The authors

Mario Manica. The first time I ever experimented the vertical world was to escape from my homework. I was ten years old. Tying the right kind of knot, I abseiled down from the balcony using my dad’s rope, he was a passionate alpinist. At fourteen I tried climbing for the first time at the crags near Rovereto, where I was born. I first reached the Sarca Valley later on, in 1977/78 with Giuliano Stenghel. Nago’s first route, Pia Chiusole, dedicated to my mother, carries our names. Straight after, a route for my father, Bruno Manica. The Sarca Valley has always waited for me and welcomed me with new lines to repeat and walls to place my fingertips on. Even after I joined the Alpine Police School in Moena, in 1981. And ever since getting on a plane for Argentina in 1985. And from there Patagonia, Alaska, Baffin Islands, Greenland, Northwest Territories Canada, Borneo, Iran, Oman, Mali…undertaking the type of alpinism which entails research and exploration on large rock faces under the aegis of the Fiamme Oro. The first winter ascents of the North and South towers of Paine, Chile, first ascents of the whole group in the world. The many first ascents of the Great North from 1988 to 2000. As it grows, over time the Sarca Valley has welcomed me back. After sixteen years since the first edition of Arco Crags, with this fifth edition, as an author, as always it is an honour to bring testimony to the vertical feats of this land, the dispassionate and passionate fruit of great bolters and climbers.

Antonella Cicogna. I cannot remember one weekend in which I did not escape from my city to breathe fresh air at altitude or immerse myself in the embrace of the sea. My encounter with Trentino happened at a very young age, together with my family. And also with rock before I met Mario, when I was undecided between the taste of salt water or the perfume of the mountains. But it was thanks to climbing that our routes intertwined, one day. And from Milan I moved to Rovereto, in the Adige Valley, western sister of the Sarca Valley. I have always written and translated, my profession is that of journalist and translator. I began working with multinational groups, but I now free-lance, because that is the only way I could live coherently in nature. I followed Mario on many of his trips. Climbing, cycling, hiking, without every forgetting water. And I have written for many newspapers and magazines, specialised and not. Italian and foreign. Mario and I share the beauty of the land that hosts us and that has welcomed us with our daughter Sonia. As well as the generosity of the Sarca Valley, always ready to whisper new emotions to us.

Roni Andres. I am a Gaucho, because I was born in the extreme south of Brazil, at Caxias do Sul. I arrived in Italy in 2008 to work and climb and Sarca Valley magically became my home. Ever since then you can find me at Vertical Sport. I brought with me two great passions from Brazil: climbing and photography. I started climbing in 1993, with André Prazer and Carlos Pedroni as my teachers, who then became partners of many climbs. You could find me in the south, near my home: on the rocks of Gruta da Terceira Légua, the mecca of gaucho sports climbing. After a while I started bolting. It is my way of expressing myself and leaving a contribution to the vertical world. The passion for photography came a few years after climbing, the first shots were taken with an old Cyber-shot by Sony. I have climbed everywhere: Brazil, Chile, Argentina…. Here in Europe: Slovenia, Austria, France, Spain and obviously Italy, and above all in the Sarca Valley. In 2019 I gained a diploma in Iridology/Naturopathy at the “Luigi Costacurta” National Academy of Health and Natural Sciences in Trento.