Carabiners, quickdraws, and cams appear on no official prohibited list, so whether they fly in the cabin is up to the screener on the day. Ice axes, hammers, and knives must be checked, gas canisters can't fly at all, and since 2026 power banks are carry-on only, two per person. Most airlines allow 23 kg and 158 cm per checked bag, and climbing gear counts as ordinary luggage. A 7 kg or 10 kg cabin limit decides how much hardware you can keep with you.
The AAC says free solo accidents are "almost always fatal" and usually happen on popular moderate routes: in December 2024 two people died on two consecutive days in Colorado's Flatirons, on a 5.7 and a 5.4, and one of them had soloed his route many times. Honnold says no soloist has fallen while pushing their limit; the AAC says familiarity lowers focus. The two don't contradict each other: deaths tend to happen in easy, familiar places. Rope soloing carries its own risks: the top-rope solo accidents the AAC recorded share a single device, no backup knot and a climber in a hurry.
There is no fixed height for a highball: some say 10 feet (about 3 m), Climbing calls 15 feet (about 4.5 m) the "gym line", and others argue the landing and the height of the crux matter more than total height. Past a certain point, neither pads nor spotters can hold a falling climber; Climbing says don't even try to catch someone from 10 feet. Several AAC accident reports involve climbers stuck at the top out whose holds broke as they tried to downclimb. For most people the default should be a toprope: less gear, one partner, and bouldering legend John Gill did it too.
Belaying and leading on ice work the same way as on rock; the protection is ice screws drilled into the ice. Grades run WI1–WI7: WI3 is sustained ice around 70 degrees with good rests, WI5 is a full pitch of 85–90 degrees with few rests. An analysis of 30 years of North American accident reports found the top factor in ice climbing accidents was inadequate protection or screws pulling out. Taiwan has almost no natural ice, so the usual path is to practise top-rope belaying and rappelling at a gym, then take a top-rope ice course in Korea or Japan; in the 2026 season, the beginner session at Akadake Kosen in Yatsugatake cost 3,000 yen.
Climbing on the Amalfi Coast centres on Montepertuso, the hamlet above Positano: a dozen or so limestone walls 10–35 minutes' walk from parking in the village, with theCrag listing 254 single-pitch sport routes, mostly 6a–7c. Cannabis, U' Piscione and the Paretone are steep tufa (canne) routes; La Selva and Brigante Mirabella are more technical slab. Most walls face west and only get sun in the afternoon in winter, so October to April is best and summer is too hot. SITA buses run from Sorrento or Amalfi to Positano, about 40 a day each way in October 2026; if you drive, plan for parking, as roadside parking in Montepertuso is banned all year.
A south-facing limestone sport crag at the mouth of Valle Gesso, about 13 km from Cuneo. Sites list 194–300 routes, mostly 6a to 7c; Noia (1993) is remembered as Italy's first 8c+, and the hardest line is Lapsus, 9a+. Since 1 October 2026 a mayoral order from Valdieri bans all access and climbing until maintenance work is finished, with no reopening date; check the town and park notices before you go.
The coast around Baunei on Sardinia's east side is the island's densest multi-pitch area: the 143 m Aguglia di Goloritzè spire above its beach, Punta Giradili with lines of 390 m and more, the Pedra Longa sea stack, and inland the Supramonte walls of Monte Oddeu, Punta Cusidore and the 400 m, 8b Hotel Supramonte. The easiest line up the Aguglia has a hardest pitch of 6b and is badly polished. What changes trips most is the cap at Cala Goloritzè: no more than 250 people at a time, a €7 ticket booked through Heart of Sardinia that opens three days ahead, and climbers have to work within the trail's opening hours too.
A flat-topped calcarenite monolith in the hills south of Reggio Emilia, 1 km long and 300 m above the plateau. theCrag lists 475 routes and falesia.it 452 in 30 sectors, making it the biggest crag in Emilia-Romagna. Most routes are bolted single pitches of about 20 m from grade 5 to 8c, plus 100–160 m short multi-pitches and some aid routes. The sandstone turns brittle when wet, so don't climb after rain; falesia.it says it can be climbed all year by picking the aspect. Without a car, take SETA line 44 to Castelnovo ne' Monti; a 2021 national park decision bans cycling and BASE jumping on the summit.
A sandstone bouldering area in a eucalyptus wood about 600 m up in inland Trapani province, only cleared since 2016. Gripped wrote in 2025 that there are over 400 lines across seven sectors; 27crags lists 317 problems from Font 3 to 8A+, mostly with flat landings, good for beginners and families. The season is September/October to May, and the tree shade allows some climbing in summer. No public transport reaches it, so you need a car; after heavy rain the sandstone needs two or three days to dry, part of the area is on private land, and fires and camping are banned.
The Brenta group east of Madonna di Campiglio, centred on the 2,883 m Campanile Basso. The normal route, first climbed in 1899, is IV and about 270–350 m; the 1908 Fehrmann corner and Preuss's 1911 east face are classics at IV+ to V. The walk from Vallesinella to the start takes 2.5 hours, and most parties stay at Rifugio Brentei or Pedrotti (Pedrotti was open 20 June–20 September in 2026). In summer the Vallesinella road is closed during the day and you must book the shuttle (13 June–13 September in 2026); the B201 bus runs from Trento to Madonna di Campiglio all year.
Camaiore sits on the Tuscan coast between Viareggio and Lucca. Its valley holds 25 limestone sport crags; the core, Candalla (upper and lower sectors), lists 229 routes on theCrag, mostly in the 7th grade, and is known for steep tufa walls. San Rocchino has Naturalmente 9a+, first climbed by Adam Ondra in 2017. In the Alpi Apuane to the north, the north face of Pizzo d'Uccello carries the Oppio-Colnaghi, a trad classic about 850 m long. The thing most likely to change your plans is transport: the E33 bus up to Candalla passed to a new operator in June 2026, so check it again before you go.
Capo d'Uomo is on the Monte Argentario promontory at the southern tip of Tuscany: a south-east-facing wall of grey-white limestone rising straight from the sea, with a medieval watchtower on top. The single-pitch sector had 18 routes, mostly 5c to 6c+; 10 more were added in 2025, up to 8a, and theCrag now lists 38. Further toward the sea are fully bolted multi-pitch routes such as the Spigolo Bonatti (240 m, max 6a). In winter the wall is in the sun all morning, making it a central-Italian winter crag that gets crowded at weekends when the weather is bad elsewhere. Buses from the railway station only reach the port of Porto Santo Stefano, leaving about 3.5 km uphill to cover on your own.
Dolomite towers in the Catinaccio group above Val di Fassa. The three southern Vajolet Towers stand right next to Rifugio Re Alberto (2,621 m); most routes are IV to IV+ and 120–170 m long, and the 1911 Spigolo Piaz is one of the most popular classics in the Dolomites. The Steger route on the Catinaccio east face is V+ and over 500 m. The season follows the huts: Re Alberto was open 17 June–3 October in 2026. Take the cable car from Vigo or two chairlift legs from Pera, then walk about 3 hours; the road to Gardeccia is closed to private cars.
A bouldering area at about 1,200–1,400 m in the Champorcher valley, lower Aosta Valley, spread along a stream and through fir woods in Val de la Legne. The databases list 100 to 163 problems, mostly 6B to 7B, with a top end of 8B+ and beyond. It faces north-east: best in spring and autumn, and climbable on summer evenings and snow-free winter mornings; in winter the law requires chains or snow tyres on the drive up. By car it is about 12 km up from Hône, with parking right in front of the Ghost Ship boulder. The Aosta–Ivrea railway is closed until 2027, so without a car you rely on the valley bus.
A dolomite wall up to about 1,200 m high above Lake Alleghe that climbers call the 'wall of walls'. A 2025 guidebook covers 78 routes on the north-west face; the 1925 Solleder-Lettenbauer (VI-, 1,100 m) is regarded as the first sixth-grade route in the Alps. Most routes are long, the rock is unreliable and the gullies can hold ice all summer. Planning the huts is the key: Rifugio Coldai says it opens mid-June to end of September, Tissi sits right opposite the face, and Alleghe's two gondolas, open 13 June–27 September in 2026, save part of the walk up.
A big limestone cave in the Monti Ernici, in the province of Frosinone in southern Lazio. The databases list 31 to 67 routes starting at 6b, most of them 7a and up, and Laura Rogora made the first ascent of several top-end lines here, including Rèveille-toi 9a. The cave is shaded all day and climbable in heavy rain. What changes your plans most is the closure: every source says the whole Collepardo climbing area is closed from 1 January to 31 July for nesting raptors. No primary notice was found, so in practice you can only go from August to December, best from September to November. You need a car.
Corna Bianca, the limestone sport wall above Cornalba in Val Serina north of Bergamo, sits at 1,100 m, faces south and east, and is about 200 m high, with technical vertical-to-slightly-overhanging finger walls. The comune says you need at least 6c: only 4 routes are grade 5, 38 are grade 8 and up, and the hardest is Goldrake 9a+, first climbed by Ondra in 2010. Planetmountain calls it "a bit out of use" now, with few repeats. The thing most likely to shape your trip is the bus: Arriva line B needs a change at Zogno, few runs reach Cornalba and none on Sundays, so in practice you drive. The whole wall was also closed from December 2024 to 10 January 2025 for a giant Christmas-light installation.
Three dolomite sport crags beside the SP638 road from Cortina d'Ampezzo to Passo Giau, 5 to 35 minutes from the car. Crépe de Oucèra Basse faces north, has 80-plus routes mostly in the 6s and suits beginners; Alte faces south, has 80-plus routes from 6a to 8b+ and works in spring and autumn too; Bèco d'Ajàl sits in the forest with 50 to 65 routes, mostly 7th-grade overhanging endurance climbing, including Cortina's first 8c. You need a car: Dolomiti Bus has no Passo Giau line, and the nearest stop, Pocol, is on a seasonal line whose 2026 summer timetable ended on 4 October.
Valle di Daone in western Trentino is one of the biggest granite bouldering areas in northern Italy: the guidebook covers 1,800+ problems in 10 sectors between 800 and 2,000 m, most of them 6A–7B and topping out at 8C. Spring and autumn are best; in summer you climb higher up to escape the heat. In winter the road near Lago di Boazzo is usually closed, so only the lower sectors are reachable. In summer, roadside parking above Pracul is banned and cars go only in marked areas, some of them booked online.
Two venues in the Iglesiente in southwest Sardinia. Domusnovas is 25 single-pitch sport sectors around the Grotta di San Giovanni, an 850 m natural tunnel; the 2019 guidebook lists 34 crags and more than 650 routes, and Bronx at the north entrance has Italy's first 9a+/9b, first climbed by Adam Ondra in 2008. On the coast, Masua has the single-pitch Castello dell'Iride and multi-pitch facing the Pan di Zucchero sea stack. What changes trips most is the bolts: most of Masua's sea-cliff multi-pitches use 304 stainless that can snap, so stick to the few that have been rebolted. Winter suits both; Castello dell'Iride is too hot in summer.