14 March 2019

Coup de Grace 9a by Marco Zanone

Marco Zanone, who has done three 8c+' in 2019, has done his first 9a, Dave Graham's Coup de Grace in Ticino. (c) Matteo Pavana "I started trying this route back in 2016, I was recovering from a bad injury to my middle finger and I was definitely not strong enough for even climbing all the single move, but I knew that I was investing well my time because maybe in the future I would have been able to climb it. Then in Autumn 2017 I came back with my brother Andrea with a different mindset, the conditions were prime and even if I was attending a Film School in Milan with limited time for climbing, my shape was quite good. My progressions on the route was steady and after few days I was able to climbed the route from the second bolt to the top, but adding the 8A boulder problem at the start was another story. I was feeling very close, cause I fall few time at the end of the roof, but then the winter came and I had to give up. 2018 was a bummer, the route was always wet I've never been able to give a proper go from the bottom. This year the spring arrived earlier than ever and after climbing A Muerte in Spain last month I felt ready to come back there. On the second day of attempts I eventually found my self topping out this outstanding boulder of granite, marking my first 9a. My brother Andrea climbed this route back in autumn 2017; I was there belaying him on the send go and since then I've never stopped dreaming to feel all the emotions he felt during that day."

2 comments

Sort by:

Date

Jorge Diaz-Rullo FA’s Café Colombia (?) after 240 sessions

Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, he’s already stacked four 9b+ sends and now he’s ad…

285

26 January 2026

Sean Bailey FA’s Duality of Man (9c)

Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. ” After four total years and three seasons of climbing,…

163

23 March 2026

Jorge Diaz-Rullo proposes 9c for Café Colombia

Jorge Diaz-Rullo elaborates on the reasons for him to suggest 9c for Café Colombia on Instagram, which he took down last week after projecting it for 240 sessio…

119

5 November 2015

Marco Zanone soon to be a professional climber and filmmaker

Marco Zanone, #7 in the 8a Combined ranking game, talks about what he likes the most.

14 August 2019

Le Cadre Nouvelle Version 9a by Marco Zanone

Marco Zanone has done his second 9a, Le Cadre Nouvelle Version in Céüse, meaning he did the unchipped variant. "Wow. A real struggle for me. Can't believe I com…

9 March 2021

El Potro 9a by Marco Zanone

Marco Zanone has done Adam Ondra's El Potro 9a in Margalef in less than ten tries. The Italian has previously done 14 8c+'s and two 9a's. We asked Marco if he c…