Barbara Zangerl climbs her first 9a+, 'Bombardino' at Arco

Austrian climber Barbara Zangerl has repeated Bombardino, the 9a+ at Bus de La Stria close to Arco, Italy. Bolted in 2012 by Adam Ondra, this "steep and exposed line" on "perfect blue and grey limestone and impeccable tufas" was freed by the Czech in 2022 and acts as a slightly easier variation to the original line Bomba, which Ondra subsequently freed at 9b.

With two 9a's under her belt previously (Sprengstoff at Lorüns, Austria, in 2021 and Speed Intégrale at Voralpsee in Switzerland in 2018), last Friday's redpoint marks Zangerl's first 9a+ and places her amongst a relatively small group of women to have achieved the grade. 

The 36-year-old is recognised as one of the most versatile climbers of her generation, regardless of gender, having also onsighted 8b at the crag, sent 8B boulder, climbed trad up to E11 and repeated many of the hardest multi-pitch routes worldwide. Highlights of the latter, carried out in tandem with partner Jacopo Larcher, include the first flash ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite via Freerider in November 2024, the first female ascent of Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower in Pakistan's Trango massif in summer 2022, the first female ascent of the Alpine Triology (The End of Silence in 2012, and Silbergeier and Des Kaisers neue Kleider in 2013), plus a staggering 7 other big walls free on El Cap: El Niño (2015), Zodiac (2016), Magic Mushroom (2017), Pre-Muir Wall (2019), The Nose (2019), El Corazon (2023), the above mentioned Freerider, and Golden Gate (2024).

Following her redpoint of Bombardino, Zangerl commented "After more or less two months of effort, I finally climbed my first 9a+! Bombardino had me completely hooked from the very beginning. A huge thank you to Adam Ondra for establishing such an incredible and inspiring line—it's one of those climbs that just draws you in and doesn’t let go.

Every session above the village of Arco felt like a little mission. The view over Lake Garda gave the whole process this unique, almost vacation-like atmosphere—even on the tough days, it was hard to complain. The deeper I got into the project, the more exciting—and emotional—it became. I fell three times on the very last hard move... and with each fall, the doubts grew louder. The temperatures were rising, the climbing became more exhausting, and I could feel the window slowly closing. The route started to feel more unpredictable—some days I made real progress, others it felt completely out of reach.

On the day I sent it, it was warm—26 degrees—not exactly my idea of perfect sending temps. I’d already had three tries, and only one of them felt decent. And of course, I fell again on the last move. At that point, I had zero expectations left. I just wanted to give it one last try as a bit of training. Nothing more.

But then somehow... everything clicked. Right from the first move, I knew I had to fight. My body was tired, but my mind was calm. Move after move, I just kept going. I knew exactly what to do—when to breathe, when to push. When I stuck the crux and kept moving, completely pumped, I still didn’t believe it. Not until I clipped the chains.

I was totally wrecked, but my endurance held on—just long enough.

The ups and downs, the doubts, the tiny breakthroughs—that feeling of giving everything for something, even if it’s "just a climb"... it felt amazing.

Huge thanks to everyone who supported me on this line—Jacopo, Manu, Barbara, Arba, Lucas—thank you for the belays, the patience, the encouragement, and all the good vibes. You made this experience even more special."

Links: FB Barbara Zangerl, barbara-zangerl.at, La Sportiva