Babsi Zangerl has made the fifth ascent, and second female ascent of Bombardino, 9a+, in Arco, Italy. 

The route is a slightly easier variarion of Bomba, 9b, which was bolted by Adam Ondra in 2012. Having initially disregarded the line as 'too easy', Ondra ultimately left Arco without climbing the route, feeling that it might in fact be 'impossible'.

Ten years passed before Ondra came back to make the first ascent of Bomba, 9b, and in the interim, local climber Alfredo Weber bolted an easier variation, Bombardino. 

Upon making the first ascent of Bombardino, Adam suggested a grade of 9a+/b, one that subsequently settled at 9a+ due to new sequences discovered by second and third ascensionists, Stefano Ghisolfi and Giovanni Placci.

Laura Rogora then went on to make the route's fourth ascent, and first female ascent, in November 2024.

In climbing Bombardino, Babsi becomes just the fourteenth woman to climb a route at 9a+ or harder.

In an email sent to UKC earlier in the week, Babsi said:

After more or less two months of effort, I finally climbed my first 9a+!

Bombardino had me completely hooked from the very beginning. A huge thank you to Adam Ondra for establishing such an incredible and inspiring line—it's one of those climbs that just draws you in and doesn't let go.

Every session above the village of Arco felt like a little mission. The view over Lake Garda gave the whole process this unique, almost vacation-like atmosphere—even on the tough days, it was hard to complain. The deeper I got into the project, the more exciting—and emotional—it became. I fell three times on the very last hard move… and with each fall, the doubts grew louder. The temperatures were rising, the climbing became more exhausting, and I could feel the window slowly closing. The route started to feel more unpredictable—some days I made real progress, others it felt completely out of reach.

On the day I sent it, it was warm—26 degrees—not exactly my idea of perfect sending temps. I'd already had three tries, and only one of them felt decent. And of course, I fell again on the last move. At that point, I had zero expectations left. I just wanted to give it one last try as a bit of training. Nothing more.

But then somehow… everything clicked. Right from the first move, I knew I had to fight. My body was tired, but my mind was calm. Move after move, I just kept going. I knew exactly what to do—when to breathe, when to push. When I stuck the crux and kept moving, completely pumped, I still didn't believe it. Not until I clipped the chains. I was totally wrecked, but my endurance held on—just long enough.

The ups and downs, the doubts, the tiny breakthroughs—that feeling of giving everything for something, even if it's "just a climb"… it felt amazing.

Huge thanks to everyone who supported me on this line—Jacopo, Manu, Barbara, Arba, Lucas—thank you for the belays, the patience, the encouragement, and all the good vibes. You made this experience even more special.

If you haven't already seen it, check out the recently released video of Babsi flashing Free Rider on El Capitan below: