A ''direttissima'' (Italian for "shortest link") is a

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...

term meaning a direct climb to the summit of a mountain up the

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

from the valley base to the top. Whilst the

normal route A normal route or normal way (french: voie normale; german: Normalweg) is the most frequently used route for ascending and descending a mountain peak. It is usually the simplest route. Overview In the Alps, routes are classed in the following way ...

aims to find the way with the least difficulty, the climber attempting a ''direttissima'' faces the challenge of ascending the mountain in a more "direct" way.

Definition

The term stems from Italian climber,

Emilio Comici Leonardo Emilio Comici (21 February 1901 – 19 October 1940) was an Italian mountain climber and caver. He made numerous ascents in the Eastern Alps, particularly in the Dolomites (where he made over 200 first ascents during his career) and in the ...

, who said:

"I wish some day to make a route, and from the summit let fall a drop of water, and this is where my route will have gone"

There are usually many

climbing route A climbing route is a path by which a climber reaches the top of a mountain, rock, or ice wall. Routes can vary dramatically in difficulty and grade; once committed to that ascent, it can sometimes be difficult to stop or return. Choice of rout ...

s to the summit of a mountain and it often takes days of studying to work out which route might be suitable. Sometimes the theoretical considerations turn out to be impracticable or inexpedient in hindsight. But the alpinist who decides to climb a mountain peak or rock face ''direttissima'' may only depart slightly from the vertical line to the summit during his ascent.

History

Reinhold Messner Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental ...

wrote that diretissimas "always existed - so long as the mountain permits it", but in the 1960s they "infiltrated the entire field of climbing" due to the advance of drilling bolts and other equipment. In 1971, he stated "People are drilling more and more and climbing less and less." The pursuit of direttissima routes lost its importance since at least the 1980s as the emphasis switched to the different styles of climbing, such as

redpoint Redpoint ( gd, An Rubha Dearg) is a small settlement in the north west of Highland, Scotland. It takes its name from Red Point, a low promontory to the south, which marks a turn in the coastline from facing west to south east as it becomes Loc ...

on-sight __NOTOC__ This glossary of climbing terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon related to rock climbing and mountaineering. The specific terms used can vary considerably between different English-speaking countries; many of the phrases d ...

and

flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...

Examples

There are many ''direttissime'' that will probably never be climbed, one of which is (not least because of avalanche risk), the ''direttissima'' of the East Face of the Kangshung on

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

. A famous ''direttissima'' in Europe is the vertical route up the Eiger North Face which is reserved for very experienced climbers.Gillman, Peter and Haston, Dougal (1966). ''Direttissima: The Eiger Assault'', Harper & Row.

References

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