broad terrace wall. He swiftly dispatched the first pitch with little struggle and after I had seconded up, it was good to see that the route was going to pack it in."

© Guy Robertson Greg seconding on pitch one of Culloden

The crux second pitch, according to Greg, was "worthy of outstanding status", and despite getting an axe stuck on the committing third pitch, the pair completed the route, claiming the second winter ascent and simultaneously climbing the hardest winter route in Scotland so far this season.

Guy reaching the belay below the 3rd pitch of Culloden © Greg Boswell

Greg is keen to keep up his run of good form, having recently flashed M11 and competed in the Red Bull White Cliffs drytooling competition.

He commented: "All in all it was"What is going on? Aren't we still in Italy?" I once heard a man ask confusedly, speaking to no one in particular, as the train announcer listed the names of the upcoming villages only in German. Indeed, many Italians, and even more people abroad, are often shocked to discover that there is a province in the north of the country where German is the mother tongue of most inhabitants, and every town, river, hill and street has a different name in both languages.

More shocking still is that South Tyrol, an idyllic stretch of land in the heart of the Alps, could be a site where the wounds of fascism can still be seen seven decades after the death of Benito Mussolini.

Part of Austria for centuries, South Tyrol and