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Top Climber Urges Patience as Italy Reopens Climbing

Two months of Stefano Ghisolfi staying home, training and then heading back out during covid-19

May 6, 2020
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After eight weeks of lockdown, Italy has started phase-two of their reopening, which includes some outdoor activities. Top climber Stefano Ghisolfi has been popular on social media thanks to his indoor training routines and support of healthcare workers.

Today he posted on Instagram about the reopening and that he’ll be easing back into outdoor rock climbing because the pandemic isn’t over. “If the place where I’m going is already too crowded, I’ll just go home,” he said. “We stayed two months without outdoor climbing or climbing at all, we can resist few more days and start climbing again gradually. Climbing is my job but I’m still thinking it is not the priority now for me, it is to be safe and avoid risks. Let me know what do you think we can all do to be safer at the crags and climb reducing the risk, we can sum up some tips for everyone.”

Below are a number of his posts from the start of lockdown in Italy to the end. What a crazy spring it’s been. Stay safe and remember physical distancing guidelines when you head out. Covid-19 is still a serious issue in Canada.

Ghisolfi During Covid-19

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Since we are at home in these days, projects on rock are suspended, I can show you some of my hardest projects in the garage. This is a new 8c+ I set yesterday that I called Quarantena, I wasn't able to complete it even with 2 rests, and the first crux going to the orange ball is extremely hard! I can keep you updated on the progression with this and I hope to climb it before the quarantine finishes. The high point now is hold 18+ and it has 44 moves in total. • • • @thenorthface @lasportivagram #foryourmountain @camp1889 @epictv @hrtholds @misuraweb @visittrentino #neverstopexploring @fiammeoromoena #fiammeoromoena @frictionlabs • #climb #climbing #steghisati #rockclimbing #klettern #escalade #bouldering #climbing_pictures_of_instagram

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I chose some of the most iconic images I found to show what is happening here. If you live in Italy you see this everyday on TV from 2 weeks now, if you live somewhere else it is probably hard to realized what is going on, so I wanted to share some informations with you because I noticed some people didn't fully realized it. Because of the virus, in Italy already died 4825 people (800 just yesterday in 24h), there are more than 50.000 people positive to the test. Italy has one of the best health system in the world, but the beds in intensive care units are almost full in the north, they are moving people to hospital with less cases. There are no more place in cemeteries for coffins, the army is using their trucks to move the deceased to other regions. Medics and nurses are working harder than ever, they are putting their lifes at risk and getting sick and dying too. They are real life super heroes, and they are asking us to help them. They are not asking to go to war, or to go to hospitals and help them on the field, they just asked us to stay home to reduce and delay the contagion. Please, it is a simple rule, even if you are in a country with no restrictions at all, try to stay home and help everyone to defeat this virus. Words in the last picture mean "everything will be fine", we need to believe it. #andratuttubene #iorestoacasa #stayathome

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Yesterday I received a phone call and I figured out my last chance to go to Tokyo2020 just faded. Ifsc assigned the spot from the Tripartite commission and, in short words, I cannot qualify for the Olympics anymore. This decision was supposed to be made after European championships in March, so we would have a last fight there for the last spot, the competition then was postponed but not the assignment to this pass, who went to @michael.piccolruaz who was the next in the Combined world championship ranking and deserves this a lot, and who filled the quota for Italy. A weird story, it is sad not to fight one last time and being out of the game with a phone call, but I suppose we are living a bad historical moment (that was the cause of postponement of the comp) and I need to accept it, I mean, something much worse is happening to the world right now and I'm not going to cry for a competition, even if it is the most important one and it means losing more than a year of training and travels with the purpose to qualify. It's not a big deal, think, even the Olympics are not in the Olympics this year, I can overcome this ??. In any case, I strongly believe, competitions won't unfortunately take place this year (personal thought, not official), so this decision would have just come now or later, and sooner is better. After few minutes of sadness after the call, I realized I still have 1000 projects and more time to work on them now, I like to see the positive side and I can say I'm happy I can do what I love most, you can see what I talking about in the second picture. • • I'm sorry for @fannygibert974 and @marci_bomb who lost their possibility too and deserved a chance to fight, but at the same time I'm happy for @michael.piccolruaz and Anouck Jaubert who deserve the spot for their amazing performances last year in Tokyo.

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Phase 2 began in Italy, and in the majority of regions is it possible to go out to practice outdoor activities and sport. I'm a bit worried about it, this doesn't mean the emergency is over and we have to pay double attention in our next moves. Everyone wants to go out and climb (including me) because we were locked for two whole months, but we need to be responsible for ourselves and the others. Climbing isn't 100% safe so we have to follow some easy rules to avoid infections. The best and easiest thing is to avoid crowded crags and keep distance between climbers. In my region is possible now to go climbing without using the car, and without hurry I will try to go in the next days in some very close lonely crags with only hard stuff (there should be no one there). If the place where I'm going is already too crowded, I'll just go home. We stayed 2 months without outdoor climbing or climbing at all, we can resist few more days and start climbing again gradually. Climbing is my job but I'm still thinking it is not the priority now for me, it is to be safe and avoid risks. Let me know what do you think we can all do to be safer at the crags and climb reducing the risk, we can sum up some tips for everyone.

A post shared by Stefano Ghisolfi (@steghiso) on

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