Lapsus 9a+ (b) by Giorgio Tomatis (19)

Giorgio Tomatis has done Lapsus 9a+ (b) in Andonno, which is a link-up of three routes he has done before. Stefano Ghisolfi made the FA in 2015 as the first 9b in Italy but later he and the three repeaters (Ondra, Bombardi using one knee pad, and Sigriest) have edited their opinion calling it a hard 9a+. Tomatis, who previously has done five 9a's, thinks it merits 9b. He started working on it seriously at the end of October. "I wanted to do it without kneepads because Stefano's FA was done without kneepads and without, it's 9b."

Can you give us the lowdown on Lapsus?
It is a truly magical route. The connection of all the hardest routes of the most famous wall of Andonno. The process was really incredible and very stimulating. It was a very fun route to try for me because every time I improved something or I could make one extra move.

The 19-year-old is also a successful competition climber having made the podium in Euro Youth Cups eight times, including winning one event in 2021. Already at age 14, he did Noia (8c+) which shares the start of Lapsus. (c) Carlo Penna