Alessandro Zeni frees his Cosmic Energy, a possible 9a+ at Bilico, Dolomites
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archivio Alessandro Zeni
From high up in Val Canali in the Italian Dolomites, more precisely from the tiny crag Bilico, comes the news of an important ascent completed yesterday by Alessandro Zeni, the 27-year-old climber from Mezzano who freed the project he bolted a year ago and which he now suggests may be worth 9a+.
The route follows a completely independent line of holds between Pappagorgia and In Bilico, and required 62 attempts prior to the successful redpoint. Zeni, who comes into his own on slightly overhanging and hyper-technical slabs, considers his Energia Cosmica significantly harder than Bain de Sang 9a and Bimba Luna 9a/+.
As always the difficulties await confirmation, in the meantime Zeni told planetmountain.com "The route is about 25 meters high and is particular in many different ways ... first of all it starts with a dyno followed by a not all too difficult boulder problem that leads past the small roof at the base of Bilico. The slab is relatively easy but the crimps are never really good enough to rest properly. The crux is located in the middle, 4 really small crimps which require perfect footwork. The route doesn’t let up and at 3/4 height there’s another finger crux. Despite being short, there are nevertheless 52 moves. The bolting respects the other climbs at the crag, so it’s fairly runout and although it’s never dangerous, it’s not possible to aid AO your way up. The route is interesting also because, unlike the other climbs, when I bolted it I decided not to place an abseil chain at the top. Instead, you have to mantle over the lip, untie and walk easily back down to the base of the crag."
This is Zeni’s most difficult climb to date, the one that "demanded most of me", and is dedicated to friend and teammate Maurizio Giordano who lost his life last July on Gasherbrum IV in Pakistan.
Alessandro thanks the C.S. Esercito and his sponsors: La Sportiva, Grivel, E9, Stubai
