BURSTYesterday, Stefano Ghisolfi sent Hazel Grace Sit V15/16 (8C/+) in Gotthard Pass, Switzerland. It’s the Italian climber’s hardest boulder to date. Ghisolfi spent two days unlocking Hazel Grace V14, the stand-start version of the problem, and then spent another two days to complete the sit.
Hazel Grace was established by Giuliano Cameroni in 2017 at a grade of V15, which settled at V14 with subsequent ascents. The aesthetic, five-star boulder trends leftward across a seam to an arete topout in a beautiful alpine setting. In 2021, Cameroni added a sit start, which he gave a grade of soft V16. Subsequent ascensionists Florian Wientjes, Dave Graham, Sam Weir, and Stefano Carnati all believed the problem to be V15/16. Ghisolfi downgraded the problem to V15, not taking the slash grade for the ascent.
“It took me 4 days to climb the hardest boulder I’ve ever done, and without any doubt, one of the best [lines by Giuliano Cameroni],” said Ghisolfi on Instagram. “The best thing about bouldering is the crazy amount of places and lines I’ve never tried or considered before, I have the whole world to climb and I don’t have to go far away to find good projects, there are so many places I’ve never been and I’m looking forward to go such as Magic Wood, Fontainebleau, [Albarracin], Rocklands… this is just the beginning for Stefano the boulderer.”
Ghisolfi’s previous hardest boulder was Anam Cara Low V15 in Silvapark, Austria, which he sent in June. It’s also important to note that he’s completed the crux of Adam Ondra’s Silence 5.15d, a sequence that goes at V15 at a minimum. He has six V14 boulders to his name, his first being Gandalf il Grigio in Varazze, Italy way back in 2012.
Before bouldering this summer, Ghilsolfi focused musch of the Spring 2025 season on one major goal: climb four 5.15b (9b) routes, each at different crag in Spain. He ended up completing three of the four routes he set out to do. In mid-February, he made the third ascent of Alex Megos’ The Full Journey 5.15b in Margalef. A few weeks later at the beginning of March, he made the fourth ascent of Chris Sharma’s Sleeping Lion 5.15b in Siurana. Two weeks after that he threw down Sharma’s Neanderthal 5.15b in Santa Linya, again making the fourth ascent of the line.
The last route on his list was Sharma’s Fight of Flight 5.15b in Oliana. The route proved to be the most difficult for Ghisolfi, spending more projecting days than any of the other three routes. He completed The Full Journey in nine sessions, Sleeping Lion in eleven, and Neanderthal in nine. With temps warming into the 30s, he had to leave the project uncompleted.
Giuliano Cameroni’s FA of Hazel Grace Sit V15/16
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