Bodet and Petit at the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Dolomites

The first route, established by Christoph Hainz and Kurt Astner up Cima Ovest in 1996, was on-sighted by the French couple which believes the two crux pitches weigh in at circa 7b+, while the easier 6b pitches should by no means be underestimated due to their run-out protection.

The following day Bodet and Petit set off in the afternoon to check out Camillotto-Pellesier on Cima Grande, first climbed by the Minuzzo brothers in 1967 with the use of aid and freed by Mauro Bubu Bole in 2003 and repeated by numerous parties including Ines Papert who carried out the first female ascent in 2006.

Since Bodet had dreamt about this climb ever since ascending the nearby Hasse Brandler, it was to be her day doing all the leading. Much to her surprise the climbing proved far easier than expected, so much so that after briefly checking out the first two pitches she decided to attempt to on-sight the next pitches. Bodet promptly succeeded on the third one, 8a+ on paper but a full grade easier according to the French climber: “I struggled a bit and finally, much to my satisfaction, I made it to the belay, very surprised indeed and finding the grade to be more in the region of 7c+. I love this kind of technical climbing, vertical, slopers, crimps, nice pockets... a dream pitch for me. I have to add that conditions were perfect: dry holds, chalk and temperatures almost too hot for me, which is incredible on the Tre Cime. I felt like I was climbing at Orpierre or the Calanques, the difference being that instead of bolts there were compressions pitons!”

Highly motivated Bodet then on-sighted the next two pitches, 7c+/8a and 7a on paper but 7c according to her, and almost on-sighted the final 8a+ but fell when her climbing pants snagged on the last hold. After a 5 minute rest she fired this pitch which she believes is more like 7c. Then, with just 1 hour of daylight left, the two quickly abseiled back down for Bodet to free the first two pitches: “Totally dehydrated, I struggled up the 7c+ (probably 7c) just when it was becoming dark and did the first pitch 7b+ to the headlamp, which was actually harder than I expected!”

The French couple suggest 7b+, 7c, 7c+, 7c, 7a and 7c for the pitches and on her return Bodet explained to Planetmountain: "I don’t usually get involved in grading, but I think it’s important sometime to bring a route up-to-date. The climbing on Camillotto Pellesier is really exciting and the gear, thanks to Bubu’s added bolts at the belays, is much safer and despite the fact that the pressure bolts are old and sometimes in poor condition, there are many of them to rely on and in truth we’ve seen far worse. Furthermore, the route is really steep which makes the falls less dangerous. Unwittingly the first ascensionsist chose a really nice free climb line, it's a great route, and now with appropriate grades, infos about the gear and the rock more people will attempt it and try this modern classic on-sight!"