Julia Chanourdie climbs 8c+ at Tetto di Sarre, Italy

Last Saturday young Frenchwoman Julia Chanourdi climbed her first 8c+ by pulling off the first female ascent of L'avaro at Tetto di Sarre in Valle d'Aosta, Italy. The climb was freed in May 1998 by local guardian Alberto Gnerro and tackles forty something moves of pure power endurance.

L'avaro hit the limelight in 1999, just a year after the first ascent, when Gnerro repeated it twice in an hour - a feat absolutely unheard of at the time - while in 2011 Adam Ondra strolled up this line to achieve the first 8c+ onsight in Italy.

Born on 25 June 1996, Chanourdie is a regular in Lead climbing competitions. In last year's Youth World Championship at Arco she won her category bronze, behind Belgium's Anak Verhoeven and Austria's Jessica Pilz, while in the senior 2015 Lead World Cup she finished 11th overall, with personal best being 5th at Puurs last season.