Gripped Magazine
Jonathan Siegrist Sends 5.15a in Arco
On March 8, Jonathan Siegrist redpointed Trofeo dell’Adriatico 5.15a (9a+) at the Bus de la Stria crag in Arco, Italy. With this ascent, Siegrist has now climbed 28 routes graded 5.15a, plus seven 5.15b’s.
Trofeo dell’Adriatico is a mega line – Adam Ondra, Gio Placci, Laura Rogora, and Stefano Ghisolfi, among others, have sent it, and all gave it rave reviews. When announcing her FFA of the route, Rogora called it “one of the best and hardest lines I have ever climbed” on Instagram. Ghisolfi described it as a “masterpiece“. Siegrist matched their enthusiasm, both for the route itself and in the pure joy of climbing it.
“Ahhh psyched! ‘Trofeo dell’adriatico’ is such a stunner,” said Siegrist via Instagram. “One of the best [5.15a] around for sure. Bolted by the great David Lama and climbed by Gabri Moroni, it’s an intense tufa route with great holds, hard cruxes and basically nowhere to rest (the knee bar before the crux doesn’t work for my size). I first tried it in 2024 but gave up because the winter conditions were just too cold for me. Finally got to try it again last week in lovely weather and climbed it yesterday! I have many undone routes around the world, it always feels great to return and actually finish one off. Plus, Arco rules.”
Ondra and Placci believe Trofeo dell’Adriatico to be soft for the grade, but didn’t go so far as to downgrade the route. They were also both able to secure the aforementioned kneebar that Siegrist noted was not possible for his size. The route has many betas – check out the video below that compares Ondra and Ghisolfi climbing the route side-by-side.
“Amazing line, one of the best in the grade,” said Ondra on 8a.nu. “Great vision by David for bolting and a lot of work by Gabri to clean and send it. I found a kneebar just before the crux that makes the route a bit easier, but still [5.15a] for sure. The way that Gabri did it is pretty hard for [5.15a] for sure! I tried it some years ago when it was still a project and totally dirty. This year, I was really close to sending [on the] first day, but in the end, I had to wait for another day with fresh skin and power when I did it on my first real go of the day.”
Siegrist has now ascended over 90 routes 5.14d or harder. In April 2025, he climbed Erebor, his seventh 5.15b, in Arco, Italy. Later, in June, he climbed Hard Twisted 5.15a and Lion’s Share 5.14d at Wolf Point, Wyoming. In August, he made the third ascent of Midnight Way 5.15a in Squamish, Canada. He made two first ascents in Mount Charleston, Nevada in the fall: Express Yourself 5.14d in September and Eazy Street 5.15a in October. In December 2025, he went on a sending spree in Jilotepec, Mexico. He climbed Cruz Diabo 5.14c, Mega Asesino 5.14c, onsighted Azoe 5.13d, Las Chicas Superpoderosas 5.14c, Lujuria 5.14c, and capped off the trip with a second ascent of Chicos Superlujuriosos 5.14d (FA’d by Tyler Thompson earlier that very day).
Adam Ondra and Stefano Ghisolfi on Trofeo dell’adriatico 5.15a
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