Low-Gravity – Flohé, Roberts, Müller and Ghisolfi deliver from

Low gravity was definitely the order of the day! In the Malta Valley, in VarazzIn Ticino, the tick lists of Yannick Flohé, Aidan Roberts, Stefano Ghisolfi and Marco Müller were each extended by a hard bouldering problem.

Two ironing sessions in the Maltatal – Flohé and Roberts

Yannick Flohe Flohé opened the season in January with "Excalibur" (9b+) in Arco and is now following it up strongly. A few days ago, he announced his ascent of "Bügeleisen Sit" (8C), which, according to Flohé, is the best "board-style" boulder problem he has climbed to date. "Bügeleisen" was originally established in 2001 by Klem Loskot and graded 8B+. Twelve years later, Flohé climbed it. Nalle Hukkataival The first repeat. The following year, he made the boulder even harder with a sit start, establishing the "Iron Sit." Flohé completed the boulder in just one session. However, due to the conditions, he still had to climb it twice after slipping on ice and snow at the top during the send-go.

Aidan Roberts He opted for the original version of Bügeleisen and secured the 8B+ boulder in a flash go. Roberts was thrilled with the legendary granite line, characterized by small, incised crimps on the underside of the overhanging rock. This is the Briton's second 8B+ flash, following his first attempt on "Momentum" in 2023. He announced on Instagram, "I'm really in the swing of things this season and I'm not slowing down anytime soon."

First 8C+ for Stefano Ghisolfi – Gioia Sit

Stefano Ghisolfi Ghisolfi has finally sent his first 8C+ boulder problem in Varazze, southern Italy. Back in 2012, he had already climbed the standing-start variation of the boulder, first ascended by Christian Core in 2008. Later, he also tackled the sit-start variation added by Core. In 2015 and 2016, the Italian focused on the longer variation, but without success. After ten years, Ghisolfi returned to Varazze to finally complete his long-standing project – and succeeded!

Story of three worlds – Marco Müller in Ticino

There is also a high-caliber repeat performance to report in Ticino: The Swiss Marco Müller recently announced its repeat of Shawn Raboutous Story of Three Worlds (8C+). This boulder complements Story of Two Worlds (8C) by Dave Graham for an alternative start and is considered one of the most challenging lines in the region. Müller didn't say too much about his send on Instagram, but noted that the line perfectly suited his style. Next, he plans to continue working on Captain Nemo (8C) in Val Bavona.

You might be interested in:

• Stefano Ghisolfi repeats Chris Sharma's Sleeping Lion (9b) in Siurana
• Yannick Flohé repeats »Excalibur« (9b+) in Arco

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Credits: Cover photo: Elias Arriagada