “easy” pitches that follow, the route never gets boring. Finally, the last pitch. I’m really tired, and even though it’s my turn, Max agrees to take it! He’s not exactly grumpy, but you can tell he’s tired—and the backpack’s weighing him down too. We reach the end of the route and start descending. The rappels aren’t the ones Gaddi mentions in his guidebook. There are four straight rappels. Speaking of Gaddi: his report is quite accurate, provided you don’t read the pitch lengths, but only the description. A great adventure. Hats off to the first ascenders who climbed this route in 1980 with who knows what kind of gear! The route demands mastery in protection and doesn’t give an inch. I highly recommend repeating it, but be aware that it requires solid experience.