Iris Bielli sends her first 8c+ at Sasso Pelo, Italy

Iris Bielli has sent her first 8c+, Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio at Sasso Pelo in Lombardy, northern Italy. The route, a 30-move test of finger strength and endurance, wa freed by Simone Pedeferri in 2017 and has only seen repeats by Stefano Carnati in 2021 and Francesco Castellano in 2022.

Bielli succeeded in the redpoint on the 20th of January, after passing the first crux for the first time. Reaching the top "with a clarity and calm I hadn't felt in a couple of years," she recounted, "I don't feel particularly euphoric or excited, but for a brief and fleeting moment, I am simply at peace with myself."

In the past, the 21-year-old has onsighted up to 8a+ and has redpointed two 8c's: Endangered at Corni di Canzo and C’era una volta in America at Cornalba. Notably, three days before sending the 8c+, she climbed an 8b+ slab on her second attempt of the day, Diretta Italo Spagnola Plus at Bus de la Stria.

A member of the Ragni di Lecco climbing club since 2024, she is also remarkably at home in the mountains, too. Her alpine résumé includes routes like Alpenliebe on the Cima Ovest di Lavaredo, Simon Mago on the north face of Presolana, Galactica on Qualido, and Specchio di Sara on Marmolada. Also on the south face of Marmolada she established ground-up and later freed all the pitches of Madre Roccia, the 900m 8b she climbed with Matteo Della Bordella, Massimo Faletti and Maurizio Giordani between 2022 and 2023.