Gio Placci flashes 8c and redpoints 9a

Gio Placci, who was eleventh in the Madrid World Cup three weeks ago, has flashed Last soul sacrifice (8c) and sent Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup. (c) Crimp Films

Can you tell us more about the trip and the routes you tried?
I spent a week in Gorges du Loup to reset a bit after coming back and training for the comps. My main goal was to try PuntX, but after a couple of days it was just too painful on the skin and maybe also because I’m not good enough on pockets…. So I decided to drop it and focus on some less intense routes instead.

One of my side goals was to climb some other routes fast. I managed to flash “Last Soul Sacrifice” 8c with some beta from a French climber who explained it… in French. Let’s just say it was a spicy flash — I speak French, but not perfectly, so I didn’t catch everything. Kind of a half-flash, haha. I think my shape in comps really helpd in this route. The holds were quite obvious so it was mostly about fitness.

After that I tried Hot Chili-X onsight, but unfortunately I fell on the last move…. I sent it second go. Then I gave a flash go on Trip Tik Tonic 9a — made a decent attempt, but it’s a very beta-dependent route on tufas, and the sequence I used on the flash go was completely different from the one I used to eventually send it.

Right before sending it, I actually broke a crucial hold. I was TRISTE I thought the route might not be climbable anymore. Luckily I found a new beta and sent it on the next go. I’m really sorry to the community for breaking an important hold… I hope the route still climbs well!

After that, I tried Kinematix 9a/+ I gave it two days but couldn’t make it happen. On the last try I opted for the easier finish an 8c+ variant called “Total eclatch”

Overall, it was a refreshing trip that cleared my mind and gave me new energy to train for the upcoming comps — which are my main focus until September with the World Championships in Seoul. After that… back to rock!