Sasha DiGiulian, 9a at Margalef

"Another 9a. Like a dream!" is how 19-year-old American climber Sasha DiGiulian commented her latest send, carried out yesterday at Margalef in Spain. After Pure Imagination at Red River Gorge last October, DiGiulian has now redpointed Era Bella, a superbly overhanging and physical route freed by Chris Sharma in 2010 and recommended to her by none other than the "king" himself. DiGiulian followed this advice last March but in the few days at her disposal she failed to come up trumps and had to leave the route on temporary standby. A second journey was obligatory therefore and the speed with which she has now sent this 9a is truly astounding.

It is worth noting that prior to Era Bella, DiGiulian had never had a real project in the true sense of the word as she had always managed to send everything she had lain hands on! DiGiulian explained on her blog "Era Bella was my longest “project” yet… more than 3 days of effort… and definitely introduced me to the emotions of working hard towards something and not initially succeeding. I know that there are tons of routes out there that will require much more time and effort, and I am ready to confront these challenges! I guess my only problem is time – often I am not at one location for too much time because I like to experience new routes everywhere, and I have other commitments, but with inspiring routes like Era Bella, it is easy to become fixated on a goal."

In this case the term "project" is evidently completely relative! We're very curious indeed to see her in action in the Italian Val di Mello during the Melloblocco bouldering meeting from 3 - 6 May 2012.