First female Ascent: Camilla Moroni masters “Histoire sans Fin” 

Camila Moroni writes history: together with Pietro Vidi she succeeds in repeating the Swiss Trad-Testpiece History without Fin (8b+). Moroni is the first woman to free climb the 200m multi-pitch route. 

Moroni is one of the most promising Italian climbers of the new generation. She has become internationally known for her success in bouldering. She regularly competes in the IFSC World Cups and participated in the 2024 Olympic Games. The Italian has been climbing since she was a child and has shown impressive performances on rock, for example with La Proue (8B) and Heritage (8B).

Pietro Vidi comes from Trentino. While he is less present in the media than Moroni, he has made a name for himself across Europe in recent years by climbing boulders like Dreamtime (8C), Roadkill (8C) and Flow State (8C+).  

Between storm fronts and granite: Preparing for Histoire sans Fin 

On July 1, 2025, Moroni and Vidi arrived on Petit Clocher du Portalet in the Swiss canton of Valais. There, they spent the next three days working intensively on the route. The rope team was only able to use the morning hours on the wall. Then, the afternoon thunderstorms typical of this time of year forced them to turn back. 

After a few days of rest, the focus on optimizing the beta on July 9th and 10th was again on optimizing the beta before the redpoint attempt on July 12th. 

Pietro without a fall – Camilla fights through 

Pietro Vidi mastered the route flawlessly: every pitch was lead, not a single fall. Looking back, he said with a wink that his technique on the slab didn't feel "so bad." 

Camilla Moroni, on the other hand, had a much harder time due to her height. She fell three times on the mentally demanding traverse on pitch 3 (7c) before tackling the crux of pitch 4 (8b+). On the boulder problem toward the end of this pitch, she and Pietro worked on an alternative beta, as the regular moves were more difficult for her to access. 

She was most intimidated by the athletic arête on pitch 6 (8b), a striking, edge-like rock outcrop that requires climbing with little handholding and a lot of body tension. This section is considered particularly strength-intensive and requires a lot of body tension. For many, this is the most mentally demanding pitch. 

Nevertheless, she demonstrated nerves of steel: On her second attempt, she completed pitch 6. This cleared the way for the final serious test of the route. The technically demanding slab on pitch 7 (8a+) requires not strength, but absolute concentration. 

A route with a lot of technical demands and history 

The story of Histoire sans Fin begins in 2001, when the Swiss climber Didier berthod together with François Mathey discovered the distinctive crack line and set up the first pitches. Among them was the now legendary second pitch, the 45-meter crack (7c+). In the years that followed, several rope teams worked on a possible logical continuation, including Fabian Borter and Bertrand Martenet, who established additional sections. It wasn't until 2020 that Berthod discovered a clever connection via a striking orange ridge, which finally connected the route. 

History without Fin was free climbed for the first time in 2021 – by Seb Berthe and Siebe VanheeAlthough the route was originally set up with bolts, the two deliberately decided to climb as many pitches as possible traditionally to climb. Since then, the line has achieved cult status among connoisseurs: 200 meters of the finest granite, exposed, athletic, and aesthetically pleasing, the likes of which are rarely found in Europe. Perhaps this is precisely why climbers speak of "magical granite fluency" and an extraordinary flow experience. 

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Credits cover photo: Onsen Productions