Val di Mello, known as the "little Yosemite", is located in Italy, Lombardy, within the Val Masino/southern Bergell mountain range. The most prominent peak in this area is Piz Badile (3308 m). The valley bribes with huge granite blocks scattered on sapgreen meadows to either side of the creek Mello. A heaven for bouldering! The crystal clear water of the creek attracts picnicking and sunbathing families, while the massive, up to 600 m high granite walls, attract some of the best climbers of the world!
In the valley, there are several camp sites to choose from. We stayed at "Ground Jack" http://www.groundjack.it/, which is located at the entrance of the valley. From here you will have the shortest approaching times to the wall sections and a hot shower awaiting you after you come back with sore body. While most climbers come here to climb popular routes such as Kundalini (5c) and Luna Nascente (6b), we realized pretty soon that this was one or two levels too high for us. We had an awesome climb at the wall section "Sarcofago", the three-pitch "Cunicolo acuto" (150 m, 5b). 
Here, I first had to digest the fact that in general, a 5a in Val di Mello felt like
a 5c. (This feeling would remain the following days, and was
particularly true for slabs.) "Cunicolo acuto" was a fun climb with a body tight chimney and a wonderful crack. We rappelled from the neighbor route. 
The following few days we had some more quite excellent few-pitch climbs and enjoyed the pleasure of climbing. Val di Mello has some quite excellent climbs to offer. We could not fully appreciate all the joy and glory of the big walls, but we did quite well for a first trad climbing week after two years of break from climbing! And we will come back for the rising moon, even if this may necessitate the need to queue. All photos taken by R. Aufschnaiter and S. Pontasch.
