Pietro Vidi sends Permanent Midnight low (8C+) at Fionnay

Pietro Vidi has made the second ascent of Permanent Midnight Low at Val de Bagnes, in Fionnay, Switzerland. This low start to the existing 8A+ boulder problem Permanent Midnight was first climbed by Clément Lechaptois in May of this year, with a proposed grade of 8C+. The low start adds several hard moves through power-sapping under-clings, adding significant difficulty to the original line.

Vidi dedicated time over multiple trips to working the boulder, totalling around 10 sessions, before sending the boulder on Sunday the 31st of August.

The 22-year-old Italian climber commented: "It feels so good to be back on some hard stuff! Lately I’ve stepped back from bouldering to explore other aspects of climbing, nice to see I haven’t lost it!

My ambitious aim was to try and pull this one off quickly, in a single trip, but conditions and fitness were pretty hard to manage. In the end, I actually enjoyed getting dragged back into the same old circle of obsession.

It’s probably my hardest boulder so far, even though it’s my absolute style (pure bicep power with really bad feet) it took me around 10 sessions to finally link it, falling way too many times on the last easier moves, making for quite a mental battle!"

Vidi’s repeat of Permanent Midnight Low is the latest hard climb to succumb to his recent rampage on rock. In the last 12 months alone, his ascents span from hard trad (Tribe, Cadarese) to hard multipitches (Histoire Sans Fin, Petit Clocher du Portalet) and extreme big walls (Lurking Fear, El Capitan, Yosemite).