JACOPO LARCHER

TICK THE BEST LINES

Some people might have it as a “wish list” – something completely crazy from the realm of dreams. Others have it as a “tick list.” Over the past few years, Jacopo has managed to tick off some of the biggest climbing challenges our planet has to offer. And he has done so mostly with his partner Barbara “Babsi” Zangerl in an inspiring team-based style.

One example is Odyssee (8a+, 1,400 m) on the Eiger’s Geneva Pillar: “Four days on the wall during the final attempt, where we were terrified by wet 7c pitches.” Another would be Eternal Flame (7c+, 650 m) on Pakistan’s Nameless Tower in the Trango Group: “Fried by the sun, but without a single fall.” Freerider (7c+, 880 m) on the iconic El Capitan certainly qualifies as well, despite the fact that, for the first time in his life, Jacopo felt a slight melancholy after climbing a multipitch route… You can read more about it below. And can we look forward to a first ascent by Jacopo and Babsi? You’ll find out everything.

In addition to big walls and team ascents, Jacopo is very fond of traditional single pitch routes. How far can he push himself on his own pro? For a guy originally from Bolzano, Italy, he has sent somewhere around French 9a, the current world maximum. Out of respect for the line, he did not set a grade for his route Tribe in Cadarese, but it is said that it will be one of the most difficult trad routes in the world.

Another of the world’s top five trad routes Jacopo attempted this summer: Recovery Drink (8c+) by Nico Favresse in Norway. So far, he hasn’t climbed it. “It was difficult for me, but I enjoyed it a lot,” says Jacopo, with whom we spent a pleasant evening chatting. Babsi wasn’t home, their friend Roger Schäli and his girlfriend had just left, so it was quiet enough to dive into all kinds of climbing topics.

Jacopo started out as a competition climber. He competed in lead at the European Junior Championships, tried speed climbing (once), and finally switched to bouldering for the last two years. By then, he was competing against adults, participating in World Cup competitions and usually finishing around 40th. Before we head to the mountains and rocks, let’s discuss this climbing side.

A FOOT IN THE DOOR

You never really left the world of competitive climbing. Last year, you obtained your IFSC Level 3 license, which means you can now set routes for world cups… Do you see route setting as an opportunity to grow as a climber, or is it more or less “just a job” for you?
I originally started setting routes because I enjoyed it. Slowly, while I was still in school, it turned into various part-time jobs that I used to earn money for my climbing trips. I’ve had my first-level license since about 2007. In recent years, I’ve been setting more and more competitions. So for me, it’s a combination: it’s still a passion, but at the same time, I see it as work.

Do you try to incorporate movements from rock climbing and big wall climbing into your routes on the artificial wall? Do you try to connect the world of competition with climbing outdoors?
Not really, I see these two aspects of my climbing as completely separate, so I don’t try to replicate anything from outdoor climbing on artificial walls. I respect the evolution of the competitive world and don’t try to influence it. I take it as my job to follow the established trend. I see competition and rock climbing as two different worlds.

Does your previous experience as a competitor help you with route setting?
Yes, I like that I can now observe the other side of the competition process. Feedback from climbers can sometimes be quite frustrating for route setters, but because I was once a competitor myself, I now have a greater understanding of them.

Do you see any route-setting goals for yourself?
I would like to stay in the IFSC team that prepares world cups and participate in the preparation of as many competitions as possible. At the same time, it would be nice to maintain a balance between route setting and my climbing projects. Which is sometimes quite a challenge with time.

When you don’t have much time, do you train while setting?
It doesn’t work very well for my body because route setting is very exhausting. It’s quite easy to get injured, which has happened to me several times in the past. You get pretty good training when you’re preparing for a big bouldering competition. You get to climb and train quite a bit. It’s not as good as your normal session on the wall, but it’s okay. On the other hand, setting routes for rope climbing seems more like working at heights. You feel like a workman and you don’t get to climb much there.

How does your training look like throughout the year?
I try to train as much as possible during the winter on an artificial wall. We’re usually at home (Bludenz, Austria, author’s note), and you can’t really climb outside on the rocks here at that time of year, so we go skiing quite often. And when we’re not skiing, I’m motivated to climb on an artificial wall and train. Later, we spend the spring on sports climbing or traditional routes. Summer is usually dedicated to multi-pitch climbing.

Where you try to use your shape you gained in winter…
Exactly. My shape slowly declines from winter throughout the year until the main goals, which are usually Yosemite in the fall or some big expedition.

So during your best climbs, you’re actually at your weakest.
That’s right. (laughs) It slowly wears you out physically, so at the end of autumn you can start training again – right from the beginning.

“My shape slowly declines from winter throughout the year until the main goals, which are usually Yosemite in the fall or some big expedition.”

THE COURAGE TO TAKE A SELFIE

In 2010, you stopped competing altogether. Was it a radical life change, or did you come to it gradually?
It matured in me very slowly and it was quite a complicated process. I was quite good at competing, I enjoyed it, and I was afraid to leave the scene completely. But once I made up my mind, I took a rather radical approach. I haven’t participated in any official competitions since then.

The process of getting into traditional and big wall climbing was also quite slow. I started traveling around bouldering and sport climbing areas. Then I started to get a little bored with it and began looking for something more adventurous. Multi-pitch routes and so on.

Did it help that you were known in Italy thanks to competing? I mean, for getting sponsors, for example.
Probably a little, but the key thing was that I never thought about becoming a professional climber. Sure, I looked for sponsors, but I never hoped it would turn out like this. (laughs) At the same time, my racing career wasn’t that interesting to sponsors. They mainly want to see photos, read stories from big walls, and so on.

I’ve long had the impression that you’re not the type of person who likes to be the center of attention, have your picture taken, give lectures, do interviews, and so on… Was this a big obstacle for you on your way to becoming a professional climber?
It definitely was. And I still struggle with it. In recent years, however, I’ve gotten used to it a bit and I’m a little less afraid of public appearances. It wasn’t easy for me. Various situations helped me, when I simply “had” to present something and there was no way around it. I’m still shy, but not as much as I was 15 years ago. For Seán Villanueva, for example, it’s natural to be filmed or sing songs, but I still struggle with it.

So what about selfie videos?
Yeah, that’s probably the hardest thing. I would almost say, “No go.” It really goes against my grain. I was asked by a sponsor if I would do one. It was supposed to last 10 seconds. And it took me about a hundred tries before I somehow managed to do it. (laughs) Oh well, it’s part of the job.

„I never thought about becoming a professional climber. Sure, I looked for sponsors, but I never hoped it would turn out like this.“

TRAD HARD

I would now like to move on to difficult traditional single pitches. For example, the biggest hits such as Meltdown 8c+, Magic Line 8c+, or Tribe (no grade given, but rumored to be 9a, author’s note). Would you add anything else?
Rhapsody, E11 7a (8c+, author Dave MacLeod, more about the route here, author’s note) was also quite difficult, and the first ascent of Blood Diamond in Valle dell’Orco was very challenging as well. I didn’t give that one a grade either. (laughs)

Which of the routes mentioned do you feel most connected to?
Definitely Tribe. Absolutely, without a doubt. This route has become a kind of mirror of my development as a traditional climber. I started trying it on the very first day I arrived in Cadarese. At that time, I knew almost nothing about climbing with friends. My friend Riky Felderer showed it to me: “Hey, this could be your project for the next few years.” (laughs) We climbed some easier routes that day, and after we finished climbing, I immediately ran to the car, grabbed my static rope, rappeled in the route to check out the moves with my headlamp. I picked up a brush and started working on it.

And how long did it take to finish?
I spent six years on that route. For the first four years or so, I only tried it occasionally, with some slight improvements. Then I started to feel hopeful, so in the end I spent two whole seasons on it… I enjoyed the whole process and was very connected to it.

I don’t want this to sound like criticism, but have you considered trying the route from the bottom first? Even just AF style? That means no rapelling. In the Elbe Sandstones, where I live, we follow the “ground-up ethics” during the first ascents.
Everyone here first rappels down into the difficult routes, so I didn’t even think about it at the time. But the way of climbing in the Elbe Sandstones is much more inspiring to me. And honestly, if I hadn’t rapelled the route first, I probably would never have climbed it.

Can you say anything about its repetitions?
James Pearson Tribe repeated it the very next year, and this year the talented Pietro Vidi (22 years old, more here, author’s note) made the third ascent. Both respected the fact that the route has no classification.

Are you completely against Tribe being graded in the future?
I’m not completely against it. But it would be good to have a few more climbers. I see classification as a kind of indicator in climbing. But I don’t like it when “the number becomes the goal.” And I think numbers are too important today. Then it’s not about climbing a beautiful line, but about getting a 6b, 9b, or 7c. And that’s a shame. A lot of people focus too much on the number, and in the meantime, the experience gets a little lost.

IMPROVING UNTIL THE AGE OF 60

Up to what age do you think or hope that a climber can improve? I’m not interested in competitions, but multi-pitch climbing, trad climbing, and similar things.
What I think is different from what I hope. (laughs) I hope I’ll keep improving until I’m 60. (laughs) In mountaineering, you reach your peak performance at a later age because you need to gain as much experience as possible. Your overall endurance also improves with age… I think that at the age of 45, you can still do a lot of intense things. In climbing, the age is probably a little lower. For super-difficult traditional routes, the age limit is probably around 40. And in bigwalls, it’s a little higher. There, you have to be able to compensate for your declining maximum with sufficient experience. You’ll climb valuable routes if you choose more technical and bold routes.

By the way, how do you work with your fear? Is it your friend, or does it sometimes take control of you?
I’m afraid, seriously, all the time. It evolves a bit over time: at first, I was afraid to clip a perfect friend because I didn’t know anything about it. I think fear is very important. It works for me as a kind of “alarm” that can save me. However, a climber should distinguish between different types of fear. There is irrational fear – for example, when you are slightli about the bolt in an overhanging terrain. Nothing will happen to you, so it makes sense to overcome this fear. On the other hand, you can get into a really “shitty situation” in the mountains, where you should listen to your fear and try to find a way to get out of it safely.

By this second type of fear, do you mean some kind of “inner voice” or intuition?
Yes, they are related. I try to listen to my intuition. Sometimes, before I start climbing a big wall, it tells me, “This is kind of weird, isn’t it?“

So what happens when you feel that “today is not the right day”?
Sometimes I back out, but sometimes my motivation is so strong that it overpowers even my skeptical inner voice.

What was your longest fall into a friend?
I’ve had a few long whippers, but fortunately they were without consequences. Once I flew into a skyhook, there were some flights into ballnuts or micro-nuts…

How many pieces have you zipped up? What’s your record?
Nothing dramatic, maybe just two. To be honest, I haven’t had many scary falls.

(NOT)FLASHED

You don’t fall much? So you’re probably climbing below your limit. (laughs) You didn’t push yourself too hard on the Boulder Problem either when you and Babsi were climbing Freerider, right? (See this situation, author’s notice)
(laughs) It was pretty weird there. I wanted to try very hard, but I didn’t notice the hidden hold, so I just couldn’t push myself. That position trapped me there, and I couldn’t see a way out. I fell, and it was frustrating—I didn’t even really fight for it!

Why didn’t you talk to Alex Honnold about this boulder, for example?
Yeah, we talked about it, I saw the video… I thought you’d just grab the undercling and pull. But I didn’t know that a little further along the undercling there was a smaller pocket hidden that solved it.

So you missed it by a few centimeters with your fingers…
Yes, exactly. But that doesn’t mean that if I had found the pocket, I would have climbed it right away.

I understand, but even so, in my eyes it was mainly a perfect and inspiring example of team performance on a big wall… Can you push harder when you’re fighting for the “FLASH team” on a wall than when you’re on a single pitch?
I can push myself on a single pitch when I’m climbing on my own. But you’re right—when you’re climbing in a team, there’s a lot more energy in the air. Especially when you’re there with someone you know very well. I don’t know if I can climb better in these situations, but I definitely feel more energy because it’s a joint effort between the two of you.

“When you’re climbing in a team, there’s a lot more energy in the air.”

Still, Babsi was a little sad at the top that “you didn’t flash it.” How did you feel?
Yeah, it was strange. On the one hand, I was happy for Babsi that she had succeeded… On the other hand, I was pretty angry with myself – I took it as a failure. For perhaps the first time in my life, I felt sad after climbing a multi-pitch route. And over the next few days, it got even worse.

Really? From my point of view, you’re being too hard on yourself. I see it as your team FLASH climb – you also pulled half the pitches, you saved each other’s strength, and if Babsi had gone first on the boulder, she might have missed the hidden hold and you would have sent it right away…
Sure, thank you for seeing it that way. It is actually “team FLASH,” but I still feel a little sad about it. El Capitan means a lot to me, and this was the only route I had the opportunity to flash. Oh well. It would be nice to climb it in one day sometime.

I’m also curious – did you plan to split Enduro Corner into two pitches?
Honestly, we thought about combining them. I climbed the first part and found that there’s basically no hand rest at the belay – you stand on a small ledge and wedge your shoulder in the corner. So I thought it would be ok to split it.

IN A PROFI-RELATIONSHIP

You and Babsi have been together for about 13 years… What are the main advantages and disadvantages of having the love of your life as your main climbing partner?
Over such a long period of time, you get to know each other very well, which I think is the biggest advantage. We know each other so well that sometimes we don’t even need to talk on the wall. (laughs) It’s great that you can share your passion for climbing with someone like that. It’s a great blessing and a privileged situation.

And sure, I see the disadvantages too. When one of us gets into a dangerous situation, you behave a little differently than you would with a “normal” climbing partner. We feel very connected, and it’s different.

Is it difficult for you to agree on common goals?
We don’t usually have the same routes in mind. Usually, I suggest something and Babsi likes it too. Or vice versa. And we try to take turns. If one of us chooses a route that the other isn’t interested in, we split up and find other partners for it. But in order to climb together, we both try to compromise and take turns with our wish lists.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that you still don’t have any significant multi-pitch first ascents with Babsi.
That’s true, we don’t.

So, is that one of your plans for the future? It would be perfect if you could create a route. It would definitely be a challenge for current and future climbers. A gift that our community deserves.
We keep talking about it, but laziness always gets the better of us. (laughs) It’s always easier to repeat something that’s already been done than to go to the mountains to “work.“

I understand, but what if? Where would you place your first ascent?
It would probably make sense to start at home in the Alps. And then maybe somewhere like Pakistan, where there are still a lot of free routes. Last time we went there to repeat Ethernal Flame, but next time I’d rather go to a similar country to discover something new. Or at least free climb some older route with technical sections.

Let’s stick to your first ascent. How would you protect it?
The style would depend on the type of rock. If everything could be climbed on gear, the route would be completely clean. Where it’s not possible to place protection, I would hammer in pitons. And where even pitons wouldn’t work, I would drill in bolts. But in such a way that it wouldn’t create a bolt ladder and that it wouldn’t be possible to hook from one bolt to another. The run-outs should be a challenge.

When you make a route in the mountains, I don’t think you should do it with others in mind. It should be an expression of your climbing, your work… Leaving a mark of what climbing means to you. Without worrying about whether it will be climbed.

It seems to me that today some first ascenders want their routes to be accessible to everyone… It’s nice to think of others, but then it doesn’t really push you to improve your performance – both physically and mentally.

Is that what bothers you the most?
Yes, it robs people of experiences, it doesn’t allow them to grow as climbers. It transfers the culture of artificial walls to nature, increases traffic on the rocks… And I don’t like this normalization or uniformity even in sports – when, for example, bolts have to be a certain distance apart so that everything is super safe. A large part of climbing is lost because of this.

We risk turning our sport into more of a climbing tourism activity. For example, here at home in Vorarlberg, there is now a movement to “re-belay old sport routes.” In my view, however, these routes are losing their original character due to this intervention. Sketchy sections and run-outs are being “repaired” with new bolts… I think that’s a shame.

Sure, I agree that it’s good to replace old bolts with new ones from time to time, but I would definitely not add any fixed protextion to the existing routes. Today, I see a trend that everything has to be super-safe. The path to the rocks and older routes as well. Why? Everyone has the choice to try something or not. If you don’t want to get hurt, there are plenty of artificial walls to choose. And if you come across a boldly protected 8a outside, no one is forcing you to climb it. For some climbers, however, it can present a challenge. We should respect the way older routes are protected… And not add bolts because of a current trend.

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