Giovanni Placci sends Erebor (9b) at Arco

Phenomenal Giovanni Placci. It was clear the 23-year-old Italian had what it takes to send 9b, but after almost a year and a half away from climbing due to injury, nothing could be taken for granted. Especially in a sport like climbing where gravity is equally cruel with everyone.

On Tuesday 19 November the 23-year-old Italian managed to improve on his personal best - in the space of two months at the end of 2022 he sent the 9a+ Beginning, Trofeo dell'Adriatico and Bombardino - and send his first 9b, Erebor. This is the "classic" testpiece at Eremo di San Paolo close to Arco, freed by Stefano Ghisolfi in 2021 and repeated by Laura Rogora, Adam Ondra, Jakob Schubert, Stefano Carnati and Gabriele Moroni. Placci needed about 10 days of attempts to up the ante.

Placci described the feeling of sending such a difficult route as "pure magic". Writing to planetmountain.com after his ascent he explained "The injury made me understand a lot of things and this year I managed to improve many of the weaknesses I had. I managed to send my first 8C boulder (4-low in Val Bavona), flash my first 8c sport climb (Spanish Caravan at Ramirol in Verdon) and send my first 9b. In competitions I achieved my best result in the World Cup, and I won both the Italian Cup and Italian Championship. Yeah, I'm really happy!

I'd like to thank my new coach Riccardo Moroni for the incredible support this year, Crimp Films for the photos and the beautiful moments spent together during this period in Arco, and finally my sponsors: Visit Trentino, Spaghetti Boulder, Rock Experience, Petzl e SCARPA."

GIOVANNI PLACCI'S PROGRESSION
8b Shaolin 2018
8c Una vita nomada, Covolo 2019
8c+ Zauber fee, Arco 2019
9a Biologico, Rovereto 2020
9a+ Beginning, Arco, 2022
9a+ Trofeo dell’Adriatico, Arco, 2022
9a+ Bombardino, Arco, 2022
9b Erebor, Arco, 2024

 

 

 

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