Marcello Bombardi and Elias Iagnemma repeat Ziqqurat 8C in Valle d’Aosta, Italy

Italian climbers Marcello Bombardi and Elias Iagnemma have both sent Ziqqurat, the long 8C boulder problem located at Gaby in the Aosta Valley, established in 2015 by Niccolò Ceria and repeated for the first time by Gabriele Moroni in 2017.

Bombardi is best known for his climbs in competitions and at the crags, with standout climbs such as a repeat of Lapsus at Andonno in May 2021 and his victory of the Chamonix stage of the Lead World Cup 2017. Ziqqurat is the 28-year-old’s first 8C boulder; he first tried the horizontal roof in 2017 but failed on some of the moves and soon forgot about it. A chance encounter with Iagnemma who was trying the powerful 28 moves rekindled his interest and on the last day of good weather he managed to "absorb some of Iagnemma's strength" and send the problem.

Iagnemma obviously has power in abundance and he sent Ziqqurat after only a few sessions on November 7th. This is only the latest in his long list of fast autumn ascents that include the first repeat of Kimera, the historic 8C traverse at the Rifugio Barbara in Val Pellice put up in 2006 by Christian Core, a quick repeat of Power of now, Giuliano Cameroni's 8B+/C at Magic Wood, a one-day repeat of Christian Core's Toki 8B+ in Valle Ellero, as well as the classic 8C From Dirt Grows The Flowers established by Dave Graham in 2006 at Chronico in Switzerland. All these ascents were carried out at supersonic speed, and one does wonder what he’s capable of achieving if he sets his mind to a long-term project.