Marco Zanone climbs La Mola mola (9a) and El Puma (9a)

Marco Zanone, with a dozen routes 9a and beyond under his belt, has repeated Samuel Ometz’ La Mola mola (9a) in Plamproz. ”Top 10 route of all time. Truly amazing in every single way.” (c) Emilia Ferraro Titin

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
An outstanding piece of rock down by the river, close to the small village of Plamproz, Valais 🇨🇭 This type of line really brings out the best in me. I feel confident, motivated, and I can easily put in multiple days of tries in a row. It’s my comfort zone, and I think it’s exactly what I needed after so many years (still) chasing the big dream called Biographie.

I first tried the route about a month ago with Stefano Carnati and we both immediately got hooked. We returned the following weekend— He sent it while I dry-fired on the last move. Came back this weekend feeling solid and finally I topped it out. 🫶🏻 Mega props to Samuel Ometz for freeing this unique line and Dave Graham for the vision many years ago.


A couple of days later Marco did the second ascent of Marcello Bombardi’s El puma (9a) in Chesod. ”Super cool line with a mix of powerful and subtle moves. Starts with a 7b/c intro and then hits you with a ~10-move 8A+/B boulder crux. Felt tough at first, but with the new beta I’d say it sits somewhere between 8c+ and 9a.”

How can you best explain your recent peak?
If I try to explain the level of fitness I’m feeling right now, we need to rewind a few months. End of May 2025, I was back in Céüse battling with Biographie, feeling closer than ever before. Then, on the intro boulder, I slightly tweaked the pulley on my right ring finger. It hit me hard — I was bummed and a bit crushed mentally — but I tried to stay positive and think long-term rather than obsess over the moment.

I took a few weeks off, wrapped up some jobs I was working on, and by early July I started the slow process of rebuilding and toughening up my injured finger. It wasn’t easy: at first the pain was sharp and constant, but with patience, steady effort, and the help of my trusty osteopath, things started to move in the right direction.

Looking back, I think the real game-changer wasn’t just the rehab work, but the fact that for once I could live a stable lifestyle from the very start of the healing process. Normally my job keeps me away from home — sometimes for a week, sometimes just a few days — and that makes it really hard to stay consistent with training. It always feels like I’m just trying to keep up rather than push my fitness to the next level. And whenever I do get a free week, I usually end up on a climbing trip, fired up to try something hard, but sometimes my body isn’t quite ready to match my motivation.

This time, though, I did things the right way. And honestly, I’m a little surprised at how well it worked — but not too surprised. Mostly, I’m just psyched to keep pushing as far as I can, because the list of projects waiting for me is long, and it’s never empty ;)