Gioia | 8C+ Boulder problem at Varazze

First ascent.

References

[1] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/gioia-fb8c-at-varazze-by-christian-core.html

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBivfjAU_fA

[3] https://www.infoboulder.com/?mod=news&ID=907

Translated:

Last summer we fixed a cave that seemed to have worthy lines. Together we discovered several very aesthetic moves, all on crimps and little for the feet. I initially freed one of the most logical lines: "Gioia" standing: starting from an obvious long crimp halfway up the cave, continuing obliquely towards the right to tip over onto a slab with small grips. The line was splendid, but to be complete it lacked the union with the first half of the cave. So I tried it, initially a little scared of discovering that perhaps a hold or a key foothold was missing (in bouldering the boundaries of "do it or not" are often very close, sometimes even just one missing point is enough for it to become unclimbable), I tried for a while and saw that there were exactly the holds I needed, "God was surely a boulderer too", sometimes the holds are positioned too perfectly for it to be a coincidence. The attempts began, as soon as I had a few free hours I found myself hanging on its severe holds to try the singles. Around Christmas there was a long period of rain, sometimes even snow. I tried it and shortly after the rain arrived, the cave often remained wet for days and working it became difficult. Due to the humidity I chipped a hold while pulling it, on the hardest section, I was scared of losing this perfect line and decided to wait for better conditions so as not to break anything else, until the clouds that seemed to be an integral part of the place finally disappeared, giving everyone perfect conditions: sun and fresh air for a long time. The days of attempts became more and more frequent (holes in the fingers permitting), everything was aimed at Gioia, until the long-awaited day arrived, I climbed this perfect line, and the joy of "Gioia" was immense. I think it is the hardest boulder I have ever climbed. I propose the grade of 8c while waiting for someone to come and try it. - 14 holds plus the intermediate ones, all small holds and always precarious feet. It is located in the cave to the right of the famous line "Chiavi del Regno" in the first boulder of the Antro dei Druidi sector, at Potala. - It starts crouched down on the left, follows the oblique line of pot holders that cuts the cave to the right to exit at the top. I propose the grade of 8c. At the end of April the first official guide of Varazze will be released , with all the sectors and blocks of the place, where you will also find this beautiful line.I would like to thank Marco Bagnasco once again

Second ascent.

A fairy-tale end of physical and mental battle, spent 11 days in total on this problem, the same as on Terranova, therefore I go for 8C+ from the same reasons. Thumbs up Christian [Core] for the vision and excitement to keep trying over and over again, I knew it is possible, Christian saw just a piece of incredible impossible-looking rock.

On the grade:

Well every single move is at the very limit and so I do think it's 8C+. I'd compare it in difficulty to Terranova. If you were to give this 8C, then the bouldering grades wouldn't make much sense anymore. You'd have to downgrade all the 8B+ and most of the 8C's as well. When Christian [Core] sent the problem he thought it could be 8C+, but he first suggested 8C to play things safe. I can only congratulate him for this superb ascent three years ago. [2]

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeR47AQ05Jo

[2] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/adam-ondra-the-pure-gioia-interview.html

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMNZGPnwve4

Third ascent.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/kzaHzkSEg9/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fezk14WH3jI

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CIyIHSCDGpL/

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvttLU5I9hc

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M87x7DjjJHE