Janja Garnbret flashes Puro Dreaming (8c+/9a)

Janja Garnbret has set a new standard by flashing Puro Dreaming (8c+/9a) in Arco. Amazingly, she just randomly tried it with little beta preparation from Michele Caminati and nothing while she was climbing.

”It was not the best beta for her size and she had to improvise almost everything... Looked more like an onsight than a flash 😅. She just asked for the lower Crux but then she ended up improvising. We didn't give her any beta while climbing. She skipped a big rest on a tufa as well. In the upper Crux she tried a few things and she ended up doing the right thing at the end. She also managed to clip two quickdraws everybody is skipping 😂.”

Photographer Björn Pohl has sent us the full story of the remarkable flash:

After the lows and highs of the Arco Rockmaster competition — a disappointing result in the Duel but a convincing win in the Bouldering KO — it was time for some rock climbing for Janja. The original plan was to head up to Excalibur (9b+), but since conditions weren’t ideal, a Plan B was quickly hatched: “some easy climbing at Terra Promessa.”

Said and done. As soon as Vladek Zumr and I got the message, we headed to the crag. Neither of us had been there before, but it was straightforward enough to find. Or so we thought. We scoped out the crag and figured there were definitely some nice photo opportunities — assuming Janja climbed the right routes. The problem was… she wasn’t there. So we waited. After a while, Vladek got a text: “We couldn’t find it. Going to upper Massone instead.”

Plan C it was. Apparently Terra Promessa wasn’t that easy to find after all. We must have gotten lucky. So, we drove down to Massone, found a parking spot, and walked up to the Il Pueblo sector, where we finally met Janja and Roman. Janja was just about to start warming up on the beautifully named Shaved Beaver, a 7c with a bit of a scary jump start, made famous by a viral video where Julia and Jernej Kruder managed to mess it up royally. Anyway. Janja, of course, didn’t. She cruised to the top effortlessly. Next came Randa (8a+), which she calmly onsighted. Now properly warmed up, it was time for something harder. Nearby, Michele Caminati was working on a steep, striking line. Janja asked him about it, and after a quick chat, learned it was Puro Dreaming, a route graded 9a in the guidebook.

Said and done — again. Janja tied in, and we scrambled to find shooting positions. She climbed smoothly at first, though she hesitated briefly at an undercling sequence about eight meters up. After figuring it out, she continued upward, resting on more or less every single hold. The holds weren’t good, mind you; Janja just made them look that way. It was quite obvious that she by no means had all the beta, or much at all really, so the feeling was that of a semi-onsight, if that’s a thing. I think she was probably on the route for half an hour or so. The route is long and very steep, and near the lip she looked slightly in trouble again — but then she solved the crux and suddenly was through, on easier ground. It started dawning on us: she might actually flash it. Surreal. I desperately tried to find a shooting angle for the final clip, one not blocked by leaves. I wanted that perfect shot of the celebration. Janja approached the chains, pulled up the rope, clipped, turned toward Roman on belay, and said simply: “Ok.”

That was it. No celebration, no scream. Just calm composure. She lowered off, and we all looked at each other, half laughing, half stunned: “What the fuck???” Even Michele was in disbelief. He told Janja that the way she did it — skipping the only good rest — probably made it 9a+. But what about the grade? Was this the first-ever 9a flash by a female climber?

The guidebook said 9a, but after consulting the web, it turned out some sources suggested it had been downgraded to 8c+, because kneepads make the route easier. Janja asked Adam, who made the FA, and he also said he thought it was 8c+ nowadays. However — Janja didn’t use kneepads. Plus, a hold had reportedly broken recently, making the route slightly harder again.

Personally, I think some routes deserve two grades: one for ascents with kneepads, or whichever equipment you want, and one without. Change and Bibliographie are other examples — both first ascended without kneepads, later downgraded after repeats with them. So, in my view, I witnessed the first-ever 9a flash by a woman — even if it might not go down in history as such. Regardless, one thing’s certain: Janja will both flash and onsight 9a soon. And that won’t be her limit — not even close. Redpoints, boulders, and more lie ahead. Interesting times to come!