Der derzeit beste italienische Kletterer Stefano Ghisolfi konnte nun sein derzeit wohl schwerstes Heimprojekt die Direktvariante zu „Erebor“ the „The Lonely Mountain“ im Gebiet Eremo di San Paolo bei Arco punkten und schlägt er, obwohl seines Erachtens schwerer als seine Route „Erebor“ nun vorsichtig „symbolisch 9b“ vor.

„Ended the year just as it started, with the ascent of the very first route I bolted in my life. And this is actually the first version I bolted in June 2020, it looked impossible at first so I added a bolt on the left and climbed Erebor last january. After that, I figured out the original version was possible and started trying the middle section, which is hard and exclusive of this route, adding some spicy moves with a dynamic from a very tiny crimp. It felt very hard at the beginning, then I changed almost all the betas in every section and finally climbed it today. And it’s even harder to grade it, so I can suggest a symbolic 9b, even if it is harder than Erebor. Thanks to @sara_grip for the pictures and @gioplacci.sk for the belay on the send and during all the previous tries in all the conditions“

Foto: (c) Sara Grippo

„Erebor“ selbst hatte Stefano im Januar erstbegehen können und wurde von ihm mit 9b/+ eingestuft. Bald fand die Route mit Laura Rogora und Adam Ondra zwei Wiederholer. Dei beiden fanden ein leichteres Beta und so ist die Route wohl eher im Grad 9b zu finden.

In letzter Zeit gab es in der oberen Schwierigkeitsgraden verstärkt einige Abwertungen, so fanden neben „Erebor“ auch Routen wie „Bibliographie“ (9c auf 9b+) auch „King Kapella“ (9b+ auf 9b) eine Abwertung.

Daran zeigt sich wohl immer mehr, daß es bei den Highend Routen immer mehr darauf ankommt, wie dem Kletterer die Routen liegen und inwieweit auch die „beste Lösung“ gefunden wird.

Alex Megos, als Erstbegeher der „Bibliografie“ ja selbst von einer Abwertung betroffen, machte sich dahingehend nach seiner Begehung von „King Kapella“ so seine Gedanken:

„I feel like there has been a lot of confusion recently about the grades of these three routes. Every climber seems to be saying something different and they all have valid points.
When @will_bosi did all three routes, La Capella was his first 9b and the only established route out of the three. So when he did the first ascents of Furia and King Capella, he based their grades on La Capella. He is not sure if La Capella really is 9b though, as it only took him 3 days.
I can’t say if La Capella is 9b or not, because I don’t know.
To show how difficult it can be, here are some thoughts of climbers who’ve tried these routes recently:
@alfons_dornauer thinks Furia is definitely easier than La Capella.
@will_bosi thinks Furia is a little bit harder than La Capella and King Capella is a lot harder than both.
@jakob.schubert thinks Furia is a tiny bit easier than La Capella and King Capella is definitely harder than both.
My opinion is that La Capella is the hardest of the three, because I struggled a lot with the undercling move and for me, King Capella is roughly the same grade. Furia might be a little bit easier, but not much easier.
All in all, I think it depends so much on the style and whether it suits you or not; it feels almost impossible to grade such short routes.
@will_bosi mentioned considering a different grading scale for short routes and long boulders, which I think would make sense.“