Stefan Scarperi does Action Directe in Frankenjura

Earlier this month without much ado - in his usual style therefore - Stefan Scarperi climbed Action Directe, the legendary sport climb freed in 1991 by Wolfgang Güllich at Waldkopf, the small crag in Germany’s Frankenjura.

27 years after the ground-breaking first ascent that paved the way to 9a, this heinous sequence of single finger and two-finger pockets up the perfect limestone prow continues to exert an irresistible attraction on the world's strongest climbers. Now Stefan Scarperi, bronze medal winner at the European Bouldering Championship in Innsbruck in 2015 and with several 9a’s under his belt, has given in to the route’s draw.

After several trips to the Frankenjura that netted him climbs such as Wallstreet (another Wolfgang Güllich masterpiece, recognised as the world’s first 8c), Shangrila and other 8c’s, last year the time came to attempt Action.

"I tried it for three days last year and realised it was feasible. Then this year I went there specifically to try that route. The weather wasn’t the best and it was cold. My biggest problem, in fact, was to warm up properly and I fell of the last hard move three times because I couldn’t feel my fingers. The redpoint was pretty close because I had cold fingers again, but somehow I managed to stay calm and cling on at the top. Climbing such a historic route has always been one of my dreams. "

With his ascent Scarperi has now become the third Italian to repeat Action Directe. In 2010 23-year-old Gabriele Moroni succeeded on what must be considered the most famous 9a in the world, while in 2016 it was the turn of 18-year-old Stefano Carnati.

Links: FB Stefan Scarperi, www.lasportiva.com



Action Directe (9a), Waldkopf, Frankenjura (GER)
1. Wolfgang Güllich, Germany (14/09/1991) - First ascent
2. Alexander Adler, Germany (1995)
3. Iker Pou, Spain (2000)
4. Dave Graham, USA (2001)
5. Christian Bindhammer, Germany (2003)
6. Richard Simpson, UK (2005) - contested
7. Dai Koyamada, Japan (2005)
8. Markus Bock, Germany (2005)
9. Kilian Fischhuber, Austria (2006)
10. Adam Ondra, Czech Republic (2008)
11. Patxi Usobiaga, Spain (2008)
12. Gabriele Moroni, Italy (2010)
13. Jan Hojer, Germany (2010)
14. Adam Pustelnik, Poland (2010) 
15. Felix Knaub, Germany (2011) 
16. Rustam Gelmanov, Russia (2012) 
17. Alexander Megos, Germany (2014) 
18. Felix Neumärker, Germany (2015)
19. Julius Westphal, Germany (2015)
20. Stefano Carnati, Italy (2015)
21. David Firnenburg, Germany (2016)
22. Stephan Vogt, Germany (2017)
23. Simon Lorenzi, Belgium (2017)
24. Said Belhaj, Sweden (2018) - contested
25. Stefan Scarperi, Italy (2018)