“Have You Ever Thanked the Rocks? | Reflections from Melloblocco 2025”

“Have you ever thanked the rocks?”

It is with this question, inspired by a famous line from the film La Belle Verte, that I want to open a reflection through the lens of bouldering. The occasion comes from my return from Melloblocco 2025, one of the most significant events in the national and international bouldering scene. An event that every year brings together an ever-growing community of enthusiasts, drawn to the essential values of this discipline: direct contact with nature, the immediacy of the experience, and that spontaneous inclination to share that turns every outing into a collective adventure among friends and fellow travelers. It is precisely this essence of bouldering that has, over time, fostered initiatives rich in encounters and exchanges: a crossroads of visions, people, companies, and different approaches to the rock — all united by a desire to be together and celebrate something.

But what are we celebrating?

As Maximiliano Piazza — route setter of the initiative — reminds us in a recent piece on the official website, where he defines Melloblocco as “a connection between past and present, between those who climbed the rocks by instinct and those who now face them with passion and awareness. [...] Those who still climb those boulders today are unknowingly performing an ancient act. The bouldering of the past is not dead: it lives in every line traced with respect, in every silent ascent, in every fall and every time we get back up and try again.”

This connection takes shape, now more than ever, in the rock of Melloblocco, where the competitive side of the event coexists with the social spirit of the gathering. We at Brazz also had the opportunity to engage in deep and often overlooked topics, thanks to a dedicated space open to all boulderers, organized in collaboration with La Sportiva. We called them Mellotalks: a small informal salon where authoritative voices such as James Pearson, Caroline Ciavaldini, Alessandro Palma, Siara Fabbri, Simone Tentori, and Davide Bassotto brought reflections that go beyond the usual distinctions between styles and disciplines. A vision of sport climbing emerged — aware, and in need of embracing the memory of its origins, celebrating its achievements, and recognizing their value within a broader, more mature, and sensitive development.

Today, more than ever, bouldering calls for a dual perspective: on one hand, an eye on the numbers, the inclusivity of initiatives, and the festive — and valuable — spirit of the events; on the other, the ability to reconnect with the roots, with what makes this discipline so authentic, so deeply human. And here, at Melloblocco, all of this comes to life in a network of valleys where villages, local businesses, groups, associations, and families have — knowingly or not — chosen to intertwine their stories with those of the rocks. Those boulders that are neither small nor imposing, but just the right size to represent a challenge, a “problem” to solve.

And just like those boulders, life itself presents obstacles that lead to unconventional, often countercurrent choices — choices that are hard to understand at first. But it only takes one person — the first — to reach the top, and suddenly the whole path makes sense. And perhaps it inspires others, who might not know exactly why they're there, but in the meantime, they enjoy a moment, an experience, a sensation that would otherwise be impossible. All of this… from the rocks. From something that, at first glance, might seem to have no value in our fast-paced world. Something that would normally be removed to clear the way. And yet look at how much energy, how many emotions, how much reflection and dialogue they are generating. Today, in this 2025.

And so I ask again: have you ever thanked the rocks?