ABOUT VOCF
Once upon a time, in a wild valley
The story of what was supposed to be a small gathering among friends, and somehow got completely out of hand.
Valle Orco Climbing Festival started in October 2020 with a pretty simple idea: get some friends together, go climbing and enjoy the mountains again after months of restrictions and lockdowns. No big plans. No ambitious forecasts. It was supposed to be a small gathering, but somehow around 150 people showed up: friends, friends of friends and complete strangers who came to Valle Orco with the same desire to climb, hang out and spend a few days in the mountains. Something had happened. And, more importantly, something became very clear: what those who know this place have always known, Valle Orco is special.
A valley that has written some of the most important chapters in the history of Italian climbing, and that remains an incredible playground made of granite, cracks, slabs, boulders, big walls and endless opportunities for exploration. But also a place where climbing is just one of many ways to experience the mountains.
It was supposed to be a gathering among friends. Then everyone else showed up.
That first experience made us wonder: what if we tried to make it a little bigger? In 2021, the first proper Valle Orco Climbing Festival took shape.
None of us had ever organised an event on that scale. We had very few certainties, plenty of ideas and probably even more recklessness. But above all, we wanted to share an incredible place through climbing. Around 1,500 people came to the valley that year. The following year, there were more than 3,000. Then more.
Within just a few editions, VOCF grew to welcome over 8,000 people, with climbers travelling to Valle Orco from all over Italy, Europe and beyond. What started as a gathering among friends somehow became one of the major meeting points for the Italian and international climbing community. But the thing we care about most is that, despite the numbers, it still somehow feels like that very first gathering.
Rain, cold, snow, mud, nothing can stop the stoke of the climbers heading into the Valley.
VOCF was never meant to be just a competition or another outdoor trade show. First and foremost, it is one huge gathering of climbers. For a few days, Ceresole Reale and Valle Orco become a place to climb, learn something new, meet people you might previously have known only through Instagram, listen to stories, discover new lines, share a beer and dance until your legs stop working. Bouldering, trad climbing, cracks, multipitch, sport climbing, highballs. Over the years, the programme has grown to include technical workshops, courses, contests, talks, screenings, outdoor activities, sessions with professional athletes, live music and DJ sets, always with the same goal: creating genuine opportunities for people to meet, share experiences and climb together. Some of the biggest names in international climbing have joined us over the years, but one of the things we’re most proud of is that professional athletes, weekend warriors, locals and people just getting started all share the same spaces. You might spend the morning at a workshop with a climber you’ve followed for years, bump into them over a beer later that evening, and end up dancing together in front of the stage. And that’s exactly how we like it.
More than climbing
As the festival grew, we realised it could also become something more. A place to talk about mountains, the environment, accessibility, outdoor culture and the future of Alpine communities. That’s why climbing sits alongside talks, screenings, associations, environmental projects and organisations that share our way of looking at the mountains. Mountains are places to experience, respect and protect, not simply consume.
At the same time, we keep working to explore and take care of the territory around us: developing new bouldering areas, cleaning and maintaining existing ones, and collaborating with local climbers, associations, institutions and communities throughout the valley. Because bringing thousands of people together in an Alpine environment also comes with responsibility.
VOCF therefore works to reduce its impact as much as possible, encourage responsible behaviour and remind everyone of one very simple rule: we are guests in this valley.
The bigger it gets, the smaller we want it to feel.
The festival has grown thanks to the people who decided to believe in it. Climbers, volunteers, associations, professionals, companies, institutions and some of the most important brands in the outdoor world have all helped turn an idea born almost by accident into something we could never have imagined. But growing doesn’t necessarily mean changing. Quite the opposite.
The bigger VOCF becomes, the more we try to protect what made it special in the first place: an informal, open, inclusive and slightly unconventional atmosphere. We’re not interested in simply building a big event. For a few days, we want to create the kind of place we’d want to hang out in ourselves. A place where you can arrive alone and leave knowing fifty people. Where you can climb all day, or not climb at all. Where you can spend the afternoon having a very serious discussion about climbing ethics and do considerably less serious things a few hours later. Where international climbing stars and complete unknowns somehow end up sitting around the same table.
From 150 friends to thousands of climbers.
A few years have passed since that first gathering. Those 150 people have become thousands. The programme has grown, climbers have travelled here from all over the world, and new partners, workshops, concerts, contests and projects have become part of the festival. But in the end, we’re still doing pretty much the same thing.
nviting a bunch of friends to Valle Orco to go climbing.
There are just quite a lot more of them now.
See you in the Valley.