#TEAMCT GIORGIA TESIO

Name: Giorgia Tesio Date of birth: 20.10.2000 Home: Mondovì (Cn). Qualifications: Liceo Classico (classics in high school).

How would you describe yourself? I love to laugh, but above all I like to be surrounded by happy people who make me feel good, I like to shout and sing at the top of my voice, I like being direct and sincere, I am very severe in my self-criticism and like to test myself.

Main in all its forms.

Other sports Nowadays not very many, skiing and swimming.

The first thing you do when you In the afternoon after school I go to train and on Sundays I climb have time free outdoors with my father round where we live. In the holidays we go further afield, in summer maybe to somewhere with the sea nearby so as to be able to alternate climbing and being by the sea, it may sound monotonous but it’s certainly not boring.

How long have you been climbing? I have almost always climbed. My best childhood memories are of my sister and I when we started to climb in the Valle Gesso, the Sundays with my father who knows all the boulders off my heart and would help us. Climbing has always existed for me and has gradually substituted other “more normal” sports.

Your strengths? At first I was good on slabs, more than anything because I was scared of falling, my first 7a was a long, technical slab at Kalymnos. Now crimps, ideally overhanging.

Your weaknesses (at the moment)? In competitions, I struggle with “volumes” because the gyms I go to don’t have these sort of problems set, but if you travel round a bit, you do find different styles of route setting.

What do you think of women who For as long as I have been participating in competitions or at outdoor climb? events, I meet girls from al lover the world, also in my age group, who climb. Each of them is a good climber and has her own strengths and

Climbing Technology ® a brand of Aludesign S.p.a. WE ARE SOCIAL

Via Torchio, 22 - 24034 Cisano Bergamasco (BG) – Italy - Phone: +39 035 78 35 95 - Fax: +39 035 78 23 39 - E-mail: [email protected] VAT code # 01893550168 - REA: BG-293905 - Share Capital 420.000 euro i.v. - Copyrights for content and images reserved and property of Aludesign S.p.A.

#TEAMCT GIORGIA TESIO

weaknesses and I can learn something from all of them. Year after year it’s great to see them improving and to improve with them, it’s always stimulating. The world of climbing you don’t really understand until you’re part of it, it has a lot to give. I personally am fascinated with it, it’s my world and I have grown up in it.

Where does your passion come When I was little, I tried out lots of different sports, looking for the one from? that suited me best: rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, my grandfather took me skiing, and on Sundays I went climbing with my father. Then Matteo Gambaro open the climbing gym in Boves and I dropped everything else to concentrate on this activity which until then was just what I did on Sundays. This turned out to be a good decision.

Multipitch, cragging, boulder or I have to say cragging and boulder, although between training and indoor? competitions I do spend a lot of time indoors.

What do climbing and Climbing for me means being outside with friends, it doesn’t matter if it’s mountaineering mean for you? under a 100 m high cliff or a boulder a few metres high, what inspires me is more the line than the difficulty. Especially boulders like you find at Fontainebleau, I climb these for the pure joy of climbing on the curious shapes or routes that are part of our sport’s history like Viaggio nel Futuro at Finale Ligure this winter, first free climbed in the 80s by Andrea Gallo and with its own special fascination, climbing it was a real thrill for me !

Favourite crag, cliff or My heart remains in the various boulder and lead sectors in our area, spot? especially in the Valle Gesso, where I started, Valle Ellero where I climb with my father on summer evenings, Andonno, Monte Bracco, Albenga, Finale, but also Fontainbleu and Varazze, especially this year.

Meeting which changed your life Matteo Gambaro certainly helped me in my first years, but meeting Christian Core and Stella Marchisio really changed everything for me, starting from how you “live” climbing, how to behave and react in competitions, they have taught me loads and I still have lots to learn.

Is your family involved in your Not only do they support me, they participate directly! If it weren’t for my climbing, do they support you a father, I wouldn’t have discovered all the places where I climb, for years he’s been climbing here with my mother and friends, and he still takes me lot? to places which are new for me and full of memories for him.

Competitions or only outdoor Both. They are different, but both represent continuously challenging climbing? yourself and you are forced to improve and overcome your fears, both teach me about myself and my weaknesses. It’s an ongoing evolution.

Most important competition Certainly each competition is important in its own right, last year (2014) the coppa Europa competitions where I was on the podium a few times are a good memory; this year (2015) the Junior World Championships in

Climbing Technology ® a brand of Aludesign S.p.a. WE ARE SOCIAL

Via Torchio, 22 - 24034 Cisano Bergamasco (BG) – Italy - Phone: +39 035 78 35 95 - Fax: +39 035 78 23 39 - E-mail: [email protected] VAT code # 01893550168 - REA: BG-293905 - Share Capital 420.000 euro i.v. - Copyrights for content and images reserved and property of Aludesign S.p.A.

#TEAMCT GIORGIA TESIO

Arco are a big objective for me.

Type and frequency of training Training is fundamental, I train 5 days a week, following a programme designed around important events such as the Junior World Championships in Arco. Training is important not just for competitions but also for bouldering and climbing routes.

Hardest on sight and worked Maximum grade boulder 8a+, routes 8a on sight, 8a/+ as hardest grade climbed.

Overseas expeditions Climbing on “real rock” has allowed me to travel with my family in Europe to locations as different as Fontainbleau, Kalymnos, Margalef, Siurana, Ceuse. I was only just beginning when I visited Spain but before going back I want to see lots of other places, al lover the world.

Favourite music If climbing is my world, then music is my sanctuary. I listen to music at home to be alone, at school to not hear my classmates shouting, to dance and sing with my sister, to distract me when I am sad or confused, to go to sleep, to ease the tension when I am in isolation before a final, to get psyched-up for a training session or for a competition. I listen to everything, except the music which is too much pop, rock or rap.

Favourite food/drink I adore everything my Granny cooks, or my mother’s cakes, but I drink mainly still water. I don’t like fizzy drinks.

Favourite type of reading For me reading is a way of forgetting where I am. I love fantasies set in improbable places, or intriguing real-life stories and thrillers. I don’t like history books. I read in the car on the way to training, when I’m travelling, whenever I have time.

How do you choose your projects I choose them based on the line and whether I will be able to reach the holds, with tips from my father or from Christian I try the route or the boulder and if I like it and I think I can do it I keep trying. Or I have heard of a boulder or route, I find out about it and if I fancy it, I ask my father to take me there.

Which was your most difficult The step towards 8a boulder was hard for me. I had given myself project? How did you tackle it? Rampage as a target, one of the best lines I have ever seen, and this helped to keep me motivated, but the first tries, when there were no or tiny improvements, I was very down. Fortunately Dad kept encouraging me to keep trying it, and things kept getting better until I’d climbed it. This summer another 8a, in Valle Ellero, motivated me enough for me to climb it.

Climbing Technology ® a brand of Aludesign S.p.a. WE ARE SOCIAL

Via Torchio, 22 - 24034 Cisano Bergamasco (BG) – Italy - Phone: +39 035 78 35 95 - Fax: +39 035 78 23 39 - E-mail: [email protected] VAT code # 01893550168 - REA: BG-293905 - Share Capital 420.000 euro i.v. - Copyrights for content and images reserved and property of Aludesign S.p.A.

#TEAMCT GIORGIA TESIO

Future projects At the moment I’m trying the sit start to a boulder that I’ve already climbed from a standing start and which would be 8b, so I am starting to get near my objective this year of climbing 8b for both routes and for boulders.

Future challenges Looking a bit further ahead, to reach the level of the best women climbers on the International scene would be great, as would to travel the world climbing. After my school leaving exam I would like to take a year off and go round the world. I have started saving already!

Secret dreams My ultimate dream would be to win the World Cup (Coppa del mondo), I can’t really justify this ambition, I can only tell you that when I see Stöhr or Mina Marcovic smiling from the podium, I think that one day it should be me in their place.

Sporting heroes I don’t have any heroes, I try to watch all these athletes and to learn something. They all have strong points and areas where they are less strong, and from them I can learn lots, including from their mistakes. To admire just one person would be limiting even if they were world champion. The second, third place and all the others are there because they are also very good, they all have passion and can teach me lots.

What do you expect from the new This "adventure" is another stimulus for me, to help me to improve and I adventure with Climbing think that this is fundamental. In addition I’ll get the chance to make some great trips together with the Climbing Technology team. To be able Technology? to climb with people of my age group in new places, it’s a very attractive initiative. I twill bring me even deeper into the world of climbing, I couldn’t wish for anything else.

Climbing Technology ® a brand of Aludesign S.p.a. WE ARE SOCIAL

Via Torchio, 22 - 24034 Cisano Bergamasco (BG) – Italy - Phone: +39 035 78 35 95 - Fax: +39 035 78 23 39 - E-mail: [email protected] VAT code # 01893550168 - REA: BG-293905 - Share Capital 420.000 euro i.v. - Copyrights for content and images reserved and property of Aludesign S.p.A.