To The North Face’s Jacopo Larcher, Northern Italy’s ‘Tribe’ represents not only his longest and most demanding project to date, but a six-year evolution from trad newcomer to one of the most versatile and accomplished climbers in the world. And yet, despite opening this 30-metre punisher – a line hidden in the woodlands of Cadarese and that is argued to be the hardest single-pitch climb on Earth.
In March of this year, Larcher chose to forgo his right to grade the route, deciding not to reduce his astonishing achievement to a number, but to allow it to stand as a monument to the fellow athletes, the climbing community and the friends who helped push him to its roof. Together, we rise.