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Pietro Vidi Repeats a Shawn Raboutou V16

The 21-year-old just sent F*ck the System in Fionnay, Switzerland

On June 12, Italian climber Pietro Vidi made the fourth ascent of Shawn Raboutou’s F*ck the System V16 (8C+) in Fionnay, Switzerland. The problem is a low start to the notoriously difficult Dave Graham line, Foundation’s Edge V15. Raboutou made the first ascent in July 2021, Graham picked up the second ascent in June 2022, and Clément Lechaptois made the third ascent in October 2022. F*ck the System is Vidi’s first of the grade.

“What a process it has been on this one,” said Vidi on Instagram. “I first tried it last summer and couldn’t really understand the tricky kneebar crux, came back this year after spending the Bavona season with the Master and felt my technical skills definitely levelled up. This time I quickly unlocked the knee sequence, but eventually the already tiny foothold slightly crumbled making the technical crux even more low percentage, then a real battle with wet holds started, making me drop multiple times after the crux with wet hands.

“After way too many days raging against Meteoswiss and with some little beta adjustment I just convinced myself it was possible even in this conditions and just float through the sequence on a random try. For sure one of the most technical rigs I’ve ever climbed, huge mental battle to get it done!”

Vidi has been on fire over the past year. According to his 8a.nu, in the span of the past 12 months, the 21-year-old has climbed one V16, five V15s, and 13 V14s, mostly in Switzerland, France, and Italy. In January, he made first V15 FA with Captain Nemo in Ticino.

Shawn Raboutou’s FA of F*ck the System V16

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