 Manolo in 2013 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Manolo |
| Born | 16 February 1958 |
| Occupation | Mountain guide, rock climber |
| Website | www |
| Climbing career | |
| Type of climber | |
| Highest grade | |
| Known for |
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| First ascents |
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| Updated on 7 April 2023. | |
Maurizio "Manolo" Zanolla (born in Feltre, 16 February 1958) is an Italian rock climber and mountaineer, and a pioneer of sport climbing in Italy during the 1980s and 1990s. [1]
Manolo came to international attention with his free solos in the Dolomites. In 1986, he became one of the first Italians to climb a route of grade 8b (5.13d) with l'Ultimo Movimento in Totoga in the Pale di San Martino. In 1992, he became one of the first Italians to free solo a grade 8a (5.13b) route, with Masala Dosa on the wall of "San Silvestro" in 1992. In 1981, with Alessandro Gogna, he climbed the Aguglia of Goloritzè in Sardinia, initiating the original development of the Selvaggio Blu trekking route.
In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent, is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers were focused on reaching the tops of iconic mountains and climbing routes by whatever means possible, often using considerable amounts of aid climbing, or with large expedition style support teams that laid "siege" to the climb.
David Ethan Graham is an American professional rock climber. Professing to enjoy bouldering the most, he is one of the elite sport climbers and boulderers of his generation. Graham repeats classic routes or boulder problems as well as performing cutting-edge first ascents. He is known for climbing, in 2005 an 8C (V15) boulder problem. He is also known for his stance against grade inflation and for his strong anti-chipping ethic. He writes an ongoing blog for the website of Climbing Magazine.
Fred Rouhling is a French rock climber and boulderer, noted for creating and repeating some of the earliest grade 9a (5.14d) sport climbing routes in the world, including Hugh in 1993, the first-ever French 9a (5.14d) sport route. Rouhling is also known for the controversy from his proposed grading of 9b (5.15b) for his 1995 route Akira, which would have made it the world's first-ever 9b-graded sport route; 25 years later, it was graded at 9a (5.14d).
Josune Bereziartu, also known as Josune Bereciartu Urruzola, is a Basque rock climber. For a decade starting in the late 1990s, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world and is regarded as one of the most important female rock climbers in history.
Ramón Julián Puigblanque is a professional Spanish rock climber specializing in lead climbing competitions. He won two World Championships, in 2007 and 2011, three European Championships, in 2004 2010 and 2015, and one Lead Climbing World Cup in 2010. From 2001 to 2016, he participated in 16 seasons of the World Cup, winning 21 World Cup stages. He has also climbed many routes of 9a (5.14d) and harder.
The Piolet d'Or is an annual mountaineering and alpine climbing award organized by the Groupe de Haute Montagne (GHM), and previously with co-founder Montagnes Magazine, since its founding in 1992. Golden ice axes are presented to the annual winners at a weekend awards festival based on their achievements in the previous year. It is considered mountaineering's highest honor and is referred to as the "Oscars of mountaineering".
Rope-solo climbing or rope-soloing is a form of solo climbing, but unlike with free solo climbing, which is also performed alone and with no climbing protection whatsoever, the rope-solo climber uses a complex self-belay device and rope system to protect themselves in the event of a fall.
In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines—bouldering, single-pitch climbing, and big wall climbing—can trace their origins to late 19th-century Europe. Bouldering started in Fontainebleau, and was advanced by Pierre Allain in the 1930s, and John Gill in the 1950s. Big wall climbing started in the Dolomites, and was spread across the Alps in the 1930s by climbers such as Emilio Comici and Riccardo Cassin, and in the 1950s by Walter Bonatti, before reaching Yosemite where it was led in the 1950s to 1970s by climbers such as Royal Robbins. Single-pitch climbing started pre-1900 in both the Lake District and in Saxony, and by the 1970s had spread widely with climbers such as Ron Fawcett (Britain), Bernd Arnold (Germany), Patrick Berhault (France), Ron Kauk and John Bachar (USA).
Adam Ondra is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing and bouldering. In 2013, Rock & Ice described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondra is the only male athlete to have won World Championship titles in both disciplines in the same year (2014) and is also the only male athlete to have won the World Cup series in both disciplines.
La Rambla is a 41-metre (135 ft) sport climb at the limestone El Pati crag in Siurana, Catalonia in Spain. Originally bolted and climbed by Alexander Huber in 1994 as a 35-metre (115 ft) route, the bolting was later extended by Dani Andrada to a 41-metre (135 ft) route, which was eventually climbed by Ramón Julián Puigblanque in 2003. While there has been debate about La Rambla's grade, there is now consensus that it meets the 9a+ (5.15a) threshold. It is an important and historic route in climbing, and is part of the coveted "9a+ trilogy" with Realization and Papichulo.
Sonnie Trotter, is a Canadian professional climber, known for his strength in many rock climbing disciplines, contributing to hundreds of first ascents around the world.
Separate Reality is a 66-foot (20 m) traditional climbing route in Yosemite National Park in California. The route is known for its exposed and dramatic crux that consists of a 20-foot (6.1 m) long crack in its horizontal roof. When it was first freed by Ron Kauk in 1978, it was one of the first climbs in the world to have a grade of 7a+ (5.12a). In 1986, German climber Wolfgang Güllich free soloed the route, and the photographs by Austrian Heinz Zak become iconic in rock climbing history.
Sportroccia was the very first international climbing competition. Four annual Sportroccia editions were held in 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1989, in the village of Bardonecchia and Arco, Italy.
Angela "Angy" Eiter is an Austrian professional rock climber. She is a champion in lead climbing competitions, winning three IFSC Lead Climbing World Cups in a row, from 2004 to 2006 and four IFSC World Championships. In 2011, she achieved her 25th win in World Cup and her 42nd podium. She is also one of the strongest sport climbers in the world, and in 2017, became the first-ever female in history to climb a 9b (5.15b) route, La Planta de Shiva. In 2020, she became the first-ever female in history to complete the first free ascent of a 9b (5.15b) route, Madame Ching.
Alexander Megos is a German rock climber. He was the first climber to on-sight a route graded 9a (5.14d). He has completed multiple routes and boulder problems that are notoriously difficult, including two 9b+ (5.15c) routes, six 9b (5.15b) routes, and some boulders with a confirmed 8C (V15) rating.
Stefano Ghisolfi is an Italian professional rock climber and sport climber. He participates in international climbing competitions in three disciplines: lead, bouldering, and speed, and has had his best results in lead climbing. As a rock climber, he had redpointed routes of grade 9b+ (5.15c), onsighted routes of 8c (5.14b) and solved boulders at grade 8B+ (V14). In December 2018, after climbing Perfecto Mundo, he became the fourth climber in history to redpoint a 9b+ (5.15c) route.
Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza, best known as Patxi Usobiaga, is a Spanish professional rock climber, sports climber and boulderer. He is known for winning two Lead Climbing World Cups in a row, and for being the first-ever climber in history to onsight an 8c+ (5.14c) route.
Christian Core is an Italian professional sport climber and bouldering climber. He is known for being the first-ever person in the world to climb an 8C+ (V16) boulder, Gioia in 2008. He won the Bouldering World Cup twice, in 1999 and 2002, and a Bouldering World Championship in 2003.
Silence, is a 45-metre (148 ft) severely overhanging sport climbing route in the granite Hanshelleren Cave, in Flatanger, Norway. When Czech climber Adam Ondra made the first free ascent on 3 September 2017, it became the first rock climb in the world to have a proposed climbing grade of 9c (5.15d), and it is an important route in rock climbing history. To complete the route, Ondra undertook specialist physical and mental training to overcome its severely overhanging terrain. As of April 2023, Silence remains unrepeated.
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