Michele Caminati, Francesco Deiana repeat Is not always Pasqua at Interprete, Italy

20 years. An eternity in rock climbing, in particular in this social media frenzy age when everything seems to pass by at the speed of light. Some things though remain timeless and lose none of their shine, such as Is not always Pasqua, the bold trad climb at Interprete in Central Italy first ascended by Mauro Calibani back in 2002.

Deeply impressed and inspired by his climbing trip to England’s gritstone, two decades ago Calibani returned home keen to leave his mark on this obscure sandstone outcrop. Indelibly but, at the same time, without leaving a trace. Going against the tide, the world’s first-ever Boulder Champion set to work and climbed the line without bolts, just a handful of nuts and cams protect the crux 7C boulder sequence which in the past has been repeated by Cristian Brenna in 2003 (with pre-placed pro) and James Pearson in 2014.

20 years down the line there are now two further repeats, carried out Michele Caminati and Francesco Deiana. Caminati had dreamt of this line ever since he had started climbing, and years ago he had briefly checked it out with Calibani himself, managing to do the crux sequence at the top but failing on the intricate lower section. He returned last October with Deiana and the pair worked out the tricky crux at the start but then had to return home.

During the recent Easter holidays they travelled south and both managed to repeat the route, placing all pro on lead, on what would be French 8b were it to be bolted. For Caminati, who knows the ins and outs of hard grit better than any other Italian climber, INAP is a "visionary route, so ahead of its time in the Italian climbing scene."

Michele thanks: La Sportiva, E9, Wild Country

Links: FB Michele Caminati, IG Michele Caminati