Vlad Joanta, 16, does Esclavos de la aparencia (8B)

Vlad Joanta, who last year at age 15 sent Fragile Steps (8A+), has done Esclavos de la Apariencia (8B) in Tagamanent, in just three tries. Last year, the 16-year-old won the Romanian National U-17 Cup series. His father Cristian shares the story.

”For this winter we did't know where to go. We were thinking of Spain, but wished something new, not Albarracin or Alcaniz. We checked Catalunya, for it's warm weather. We found Tagamanent on 8a.nu and started searching boulders and videos. We saw a video of Esclavos de la aparencia and seemed suitable for him. The boulder is located in a shaddy forest and is limestone river rock. Sharp and polished. And requires a pretty long steep approach. After brushing the holds and a quick warm-up, Vlad had the first and second goes. The third try was the unexpected send. The hardest move was the second one, because of a cramped position with the right toe next to the hand then a hard cross from a very bad crimp to another tiny crimp. About the grade, Vlad doesn't have an opinion on it, everything came instinctively, it wasn't something that he planned or trained for. Hard training pays off.”

What are your 2026 ambitions and training plans?
My plans for this year are to try to send Steppenwolf (8B) and Longbow (8B+) this summer, and potentially something harder. I would also like to enter international competitions this year. I usually train five days a week at my father’s gym, Fabrica de Cățărat.