BURSTAfter a year or so of hard bouldering, Stefano Ghisolfi is back in Flatanger on Adam Ondra’s Silence 5.15d (9c). The route is Ghisolfi’s long-term project, with his first tie-in dating back to August 2022. He has made several trips back since. With each trip, he has made good progress, but the send has so far continued to elude him. Since his last attempts on Silence, Ghisolfi has been building strength bouldering. He has sent ten V15s (all roughly within one year) and in February this year, he climbed his first V16. Time will tell if his bouldering will lead to his first 5.15d send.
“Huge progress on Silence,” said Ghisolfi on Instagram. “Finally I was able to repeat the first crux, and I tried to continue, sticking the hardest move of the second crux as well after being able to rest 4 minutes on the kneebar between the 2 cruxes. I let go of the hold because it was wet, I could have continued if it was dry, but it is already a great breakthrough. Next goal will be to start from the rope change rest (few meters below crux 1) and connect it to the top of the route. After this link is done, I’m ready for some serious redpoint attempts.”
Silence is a 45-metre route in the Hanshelleren Cave in Flatanger, Norway. Ondra made the first ascent back in 2017 and proposed a grade of 5.15d – it was the first time a climb of the grade has ever been proposed. The route has not yet been repeated, and few have even attempted to achieve the second ascent. Ghisolfi and Bosi are both going for it again this year.
Ghisolfi is one of the world’s best sport climbers. He has climbed four 5.15c’s: Alex Megos’ Perfecto Mundo in Margalef, Adam Ondra’s Change in Flatanger, Megos’ Bibliographie in Céüse, and his first ascent of Excalibur in Arco.
In February of this year, he climbed Gioia V16 in Varazze, Italy – his first boulder of the grade. But 2026 has also involved some sport climbing for the Italian crusher. In June, he climbed Ratstaman Vibrations 5.15b in Céüse, France. This was his sixteenth climb 5.15b or harder. Earlier this year, in February, he sent 5.14d (9a) in a day – a first for Ghisolfi – on Gabriele Moroni’s Mascella Serrata in Arco, Italy. The route went down on his fourth go.
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