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Tom Randall frees Anna Kournikova in Valle dell'Orco

British rock climber Tom Randall has made the first free ascent of the crack climb Anna Kournikova 8b+ in Vallone di Piantonetto, Valle dell'Orco, Italy.

Planetmountain

June 2013

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Tom Randall during the first ascent of Anna Kournikova in Valle dell'Orco, Italy. The ascent was filmed for the upcoming Hotaches film about crack climbing.

Hotaches

Tom Randall has a penchant from Italian granite. After putting up numerous new climbs in Valle dell'Orco and repeating some of the hardest routes such as Greenspit, the crack specialist now checks in with Anna Kournikova, his new line located in Vallone di Piantonetto, a side valley of Valle dell'Orco which he rates as his hardest yet in this area. The wildly overhanging route is only about 14m long and was freed after circa 9 days of work.

Writing to Planetmountain, Randall described his line as follows "It's a very steep finger crack and packs a serious punch in not much distance. Amazing steep powerful finger locks, and a nice offwidth finish. My style! Gear was placed on lead, with just a single nut protecting the crux and I climbed it on just a half rope to further save on weight! It was desperate :-)."

Getting there: travel up the road that leads into Val Piantonetto from the village of Rosone and follow this for circa 3km until you pass through the very small village of San Lorenzo. Upon leaving the village you will see a small concrete shed; to the right there is a big waterfall and the crag is just to the left of this. 5 minute approach, through the woods.

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