As many of you may know, the ASD Climbing Sardinia, with the support of its members and alpine guides Mario Ogliengo and Louis Piguet, began an important re-bolting project in December 2020 on the Biddiriscottai crag, located on the coast north of Cala Gonone.
On this article, and on our Crag Guide, you can see the list of re-bolted routes.
The crag is located right by the sea, where salt and heat accelerate the oxidation process. For this reason, we chose to use titanium, due to its great resistance to corrosion. We hope that these works will allow us to climb safely for many years to come.
However, we will need to change the way we use anchors and bolts
Titanium is very resistant to corrosion, but it is less so to abrasion. All climbers will need to adopt some precautions to protect the bolts and anchors from wear caused by rope friction.
We will also need to avoid leaving quickdraws or other equipment behind. When in contact with titanium, steel and aluminum corrode much faster than usual, making removal interventions more complicated.
Therefore, we have decided to summarize here some simple precautions for the optimal use of titanium re-bolted routes.
1 – Preserve the rappel ring
If your partner wants to climb second, belay and add a carabiner at the top. This way, the rope will rub on your carabiner instead of the rappel ring.

2 – Do not leave quickdraws behind
In contact with titanium, other metals rust very quickly. A quickdraw might get stuck immediately, making it impossible to remove.
If you can’t reach the top of a route, leave one of the carabiners of the quickdraws so that the next person can remove it. Alternatively, you can pass the rope through a bolt and rappel from there. The bolts are very wide and have a round section.
We hope all climbers will help us in safeguarding the installed gear and also protecting the surrounding environment.
We hope the Biddiriscottai crag will be visited frequently and with care. The mix of athletic routes on overhung walls, vertical slabs, chimneys, cracks, and roofs with good holds, framed by a beautiful view of the Gulf of Orosei, makes it a unique crag in Sardinia.
Each route deserves more repeats, and we will be happy to replace the worn gear if the crag becomes a destination for many climbers. Even though we don’t know when the gear will need to be replaced, we have already purchased several rings to replace those that will wear out.

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