Niccolò Ceria konnte sich die 4. Begehung des Boulders „Gioia“ (8C/+) holen. Der Boulder ist eines der Testpieces im italienischen Bouldergebiet Varazze und gehört zu den schwersten Boulder Italiens. Erstbegangen wurde der Boulder von Christian Core im Jahr 2008 und hatte bis dato nur Begehungen von Adam Ondra (2011) und Nalle Hukkataival (2014).

Leider wurde in dem Boulder nach Aussage von Christian Gore, etwa ein Jahr nach Nalles Begehung in zwei Punkten verändert. Zum einen wurde im zweitem Abschnitt ein „Foothold“ ergänzt, welchen er aber beseitigen konnte. Der „Crimp“ im ersten Abschnitt war leider dafür zu groß. So wurde wieder, wie bei „Dreamtime“ oder „Gossip“ ein Orignalboulder zerstört.

Hier Niccolòs Story.

„A piece of rock rich in history and full of stories.
Razor-crimps and powerful moves.
Famous and infamous.
A mixture of unique factors has made this piece of rock meaningful for many and, above all, legendary.

When I travel abroad, this is the boulder I always get questions about.
Gioia has always had climbers’ eyes on it indeed. This fact has put Gioia under the main reflectors standing out among the other (certainly not less) incredible Christian’s visions.
It’s honestly very impressive to witness the vision that an athlete like him has been able to realize on some pieces of rock.
Gioia (FA back in 2008!) is one of these lines and one of the few which reached the mainstream.

Despite sitting in the middle of the most crowded field of Italy, Gioia is located a bit far from my comfort zone. The step to go out there and put my hands on it has never come easy.
Why am I trying this? That was the question I wondered during the days of attempts. A clear answer wasn’t actually easy to find.
What and who drives to bear the fact of doing something out of my comfort zone and far from the styles I love?
I must admit that this time the sort of challenge of doing something which wasn’t typical of me got me trapped. On the other hand, the idea to know parts of Christian’s path and learn from someone who has a slightly different vision than you is fascinating and, no doubt, makes you grow.
Finally the movements.. which I believe being the main features from where the Joy comes out in this particular case.

On the last note. How.
I have never really tried the original beta as the third move seemed to be out of my box. Few years ago a smart knee-bar was found, switching the crux move from brutal to very technical.
I have nothing against knee-bars and I like to use them sometimes. In this case I chose not to use it simply for a personal taste. Since kneebar didn’t suit my interest and the original beta didn’t fit my skills, I took more time and I finally figured out a different method which came out being less skin dependent and slightly more powerful.
This was the 4th ascent if I didn’t miss anyone in the count.“

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIyIHSCDGpL/