The Concarena is certainly not my idea of an ideal mountain; when you look at it from the Val Camonica, it definitely doesn’t make you want to climb it. Edo has been telling me about this route for a while now; in his opinion, it’s the most interesting one in the group. After vetoing a trip to the Spallone del Becco, I accept this proposal, which seems more appealing to me. In a daze, I arrive at the Agrate parking lot, where Edo has already arrived ahead of me. He’s in a daze too, claiming his legs are tired, but on the approach he runs like a train, and I’m forced to summon all my pride so as not to see him disappear over the horizon. We tackle the first pitch, which is little more than a snowy slope (powdery in places) that really challenges Edo. The second pitch is extremely tough in the current conditions, far more so than the stated M4, and I hand it over to Edo in exchange for the next M5/6 pitch. I take the next pitch to even the score (which I accidentally combine with the one after that) and find myself grappling with a steep, unprotectable section on soft snow mixed with ice crusts. From here on out, it’s fun, but we discover with horror (we don’t have much gear to leave behind) that there are no more abseil anchors. With a bit of creativity, we set up belays and manage to get back on the trail as darkness falls...