Adam Ondra’s Vicious Circle 5.15a/b Climbed
Stefano Carnati has made the second ascent of the steep Slovenian route, shortly after graduating with his PhD
Stefano Carnati, 25, has made the first repeat of Vicious Circle 5.15a/b at Mišja Peč, which was first climbed by Adam Ondra in 2016 as an extension to the classic Sanski Par. About Vicious Circle, Ondra said the route has “super powerful and resistant climbing.”
After Carnati’s second ascent, he logged it on 8a.nu saying, “40 movements, extreme power endurance climbing with a hard crux. Broke the first hold and the entry section got slightly harder (climbed it second try before then and had to spend another two days to solve it again ), I used kneepads which helped for some rests. In my opinion, the first half itself is much harder than the second (i.e. “Sanjski par”), but the second is definitely the redpoint crux. What a process! 2nd ascent and 2nd hardest route I climbed so far.”
Carnati has sent several difficult routes over the years, including Erebor 5.15b, Jungle Boogie 5.15a, Biographie 5.15a, Goldrake 5.15a, Demencia Senil 5.15a and La moustache qui fâche 5.15a. In 2021, he made the first ascent of Collasso Gravitazionale 5.14d in Italy.
Carnati is currently living in Slovenia and he recently completed his PhD in chemical and environmental sciences. “For the nth time in my climbing career I ended up in the loop of projecting, the typical process made of progress, setbacks, pressure, vacillation and so forth affecting all lovers of the sport,” he said about Vicious Circle. “But, last Saturday I found the key to break this endless loop.”
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