I just returned from another trip in the forests of the Frankenjura in Germany!
It was my 15th trip here so I have nothing more to say about the place,the climbing,the landscapes,the people... Everything in my opinion is perfect here and I feel like at home.
Finally for the first time I managed to bring other friends and for the first week we were a nice crew of 6!
Unfortunately the weather has been horrible for many days at the beginning and the rocks were really wet from all the rain and snow of this past winter.
All the routes I wanted to try were unclimbable and soaked so I had to find some dry or semi dry stuffs.
Keeping the motivation high was really hard with that weather and besides that, after a couple of days of climbing on wet holds I got two bad splits.
After a few days a big part of the crew left but me and Ema had another 10days planned! The weather finally became more sunny and stable and my two splits were healed!
My main project for the trip stayed wet for all the lenght of the trip so I had to move the attention on some other routes.
After only a few tries of work each I was able to do a couple of 8c+ and one 8c of course all of them estabilished from Markus Bock!
During attempts on the harder projects I really wanted to do some classics from the 80's and possibly from Wolfgang Güllich!
Here is a list of the routes I climbed during this trip:
- Three Suns and One Star 8c+
- Sympathy for the Devil 8c+ (photos)
- Second Place is the First Loser 8c
- Kamasutra 218 8b (Gullich '86)
- Killer 8b (Gullich '87)
- Amadeus Schwarzenegger 8a+ (Gullich '86)
- Amboss 8a+ ('88)
- Melanom 8a+ ('89)
- 00 Faber 8a+ ('96)
- Engel und Bestien 8a ('85)
And here is a little trailer from my friend Matteo Pavana "The Vertical Eye" about the first wet week of the trip!
As I said on the previous posts, since I got back from Spain my main interest has been training and getting ready for the trip planned in Frankenjura,Germany!
Back from Catalunya my level of resistence and fitness was very high for my standards but I felt like I had lost big part of my power.
So in the past two months I've been training mainly power! This means, besides campus boarding and some weights, alot of bouldering in the gym and outside at least once per week!
Luckily I live only a couple of hours from the best areas in Switzerland but I don't have many boulders of 8a or 8a+ yet to do...
By the way there are some beautiful pieces of rock I still have to do and here is a list of problems sent during the last weeks between Ticino and Val d'Aosta with some personal grades:
- Baby Mammoth 8a+ Chironico
- Un Ange avec des Cornes 8a+ Cresciano
- The Guilty of the Hilti 8a Brione (not sure about the grade but could be 8a+)
- Black Pearl 8a/a+ Brione (given 8a+) Gabri_Black Pearl from rivoli on Vimeo.
- The Barbarians were Helpless 8a Chironico (seldom repeated could be 8a/a+...)
- Second Life 8a Chironico (given 8a+)
- Viva il Cavaliere 7c+ Val d'Aosta
- Cuor di Leone sit 7c+ Val d'Aosta
- Pamplemousse 7c/c+ Chironico (Flash. Given 8a)
- Orange County 7c Brione (Flash. Given 8a)
- Highway to Hell 7c Val d'Aosta (Flash. First Ascent)
- Brutalization 7c Val d'Aosta (First Ascent)
- Notte Abbastanza Buia 7c Val d'Aosta (First Ascent)
It looks like the training is starting to pay off and it's time to pack my stuffs and head to Germany... Frankenjura here I come!
Talking about the present I just finished my training plan and I'm ready for some rest and hopefully getting in good shape soon! Let's see if the training will pay off... On april 10th I'm headed to the Frankenjura for a couple of weeks! I have many projects from last year... and certainly I will find some new ones!! Right after Frankenjura I will take part at the annual event Melloblocco that this year will last 10days.We will see if we can try the comp problems in decent conditions some days... If not, it will be party a muerte like every year! Last but not least on june 10th I'm going to Brazil for a month!! I'm really excited for this trip! I'm going with some good french friends, Enzo Oddo,Seb Bouin and the trip organizer Francisco Taranto Jr. who will take photos and videos! Our plan is climbing in the beautiful brazilian crags, repeating and establishing the hardest routes in the country, trying to open some new routes on bigger walls and enjoying the brazilian culture! Can't wait!
Hey everybody!
One month has already passed since I came back from Spain... time goes fast and I really miss the good times spent with Silvio and Mauro...
After I got back from the trip I took a week of rest. I really needed it especially after two months of non stop climbing. Good for the body,the fingers and especially for the head!
Once I felt recovered I planned a little training plan for the next couple of months! In my training plan I put a little bit of everything but especially power training! That means weights,bouldering,fingerboarding, two/three double sessions per week and for sure some rock climbing sessions as well!
I hope it will work since I'd like to get in good shape for my planned trip in the Frankenjura this spring... We will see...
This last week was an active rest week from training!
I spent a few days in Arco with Silvio visiting friends and checking out some new stuffs my friend Markus Bock bolted in this place called Nago. I met Markus and he showed me the new routes he just opened and the projects he is trying!
Markus Bock on his new 8c in Nago!
The first day helped by Silvio's beta I flashed this new Markus creation called Black Thoot Grin!
Beatiful route but due to the heavy rains of this last period still a bit wet. Once fully cleaned and dry it is destinated to become a new classic at about 8a+/b!
The next couple of days we tried Bucking Bronco, another great rig Markus just opened on a big boulder below the classic sector of Nago and proposed 8c+ for it!
Bucking Bronco looks like a Frankenjura route, short,bouldery with some small holds, bad pinches and some hard clips!
After some serious working and micro beta adjustments,on the first try of the third day on it everything went right and I got the second ascent of this new gem! Psyched!
Silvio was super close and fell several times at the last hard move of the crux! Next time!
I want to thank Markus for bringing his FJ's vision in Arco where the potential for this kind of routes is very big. All the new stuffs he bolted in Nago are real gems and I can't wait to go back to try the new ones!
Saturday I spent a couple days in Chironico with the idea of bolting a new short route. We got there and everything was pretty soaked. I lowered down to check if there were holds on the face and I realized it might go... or at least it looks like there are enough features for a possible route! Since the rock was really wet I decided to postpone the bolting and wait for another more dry day.
Almost all the boulders were wet so I went to see if the route K-19 was dry...
K-19 is an amazing route on a huge boulder in the sector Nivo in Chironico. The line follows a perfect steep arete for about 20meters. I don't know who bolted it but I know the Ticino local climber Nicola Vonarburg got the first to send last year and proposed the 8c grade.
The perfect arete of K-19
Luckily the route was completely dry and I thought it was a good idea to give some attempts. I tried the route already a couple of times last year and got close to send it.
To my surprise the route was not only dry but the friction was pretty good too! I gave a working go and felt good on the sequences. The route consists in a 7a intro to a rest. Then a 10moves crux sequence on crimps at about 7c boulder till a good but awkward rest in the roof. From here the final part of the climb gets physical and pumpy on slopey holds and bad feet. I think the outro could be around 8a+...
Next try went well but I fell in the middle of the crux. I had too much confidence on a move and missed the next hold...ouch!
The following try was good and I could get through the crux. I struggled a little on the last pumpy part but I didn't mess up and eventually sent the route for its second ascent!
I wish there would be more granite routes like this...
K-19 was my 70th route above 8c!! Hopefully I can get to 100 before the end of the year... A ver!...
Now it's time to get serious again and hit the gym for another two weeks of hard training!
I'm just back from the trip of my
life...climbing in the best crags of Catalunya! For fun we called the journey No Siesta Spain Trip and we made a cool blog(unfortunately only in italian) about it.
This time it wasn't the usual two weeks
trip like I had every year around Christmas/New Years!
I have been planning this trip for a
year or so togheter with my buddy Silvio Reffo. This kind of
experience was new for both of us since we have never been on a
climbing trip that long... Silvio was a full time physio student
until a few months ago so he has never had the time. By my part I
might had the time since I'm a full time climber but unfortunately
I've never found the right people to do this kind of thing!
I think Silvio is one of
the best trip mates I could have asked for... strong,motivated,quiet
and of course a good friend!
Another new thing for us was that we
travelled in a van... a very big one! Three beds,kitchen,shower ecc
and we had the opportunity to stay in one spot for as many days as we
wanted until the projects were done!
And last but not least we have been
followed by a filmaker for the whole trip! Our friend Mauro Giordani is a very
talented filmaker and always psyched to jumar some ropes and film
some action!...
We uploaded some short clips during the
trip but the main idea is to edit a longer movie about the trip, our
climbing experience and eventually show the final product
togheter with some lectures at various events during the year...
Let's talk about the trip now! Writing
about two months of travels,climbs,rocks,friends etc is pretty
difficult so I will try not to be too boring!
After an endless 15hours journey
started in Novara on december 8th and finished in Oliana
at 4.30am the day after, we finally got to the parking lot, tired as hell especially after the last bit of road, driving through the
Pyrenees,during the night with frozen roads... But we arrived at our final destination safe and sound and we were so psyched that me
and Silvio couldn't sleep much!
The beginning of the trip in Oliana has
been all about ups and downs for me...
We spent about ten days enjoying the
beautiful routes and landscapes. We also spent good times with great
friends like Graziano,Bernardo,Paolo,Chris,Daila,Anna and many
others!
The “down part”of this start of the
trip was that I noticed that my level of fitness was horrible!I
always felt tired at the cliff and I couldn't sleep well at night.
I had to imagine it since my
preparation and resting before this trip has not been the best and
before leaving I've been climbing short routes or boulders non-stop.
So I took this first ten days taking it
easy and getting ready for the second part of the trip in one of my
favourite places on earth... Siurana!
We arrived in Siurana some days before
Christmas and immediately we met up with some good italian friends who were
staying here for the Christmas holidays.
Here is Siurana I defenitely had the
best times of the trip! Every day was waking up,breakfast at the
panaderia in Cornudella and climbing a muerte with the rest of the
crew... then beers,dinner and some more beers and parties in the
evenings!
I also started to feel much better
and fitter and in a few days I was able to climb one of my projects
of the trip...
Jungle Speed is a 9a route opened by
Daniel Jung a few years back and repeated a bunch of times by other
makinas... I worked the route one day with Dani Andrada and Oscar
Jimenez who gave me perfect beta. After a few tries I made a couple
of close attempts falling at the end of the hard bouldery sequence
and I thought I was ready to take it down! But as usual I started to
punt and I wasted some more tries! Then on a very warm day everything
clicked and I easily climbed the rig!
Silvio also finished his 9a project
Estado Critico in the same day so I let you imagine the amount of
party we (not Silvio...me and the other italian homies!)had that
night!...
Funny thing is that the day after, of
course with a bad hungover, I re-climbed the rig for the video and
felt it pretty easy!... As always I have no idea about the real
difficulty and I doubt the grade 9a... but as always I
don't really care since it is a sick route and the quality of the
rock is one of the best in Siurana!
The rest of the time here has been all
about New Years celebrations, a couple of days to recover from it and
some good punting on one of my nemesis rigs A Muerte at Campigui
Pugui! Like every year I felt really close but then I started falling over and over at the same hell of a move and left it for the next times...
A week or so after New Years Eve, the
climbers started to leave the Siurana cliffs and Cornudella de
Monsant returned to be a ghost village so it was time to leave and
move to Margalef!
When we got to Margalef it was pretty
warm, so we thought about checking out the cliffs in the shade.
Silvio wanted to try Era Vella, one of
the most famous and repeated 9a in the world.
I got to the cliff without any projects
in mind, but previously Chris Sharma tell me about a beautiful route
he put up called La Nevera Severa graded 8c+/9a in the sector just next to Era
Vella...
This is not the common Margalef route
on pockets... it is something odd, very original and challenging!
Actually what I was looking for since I was not really attracted by
Era Vella. Of course it is a beautiful route and the wall is very
ispiring but at that moment I was not really psyched to test my level
of fitness and just pull on good holds for 45meters...
I needed something different!
This rig is crazy! It consists in a 7a
start to a ledge. Then a little boulder problem on pinches until you
get to the best tufa feature you can imagine! At the bottom is like a
normal double tufa feature then after some meters the two tufas
become a unique thing and shape one single fat “tube-like” tufa
feature that gets wider and wider!
At the top the tube
become so big that you can't reach the sides so you have to stay on
the right side of it using some bad side slopers and flat edges.
The climbing on
the route is very demanding, physical and technical at the same time
and the slaps have to be done precisely. It's a
compression testpiece actually!!
During the first
tries on the route I was getting mad finding the right grips and the
bad feet on the tufa...
Finally after some days of work I could
see the light and started to make some good links.
And of course before finishing it I
fell a few times at the top on the final technical crux...
But then in a day with perfect temps,
with a great fight against the fatigue I could do the crux move and
kept it togheter till the chains!!
Climbing this amazing piece of rock has
been one of the most satisfying climbing experiences I had. If you want to climb this route you need to put to the test your
physical,your technical but especially your brain skills!!...
After the send of La Nevera Severa I
felt fresh and fit but I didn't want to project anything for more
than two days.
I've been climbing a couple more weeks
between Margalef and Siurana and I was able to do some good onsights
till 8a+/b and a bunch of 8c's with the quickness!
Once I climbed this 8c called Lola
Corwin in the Siuranella South sector of Siurana I decided to put
some bolts on a direct and more logical start of the route... Daniel
Jung told me about this new possible line a year ago but I didn't
have the time to put the bolts on.
This year the line was still virgin so
I took my drill and added five bolts on the new part!
I cleaned it a
little bit, put some chalk on and immediately started to figure out
the sequences. The new rig is in perfect Siurana style, this means super bullet grey rock with tiny crimps, slopey pocket and even a few
monos!The new part I bolted could be 8b+ itself, very bouldery and
with very small grips. The crux of this part is a very weird move to
get a sharp mono! I fell here repeatedly until I splitted a tip
and decided to let it go and try it again once the finger was
healed!
This means it was time to move back to
Oliana! Silvio finally sent his project Era Vella so we were both
“project free” and ready to bounce again!
Second time in Oliana was much better
for me. Finally I had some resistence and I could try more seriously
what I left uncompleted at the beginning of the trip: Joe Blau, an
amazing 50meters long 8c+!
Joe Blau is a sick route bolted(partially)by Joe
Kinder! Basically there was an already existing 8b+ called El Gran
Blau that starts from another 8b called Marroncita. At about midway
the 8b+ goes right and follow a perfect line on sculpted pocketed rock with a technical and pumpy finish...
Last year Joe bolted the most logical
straight line that joins the 8b+! The part Joe bolted it's alone
around hard 8c with some of the best moves and kind of holds you can
find everywhere!
Well this time I didn't punt much and
after only a couple of days and without falling at the end I finished
this great rig! It's defenitely one of the longest hard routes I've
done in my career and I was pretty psyched to finish it!
Joe climbed it as well... he put alot of
work on his route last season but he couldn't finish it and left Spain
empty handed. But this year has been different and he finally finished his
opera!! Mission complete dude!Props!
Days in Oliana have been great! The
crag was always packed with lots of people from all over the world!
Adam and Chris were in the house too working on La Dura Dura and the climb on it is actually one of the most impressive things I've seen. The route
looks ridiculous like 9b or so in ten meters then another ten meters
of 8c+ and more 8b climb at the top... New Level!
Funny thing was that everybody was psyched and couldn't wait for the “Dura Dura Show” to
start! And when the two climbers were off trying the rig the audience
was quiet watching the show and cheering their favourite one...
Unfortunately I couldn't watch the
final episode! Adam finally climbed La Dura Dura the same day we left
Oliana! Good job dude!
But beside the two super heroes I think
the most impressive ascent has been done by Silvio!
Last year when I came back from a
couple of weeks here in Oliana having climbed Mind Control,one of the
classics of the wall, given 8c+ at the time,now 8c, I met Silvio some
days later and told him that he should have tried it on flash... I
know him pretty well, I know what he is capable to do and this route
suits his style perfectly so I was pretty sure he would have had a
good chance to flash it!
Well my prediction was right and
Silvio, with the perfect beta from Ondra Benes and Barbara Raudner
and some help with the translation from myself executed perfectly all
the moves and casually flashed the route!!! Very inspiring to watch
and pretty intense moment for me as well since I had the big
responsability to instantly translate and give quick indications
about the moves...
After the great successes in Oliana the
days were quickly coming to the end and we only had a couple of days left climbing in Siurana and by my part trying to finish “La
Carriola Project”, the direct start of Lola Corwin I bolted
some weeks before.
I felt really good that day and the
conditions were okay. Cold, cloudy and a bit humid but at least it
was not sunny and there was not too much wind. This route needs cold
temps in my opinion, the sun makes the blue rock too warm and the
wind makes the rock too dry and glassy... So that day was kinda
perfect for my tastes!
I gave one first try to put all the
quickdraws and getting the whole thing dialed again. Next try I fell
one more time to stuck the mono due to a little foot slip. Next try
was luckily the last one, I climbed perfectly the first part but got
into the crux of Lola Corwin a bit pumped. But with the last power I
had I did the crux boulder and clipped the chain of this new amazing
route I named La Carriola!!
What a huge relief having completed the
process just before leaving.
I'm really proud of this
route, I think it's a new good addition in the Siurana hard routes
and I can't wait to hear about someone trying it and maybe repeating
it!
The grade I gave is 8c+ but I'm free to
listen other opinions.
The math is not good for this route
since the first half of Lola Corwin is about 7a+ and only the second
half gives the 8c(maybe a soft one?)grade...
On La Carriola I personally think the
first part is about 8b+ and the second part is basically the 8c part
of Lola Corwin... and it makes 8c+!?! I have no clue but this is the
grade I felt when I climbed it!...
Well I hope you enjoyed this post...
It's really hard to explain all the mixed emotions I felt during this
two months but finally I can say it has been the best trip/experience of
my life!
Living in a van in contact with two
good friends like Silvio and Mauro and our van neighbour for two
months Graziano, passing the best times during Xmas/New Years days
with the homies:
Petardo,Thomas,Guido,Pietro,Vieri,Claudio,Stefanino,Luca...,
improving my spanish and learning from the experience of Bernardo and Jah
and of course passing great times with
Chris,Daila,Anna,Paolo,Joe,Colette,Barbara,Hannes,Primo,Adam,Kubo and
all the people I met during this couple of months!! Gracias!
Now it's time to chill out a little bit and getting ready for the next trip!...
Hello everybody!
Lately I've been really lazy and couldn't find the inspiration to write a good post...
Well you can easily find the inspiration when you have alot of free time but the main motive is that I don't have a single picure(except for Kalymnos) of this last two months and I felt so bad about that ...
But today I feel inspired and I don't care about pictures so I hope the words will be enough to entertain you for some minutes...
Let's start with Kalymnos a couple of months ago!
The North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival has been a great event!
It was my first time on the island! I've always been a bit skeptical about Kalymnos,the climbing style,the grades and the "lifestyle and holiday nature" of the place... but eventually I really enjoyed it and I think I will return in the near future to check what else the island has to offer! During the Festival there was a friendly competition for us Pros in a new crag intentionally developed for the event. The ambience was great and we had alot of fun!
Unfortunately the climate was very warm and we were obliged to climb in the very early morning so we couldn't climb really hard stuffs. In the end five of us, Me,Alex Megos,Yuji Hirayama,Nico Favresse and Mike Fuselier finished off three of the four proposed routes! This three routes were 8a,8b and 8b/b+ and the hardest unclimbed one is actually still a project around 8c 8c+!
I have to thank The North Face for the invitation and the sick event they organized!! Really looking forward to next year's edition... After Kalymnos I directly went to the Frankenjura! I was travelling togheter with my buddy Ema and we spent all october in an apartment by the Eichler Campground in the tiny village of Untertrubach! It was defenitely a climber's apartment and we had the chance to meet some great people from Germany,The Netherlands and Australia! My climbing during this trip has not been the best... After Kalymnos I felt so weak and I needed a week or so to get back in shape... Another weird thing was the weather... First very variable and unpredictable,then very good but cold and the last ten days bad and cold until it snowed out...
After I climbed some beautiful routes between 8b and 8c+ I decided to start trying something harder.
The choice was very vast and my idea at the beginning was to take a look at a 9a+ called Corona but then I decided to try The Elder Statesman 9a since I had already climbed the easier 8c+ left start version and I thought it would have been a quick work... Big mistake!!This route turned into a real nemesis... I had a few great attempts at the beginning just after I climbed the 8c+ version then real disaster... weather and skin conditions were completely against me and I've never finished it feeling so close that every attempt could have been the last even in glacial temps! But well... failure is a big part of climbing and every trip can't finish in the right way!...
Anyhow I managed to climb some great and hard routes:
- The last rites 8c+;Masters of the universe 8c/c+; Cringer 8c; Steinbock 8c; Powerplay 8c
In november I had the chance to spend the last possible weekend at Bus de Vela in Trento before the season ended! Conditions were perfect for me... Every other climber at the crag was complaining about how cold it was but personally it felt like the ultimate friction... Probably I got used to the cold in Frankenjura!
Last year I bolted a route just left to Il Frutto del Diavolo and named it No More Passion. The first part looked hard but climbable until a good hueco like hole. From here the route is still 7/8 more meters long. Last 4meters looked ok but the 3 meters in between the hueco and the last ok meters were really blank...
I remember I noticed a small edge,a tiny one finger pocket and a flat pinch in this part but absolutely no good feet...
Basically I had no clue if this part of wall could go until the day I climbed it.
After the bolting I didn't have the time to try it and finally this summer with heinous temps I decided to have a look at the route. As I thought the first 18/20 meters were climbable and very good! On the second part I couldn't move and it felt like...impossible! The edge was horrible,the mono was so small that I couldn't fit with my medium finger, the pinch was bad and so far away and the feet... only smears!!
That's why I thought about climbing the bottom part until the hueco and then link it up with the upper part of the route just left resulting in a beautiful 8b called Terminegro!
I admit I also thought about chopping the bolts but finally this fall its day came again and I said to myself why not to take another look at the holds with the ultimate friction!?!?!
Crazy... the edge felt not too bad, the mono was still tiny but I could put my ring finger in and the pinch didn't look too far away anymore! Suddenly I could do the single moves and felt like the climb was possible!!
Next go I barely did the first 8a+/b part to the hueco again. Luckily here the rest is very good and you can recover and get ready for the real business. Without any ambitions I started the hard boulder and with a huge fight, one of the biggest I've ever done I would say, I managed to do the boulder and rested before the last yet hard but easier moves! Another battle and I was at the chain!!
What a great feeling and relief! First of all because the process is complete, I bolted it and now it went free and second because I had many doubts if this route could go or not and suddenly I climbed it with quickness... climbing will never stop to surprise me!...
I really have no idea about the grade but I think it is in the 8c range!
A few weeks ago I decided to get back to try my last season nightmare 9a+ route Goldrake in Cornalba...
This time I didn't want to project it and take it seriously like last time. I had less time(only a couple of weeks before leaving again) and I thought if it goes well I will do it and it would be great but If I won't do it it will not be a problem!
In the end I had the chance to try it only a few times... I couldn't always find belayers. But the times I tried it went well and I had some good attempts! Can't wait for next season on it!
Right now I'm packing for my next big trip in Spain!!
The plan is staying in Catalunya for a couple of months travelling with a campervan togheter with my friends Silvio Reffo and Mauro Giordani that will also film our climbs and experiences!
We will keep a blog updated(probably in italian) with photos and videos on the website www.nosiestaspaintrip.com(it will be online in a few days) so stay tuned!!
Unfrortunately this year I could't spend much time in my favourite italian crag. I climbed here just a few days between march and september but I managed to make three great first to sends:
- Happy MILF 8c/c+ in May. Bolted by Valerio Ballardini. I think this route is one of the best 8c's in Italy and defenitely in my top 5 8c's ever... perfect rock and various moves. Still unrepeated.
- Terminegro 8b in August. Last year I bolted a route just left to "Il Frutto del Diavolo". The rig climbs very well until a big hole at 3/4 of the length at about 8a+. After the big hole there is a very blank part which I'm still not sure it will go or not. So I decided to move left after the big hole and climb the top part of the route Mezza Negra. The result is a great and kind of logic line! Repeated by Valerio Ballardini.
- Team Compression 8c in September(actually a few hours ago :-D). Bolted by Giovanni Cozzio(L1) and Nicola de Angelis(L2). This rig climbs all the 8b/b+ "Disaffection for Compression" that finishes at about 2/3 of the wall. After the chain there is a good rest and you can logically link the pitch with the top parts of "Belzebù Climbing Team" or "Il Frutto del Diavolo". This time I managed to link it up with the first but the exit on "Il Frutto del Diavolo" will definitely take a +!...
Happy MILF 8c/c+ photos by Massimo Malpezzi
Here is the updated list of the routes!
from right to left:
1) Il Ladro di Vie 6c+
2) Polveri Sottili 7c (same start of 1 then left)
3) Erezioni Vulcaniche 8a+ (direct start of 2)
4) Bombo Balla 8b/b+
5) Iron Man PROJECT 8c+/9a? (same start of 4 then left)
6) Bassi Dream aka Colpi Bassi PROJECT 8c+?
7) Happy Milf 8c+
8) La Gabi 8c
9) Scoglio de Capri 8c
10) Belzebù Climbing Team 8c (same first 15meters of 9 then left)
11) Disaffection for Compression 8b/b+
11')Team Compression 8c (all 11 and exit on 10)
11")Devil Compression PROJECT 8c+? (all 11 and exit on 12)
12) Il Frutto del Diavolo 8c+/9a (start on the RH side of the ledge)
13) No More Passion 8b+/c (start in the middle of the ledge)
14) Terminegro 8b (start on 13 and finish on 15)
15) Mezza Negra PROJECT 8c? (start on the LH side of the ledge)
16) Siamo Squali nelle Reti 8b+ (same start of 9, traverse left on the holes and exit on 15)
17) Sleep But No Love PROJECT 8?
18) Le Tre Madonne PROJECT 8? (same first 15meters of 17 then left)
19) Gio's route 7c
20) Open Bar PROJECT 8c+?
20')Tigre contro Tigre PROJECT 9a? (first 4 bolts of 20 then right)
21) Kittatterra PROJECT 8c+?
22) Iggy Pop 7c+ (LH start of 21 from the top of the house)
23) Er Bus 8a/a+
24) L'insaziabile 8b
25) Lioness PROJECT 8bc? (same start of 24)
26) It's mine 8a+ (same start of 24)
27) L'Abuso del Buso 8a (same start of 24)
28) Pollon 8a
29) Tajerino 8a
30) Dragon 7b+ (same start of 29)
31) Bastardi 7a+ (same start of 29)
32) Route 666 6c
33) Il Panettiere 7c
34) Bella Regis 8c/c+ (same start of 33 then right on the prow)
35) Re de Roma PROJECT 8b?
36) Peter Panico 7b
37) People Have the Power 7b
I just got back from a two weeks trip in Germany!
I've been travelling with my friend Ema.
First we drove to Stuttgart where I competed at the invitational Adidas Rockstars bouldering comp! It has been a great event perfectly organized! Every athlete had a hotel room in front of the Porsche Arena where the comp was held! Free dinners both nights, food and drinks vauchers and so on! We were finally treated like we should be!
And of course the competition was a big show with very nice walls,good route setting,lights,music bands playing etc!!
This has been the first real competition in a year or more so it was a bit hard to get used again but I was very psyched and I eventually got in the right mood!...
Qualification round was not so difficult, I climbed well and motivated and I've been very close to flash all the five boulders! Finally I flashed just four of them but I fell going for the top hold twice on the last boulder!... Of course it was enough to pass the round and I was going into semis in 7th place!
Semi finals were much harder! The problems were all doable but at the end I could top only two of the four problems in too many attempts and it was actually not enough to get in final!
I finished 11th!... not a great result but not so bad either since I had not climbed on a "comp style" boulder in a long time and my only training facility lately has been my fingerboard and sometimes the gym...
Result are here!
Big up to Sean Mc Coll and Alex Puccio for their victory!
After Stuttgart we drove a couple of hours NE to the Frankenjura for a ten days of climbing on some of the best rock in the world!
Weather has been good and sunny for all the time. At the beginning temps were very good for the season so without wasting time I started trying an 8c+ called Kawashuwu...
On my second try I pulled too much on a small mono and got my annular a bit tweaked! This means I had to avoid small monos and be careful!
After a couple of days the temps started to increase and climbing became more difficult... less friction and a big waste of tries!!But of course still climbable!
But the good thing was that I was feeling pretty fit!
In a bit more than a week I sent a few hard routes in less than ideal conditions:
- Odd Fellows 8c; nice route with a technical and crimpy crux at the top.
- Father and Son 8c; different style than the usual FJ's hard routes, some of the best holds and moves.
- Kompressor 8c; bouldery route on a roof with a crux involving a slopey crack and a fist jam!
- Headcrash 8b+/c: hardest of the routes I did this trip in my opinion!One of the best lines in FJ!
Hey there!
Sorry again for the lack of updates but after Frankenjura in may I couldn't climb outside much due to other obligations...
In june I spent a week or so in Ceüse in order to start trying Biographie, one of my primary projects for the summer! I had really bad conditions in these days! First wet after a huge storm then super warm and greasy... so I could try it only for a few days but I felt not so bad on the route! But I had to go back home for a while for some important stuffs before going back to my favourite crag and project!!... During these days I got a big work offer for all july and after some thought I decided to accept the job! I've been pretty broke lately and this was the best decision I could make! That means bye bye Ceüse for this year! So the last month has been all about working, training in the evenings and of course possibly climbing in the weekends! Now the work is kind of over(only a couple more weeks in september), I'm free for all august and I don't regret anything about my decision since it was not so hard as I thought and I feel the training is starting to pay off!...
Last weekend I took part at an international bouldering invitational comp in L'Aquila(Italy) where I ended 2nd after Guigui Glairon Mondet! The event has been great and for a good cause! If you don't know it L'Aquila has been totally destroyed from a eartquake in 2009! The town has a big climbing tradition and organized many important climbing comps in the past... This event was the first organized after the earthquake and it was a good way to know climbing again in the town! Finals were in the night in a big and packed square! I also climbed a couple of days in the local areas and I can't wait to return soon! Here is the video of the event!
I'm looking forward to the next months! I have big plans for the near future so this means I will travel alot... Tomorrow I'm heading to Germany where I will compete at the Adidas Rockstars event! After this I will spend a week or so in my lovely Frankenjura praying for decent conditions! Then
I plan to go to Arco at the end of august/beginning of june. I still
don't know if I will compete or not at the Rock Master but for sure I will be around! September will be all about work and The North Face Climbing Festival in Kalymnos at the end of the month! In October I will go to Frankenjura for a month! November I still don't know but I'd like to finish my nemesis project Goldrake in Cornalba! And probably I will go to Argentina for the Petzl RocTrip!
And finally I'm planning to spend some months in Spain this winter!...
