Mauro Calibani Climbs E9 in Italy!

Mauro Calibani, more well known for his legendary bouldering strength, has quietly been working away on repeating, and establishing, some rather more mentally demanding routes.The 28 year old Italian boulderer won the hearts of the crowd at the Birmingham World Bouldering event atClimb 01, where he won, ahead of Malcolm Smith who finished a very creditable fourth. Earlier in 2001 Calibani was also crowned World Bouldering Champion.Having already had a couple of trips to the Gritstone edges of the Peak District, it seems that Mauro has taken a liking to the esoteric delights of ?Hard Grit?. Having repeated Jerry Moffatt?s Froggatt classic test piece Renegade Master E6/7 6c, and making an impressive on sight of Messiah at Burbage South, Mauro has certainly tasted success. Originally graded E6 6c, Messiah, also first climbed by Jerry Moffatt, is now thought to be more like E7, adding Mauro to a very small list of international climbers to have on sighted E7 on Grit.Not content with leaving his bold climbing in The Peak, Mauro has gone a major step further by adding his own bold trad route, at Collina di Interprete, Mount Sibillines National Park, Central Italy.From his experiences in the Peak, Mauro felt that the nature of the protection on his new route merited using the British trad grade. The overhanging open corner is protected only by a few small nuts and two cams of a #4 friend; sounds inspiring!Mauro had to wait for cool, dry conditions on October 15th, before he was able to feel physically and mentally ready for the headpoint. With a crux move around Font 7c+ and an overall ?sport grade? of F8b Mauro felt that ?Is not always Pasqa? warranted the lofty grade of E9 7a.On the same day his climbing partner Roberto Fantozzi made the first ascent of the nearby ?Your bad dad? E7 6c (Font 7a, F7b+), repeated immediately by Stefano Romanucci and Calibani. Not bad for a day´s work. It looks like Italy is slowly becoming an enticing venue for hard bold routes!Thank you to www.planetmountain.com

QuellePlanetFear