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Brione / Verzasca Bouldering Trip - requesting advice and tips :)

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Hi,

Me and a few friends (4 of us total) will be going bouldering around Brione / Verzasca at Easter and although it seems to be a fairly popular destination I'm struggling to find out some information or at least confirm some of the information that I have seen. We are planning to fly to Milan Malpensa and rent a car for the week. We are staying in the Verzasca area (just before Brione, I believe) and are looking at hiring mats from Alpha boulder, although we've not confirmed this yet so happy to look at other suggestions.

In terms of driving, what do we need to know/look out for? I know we need a vignette to drive in Switzerland but is this likely to come with the rental car or are we better organising this ourselves? From what I've seen we can just buy it as we enter Switzerland, so it shouldn't be an issue I'd just like someone to confirm this if possible. 

Is there anything else that we need to be aware of, such as other tolls that need to be paid in advance or anything to do with crossing the border from Italy to Switzerland?

For guidebooks, I'm looking to get the Verzasca boulder book (it seems to be sold out everywhere in the UK so if anyone wants to sell one, I'm interested...) and there are plenty of climbs that we've seen in that area that we're looking forward to trying, but should I be considering the other areas, such as Chironico or Cresciano as well? Or are the guidebooks even worth getting for a week?

Any other advice anyone can share?

Thanks in advance!

 SDM 10 Feb 2025
In reply to BoredTired&Lazy:

You can buy a vignette at any motorway services or petrol station, so no need to buy one in advance. If you were hiring the car in Switzerland, I would expect it to already have one, but as you're hiring in Italy, I expect you may need to buy one.

We didn't encounter any other tolls on the Swiss roads. Note that some of the mountain passes such as Gottardo will still be closed at Easter time. Pay attention to the speed limits and other rules of the Swiss roads, as some of the fines can be very steep. They have a french style "give way to the right" and the Swiss take their giving way very seriously. Toilets at the main motorway services are paid for. Toilets at the small picnic bench services are free. Swiss motorways are generally very quiet, but with a lot of arbitrary changes to the speed limit.

Some food is very expensive in Switzerland. A supermarket shop in Italy before crossing the border may be half the price.

If you don't get one in advance, you can buy the Versasca guidebook (and Chironico and Cresciano guides) from the corner shop in Brione (limited opening hours), or from any of the outdoor shops in the nearby towns.

There are seasonal restrictions on some bouldering areas (mainly the Meadow area) but I don't think you will be affected by any of these at Easter. Some of the riverbed boulders are only possible at certain times of year due to water levels. Most areas have no restrictions and are climbable year round.

The pizzeria opposite the Pamplemousse parking is highly recommended and is reasonably priced for Switzerland. It is not open every day, so check in advance if you want to go. The pizza place in Cresciano is great too.

The farm shop down the lane from the campervan parking sells fantastic goats cheese on an honour system. It also sells honey and a few other things, but I didn't fancy taking out a second mortgage.

Parking in Brione is not free any more, all of the bouldering / hiking car parks are pay and display so that boulderers contribute to the local economy. You can buy a card for a week that may work out cheaper than paying each day. You can pay by card or by app. Chironico has a similar system. There are free portaloos at most of the main car parks, please use them instead of going next to the boulders.

https://www.ticino.ch/en/commons/details/Verzasca-Parking-Card/137917.html#...

Brione is a stunning place to climb, you'll have a great time. It is my favourite place to climb. I loved the different styles and scenery you get between the riverbed, the woods, and the meadow. Don't expect the ego stroking grades of Magic Wood. On the whole, we found the grading fairly stiff (but with outliers in both directions, as you expect at any recently popular area).

The community there is very small and are generally welcoming and positive towards climbers. I was disappointed at how much rubbish we had to pick up from fellow climbers. Please respect the area, it won't take much for the locals to turn against climbers given how popular the area has become.

Chironico is great too, I haven't climbed at Cresciano. With only a week, I wouldn't be looking at going to other areas unless you are forced to by the weather, even though it Chironico and Cresciano are not far away.

If you need a rest day activity, there is an escape room in the central square in Brione.

In reply to SDM:

Awesome! Thank you, that’s great advice 🙂


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