Aleksandra Taistra sends Sardinia's Hotel Supramonte

Poland’s Aleksandra Taistra has managed to repeat Hotel Supramonte in the Gorropu Gorge in Sardinia. Two decades after the ground-up first ascent in 1998/99 by Rolando Larcher and Roberto Vigiani, this 400m 8b continues to prove an irresistible draw for the best. After the first ascent, the other key climbs worth bearing in mind are: the first free ascent in 2000 at the hands of Pietro Dal Prà, the first female ascent carried out by Martina Cufar in 2004 and the first on-sight by Adam Ondra in 2008. And of course, the first rebolting, carried out by Larcher and Maurizio Oviglia in 2012…

Hotel Supramonte by Aleksandra Taistra

On Friday October 11th I managed to send all 11 pitches of Hotel Supramonte in the Gole di Gorropu without ever falling. It was an absolutely perfect, no-fall day.

I already knew the route from last spring, when I had really bad luck with conditions. This autumn the hardest part was finding a climbing partner willing to climb with me or support me. In the end I decided to travel to Sardinia on my own and with a little help from my friend Valter De Lucia, I placed some fixed ropes and practiced the crux pitches on my own. In the meantime I waited for someone to climb the route with.

In September I had the chance to climb with someone but the temperatures were so high that I wouldn’t really call what I did proper climbing… In October my boyfriend, who went to establish new sport climbing areas in Saudi Arabia, bought a ticket and convinced our friend Simone Papalia to come to Sardinia.  And on only our second day of climbing (with 2 days rest in between) I managed to make my dream come true, with a big smile on my face :-)

On the send day I climbed quite fast. I needed just 5 hours to climb the first 6 pitches (7b+, 7c+,8b, 8a+, 8b and 7c. These are followed by 7a+, 7b+, 7b and 7b. When I got to the last pitch things began to get a bit stressful. I had to climb the 50m 6b+, poorly protected by just 2 bolts, in complete darkness.

I got lost on the wall and tried to improve my trad skills. Simone provided me with some great support and gave me the strength I needed to climb each pitch and complete Hotel in a day. I’d like to thank him, and also Valter for fantastic support last season.

I never really imagined how much effort would be required to climb so many pitches in a row without giving up. I’d love to explain myself better, but it’s not easy to talk about feelings that everybody should experience on their own in order to fully comprehend what is needed in moments like these.

Links: www.alekstaistra.com, FB Aleksandra Taistra, IG Aleksandra Taistra, La Sportiva