Stefano Ghisolfi sends Action Directe in Frankenjura

"It certainly is something special, not only from a historical point of view but also because of its beauty, located on this isolated boulder deep in the forest." These few words underline the importance of the climb that Stefano Ghisolfi redpointed the other day: Action Directe.

The route is obviously the legendary sports climb freed by Wolfgang Güllich at Waldkopf in the Frankenjura in 1991, which immediately established itself as a reference point for the 9a grade. A stern test against which, sooner or later, all the best have measured themselves against. In its 32 year history, this jutting prow has been redpointed about thirty times.

Ghisolfi managed clip the anchors after 3 days of attempts this year, plus 3 days in 2017. Given the 30-year-old's climbing resume one might argue that his redpoint was always on the cards, but that starting dyno followed by the intense sequence of monodoigts and two-finger pockets can never be taken for granted. Ghisolfi summed it up saying "It's incredible to think that it was climbed back in '91". Two years before he was born.

Stefano Ghisolfi 9b or harder
11/2015 - Lapsus 9b, Andonno, Italy, first ascent
01/2017 - First Round, First Minute 9b, Margalef, Spain
11/2017 - One Slap 9b, Laghel, Arco
01/2018 - La Capella,9b, Siurana
12/2018 - Perfecto Mundo 9b+, Margalef, Spain
12/2019 - Stoking the Fire 9b, Santa Linya, Spain, first repeat
09/2020 - Change 9b+, Flatanger, Norway, first repeat
01/2021 - Erebor 9b/+, Eremo di San Paolo, Arco, first ascent
08/2021 - Bibliographie 9c, Céüse, first repeat
12/2021 - The Lonely Mountain 9b, Eremo di San Paolo, Arco, first ascent
02/2022 - L'Arenauta 9b, Sperlonga, Italy, first ascent

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)
26. Adrian Chmiała, Poland (2019)
27. Melissa Le Nevé, France (2020)
28. Phillip Gaßner, Germany (2021)
29. Buster Martin, UK (2022)
30. Vojtěch Trojan, Czech Republic (2023)
31. Stefano Ghisolfi, Italy (2023)

Link: FB Stefano Ghisolfi, IG Stefano Ghisolfi, La Sportiva, CAMP