Rogora onsights 8b’s and 8b+’s

Laura Rogora, who last Thursday onsighted her third 8c+, visited Valnerina this weekend, where she each day sent an 8c, as well as, onsighted 8b and 8b+. Over the last 12 months, the Italian has onsighted 13 routes graded 8b+ and above. Only Adam Ondra has a more impressive annual onsight ticklist in the history of climbing. (c) Marco Marotta

Can you tell us more about the hectic weekend and the most memorable ascent?
After landing back from Barcelona, Marco took me straight to Il Bunker, a new crag in Valnerina that he’s developing, to try a project bolted by Mauro Calibani.

The route starts with a sustained 7c/7c+ section before reaching the crux, where you have to fight your way out of a steep roof. On my first go, I figured out the moves and found the right beta. On my second attempt, I did the FA of GSF (8c) (Global Sumud Flotilla). I’d call it a soft 8c, mainly because, at least for me, there’s an active rest before the hard crux.

After that, I also onsighted Frankie’s Funk (8b+) (soft), Pink panzer (8b) (hard), and Sóle Amerigane (8a+ hard), as the light was quickly fading.

Pink Panzer was a big fight, as both the line and the sequences were much less obvious.

What about the climbing on Sunday? Were you close to falling?
M&M (8b) went quite smoothly. On Duroi (8c), I was lucky to figure out the right beta for the first crux, which wasn't easy to read. After that, it was more about resistance, with a few harder moves. Near the end, I chose the wrong direction and came quite close to falling, but I managed to recover.

Go shorty (8c) is a variant of an 8b bolted and freed by Cody Roth that adds a hard boulder after a good rest. Cody's beta was quite morpho, so I went straighter on the slopy tufas. I did it on my third go.