Stefano Ghisolfi Starts Trying ‘Silence,’ World’s Hardest Sport Climb
The hunt begins. To climb the world’s toughest sport route, Stefano Ghisolfi announced on Monday that he had started projecting “Silence”, 5.15d/9c.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Explorersweb.
Adam Ondra’s 2018 masterpiece has entertained few prospects in the more than four years since it was first climbed. In fact, nobody else has actually tried it – at one point, Pete Whittaker jumped up to see if he could scale the crack in the wildly steep roof.
His alternate beta turned out to work, but the “incredibly tough looking” V13/14 bouldering issues around the crevice kept him from trying other moves on the rig.
Now Ghisolfi will make a concerted effort to achieve the second ascent of the world’s first 5.15d – and he has promised to make his progress public.
Keep an eye on Instagram and tune in Ghisolfi’s YouTube channel every Thursday night (US Central Time) for the freshest dishes from the cave in Flatanger, Norway. “I’ll try to tell you the whole process behind this project,” the Italian crusher said on Instagram.
Ghisolfi vs 5.15d
Simply put, “Silence” is a beast. It’s relentlessly steep for more or less its entire 148-foot length, and we’d say Ondra’s descriptions of key points range between demoralizing and horrific.
When Whittaker discovered the new, “traditional” method of climbing feet first, commented Ondra“Great news is that the route is possible without dislocating the knee, which makes the route much better!”
Secure. If there’s anyone who stands a good chance of completing Silence, it’s Ghisolfi.
Flatanger enforces a distinct climbing style, since multi-directional holds and different rock surfaces call for creative sequences. Ghisolfi’s Flatanger CV already contains “Change”, 5.15c, which he climbed in 2020.
Despite calling the effort a “bloodbath” and taking over an hour to scale the 180-foot marathon, he said at the time that his war with the route ended “unexpectedly soon.”
So stay tuned to Ghisolfi’s channels – he’s ready to cut the chains at any moment.
