Iris Bielli blasts up Prinzip Hoffnung at Bürs in Austria

At first glance Iris Bielli's quick repeat of Prinzip Hoffnung may be surprising, but to be honest it shouldn't. The young Italian redpointed 8c slab in February and climbed several hard multi-pitch routes up in the Dolomites last summer, and now she's upped her game by ticking one of the world's reference trad climbs.

The thin crack that splits the smooth slab above the small town of Bürs in Austria was first climbed as a sport route by Beat Kammerlander around 2000, before he chopped the bolts and climbed it trad in 2009. The route provides difficulties around 8b/8b+, but is protected by small nuts and cams.

Bielli first traveled to Bürs in December 2023 but the weather was horrible and she failed to lay her hands on the route. On Sunday 3 March she returned with Luca Schiera for a quick day trip, and for obvious reasons she didn't get to climb much. Enough, however, to comprehend that the route suited her style perfectly and so she returned last weekend, accompanied by her father and Schiera. On Saturday you studied the moves and gear on toprope, then on Sunday you got onto the live end of the rope. During her first attempt it was way too hot and she fell high on the route, on the last moves of crux. Then, as she told planetmountain.com "I waited 3 hours, the wind picked up and the conditions changed completely, I went up and did it."

On social media she explained "I stretch out, adjust the micro-nut before the runout and let the wind carry me upwards. I am free, free from any feeling or emotion, all I can do is perceive the fluid movement of my body dancing on these tiny handholds. I place the yellow totem with my right hand and only now do I hear the encouraging voices of my father and Luchino. I've just woken up from that sort of trance state that I rarely enter and suddenly realise that I've completed the hard section of the route. All I have to do now is race up to the belay. The emotions start flowing again."

Any thoughts about the route? "Well, the route is crazy, a 40 meter line, where you have to know how to slab climb and crack climb, since there are plenty of finger jams. For me it was an interesting experience, dealing with the technical difficulties and also the mental aspect connected to trad climbing. I had great fun."