Laura Rogora redpoints Goldrake (9a+) and onsights Jedi (8b) at Cornalba

Laura Rogora has had a highly successful first-ever visit to Cornalba where she made short work of the hardest route at the crag, Goldrake.

The route in question was Bruno Tassi's historic project, freed in 2010 by the then 17-year-old Adam Ondra and graded 9a+. Over the years, the line has been repeated on several occasions, notably by Gabriele Moroni (2014), Stefano Carnati (2016), Stefano Ghisolfi (2016), Silvio Reffo (2016) Luca Bana (2019), Francesco Castellano (2020) and Jonathan Siegrist (2021), but never before by a woman, and never before this quickly: 5 attempts on Tuesday, then the redpoint first try yesterday. Mind-boggling.

Her other ascents at Corna Bianca are just as mind-boggling: a quick repeat of Gold Jedi and, above all, an onsight of the classic 8b Jedi. This is one of the most difficult onsights ever at the decidedly old-school crag, renowned for its technical face climbing on tiny crimps and its extremely fickle conditions.

It's worth noting that the only other 8b onsight at Cornalba was carried out by Alberto Gnerro, on the 8b Outsider, sent first go on 1 April, 1990. 34 years ago...