Black Cobra (2) 9a by Darius Rapa (15)

Darius Rapa, who won the Imst Euro Youth in Lead and got the bronze in the Euro Championship in Boulder this summer, has done Black Cobra (2) 9a in Herculane. Adam Ondra put it up in 2018 and interestingly the 15-year-old had 8b+ as his previous best and only needed five tries to take it down. (c) George Stroie

"This weekend I went to Băile Herculane and I thought it is time to try hard so I did🤌🏿. I had no expectations for a top this weekend but the conditions were perfect with an amazing grip on the wall and I knew that if I would not do it now, I would have to wait. The route was done in the 5th attempt and I’m glad to be the first Romanian to do a 9a🇷🇴 and also get the 4th ascent of Ondra's route. Maybe it is 8c+ like Adam said."

How come you have not done any 8c's or 8c+' before?
Because my coach, Robert Cohn always told me to do grades on fewer tries and I didn't quite try 8c's. He told me that I should go on a lot of 8b's and 8b+' so I gain rock experience.

How many sessions do you train per week and for how many years have you done so?
In the last couple of months, I trained 3 hrs per session 5-6 days a week. During the last month, I have climbed outdoors every weekend. This summer I have been training a lot also in Innsbruck before and after different comps.