Janja Garnbret makes rare repeat of historic Za staro kolo (F8c+)
- Tuesday 11th March 2025
Janja Garnbret has made a rare repeat of Za staro kolo (F8c+), a historic route originally climbed by Tadej Slabe in 1992.
‘What an iconic route and a real piece of history! ✨’ ‘ Janja Garnbret wrote after her ascent. Describing the route as having an ‘unforgiving style and a brutal crux move.’, Janja Garnbret was super psyched to have made not only a rare repeat of the route but also the first female ascent of the route.
Janja Garnbret first tried the route in 2022 but commented, somewhat remarkably, ‘[I] never felt strong enough’! And considering that is coming from Garnbret that is an indication of just how hard the route is. It was, she also wrote, ‘My longest project to date’ – again, another indication of the difficulty.
Said to be one of the best-known Slovenian climbers ‘back-in-the-day’ Tadej Slade, who had a Ph.D. in Geography, climbed to balance his research work. Borne in 1959, Za storo kolo was Slabe’s hardest ever first ascent. Describing his original ascent Garnbret said; ‘This power endurance testpiece at Mišja peč in Slovenia was first ascended by Tadej Slabe in 1992 and saw 10(?) repeats in over 30 years. Although it didn’t get a lot of international attention in recent years, it was considered, along with Wolfgang Güllich’s Action Directe and Ben Moon’s Hubble, one of the hardest climbs in the world back in the day and has a special allure among the climbing scene here in @feelslovenia…’
Signing off after her historic ascent, Garnbret commented on the grade saying; ‘If anyone suggests an upgrade I’d agree, but mostly I’m just super happy to finally check this one off my to-do list!! 🤩’
It seems therefore that Za staro kolo has all the hallmarks of a historic testpiece/sandbag; few repeats over the 33 years since it was originally climbed, brutally hard climbing and ‘hard-for-the-[original]-grade’; in other words, it’s a prime candidate for an upgrade to F9a like Action Directe and Hubble have been.
Also, like Wolfgang Güllich’s and Ben Moon, Tadej Slade was featured in Rock Stars – Heinz Zak’s seminal 1997 illustrated sport climbing book.