Marta Palou does her second 9a

Marta Palou, who last month did her first 9a, has done Persistencia de la gioconda (9a) in Rodellar. (c) Albert Mossoll

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
After sending my first 9a, I started working on another project, but an ankle injury caused by a very aggressive heel hook forced me to stop trying it. Instead of taking a complete break, I looked for a route that would allow me to keep climbing. La Persistencia de la Gioconda turned out to be the perfect option. The route traverses the cave from left to right, relying much more on the left leg and putting very little stress on the right one. It also shares the upper section with Gioconda, so I was already familiar with the final part of the route. Now my ankle is feeling a bit better, and I’m really motivated to keep trying my main project!💪

I’m currently working on Donatello (8c+)with a much harder extension😊 I was making good progress before the injury, and now that my ankle is feeling better, I’m really motivated to get back to it. There are also so many amazing routes and a few old projects I’d love to try while I’m here. I’ll be working in Rodellar for a few more months, so let’s see what I can do.

How did you injure yourself?
I injured my ankle while trying the boulder of the 8c+ section. It has a very aggressive heel hook, and I felt two loud pops in my ankle. Fortunately, it’s improving well!

How can you best explain your peak in 2026?
To be honest, I had never really tried routes that hard before. I’ve always loved climbing and doing as many routes as possible rather than spending weeks on a single project.

But since I spend so much time in Rodellar, it’s becoming harder and harder to find routes that I can climb in just a few tries. So pushing myself and trying harder projects became the best option. I also trained for a few months over the winter, which was something I hadn’t done in almost 10 years.