Slovenian climbing superstar adds another landmark to her career

Slovenian climbing superstar Janja Garnbret is no stranger to setting records, and now she has added another landmark to her extraordinary career by becoming the first woman to successfully climb the Bibliographie, one of the world's most difficult sport climbing routes.

Only five men have so far climbed the route, rated at 9b+, and Garnbret had previously attempted the famed route in France but walked away without completing it, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

This time, she returned with renewed focus and patience.

"This route required me to be a different climber," Garnbret revealed after the climb in France.

"I'm a very impatient person. I want everything now. Probably because I'm a perfectionist, a high achiever, I want to achieve and achieve and achieve," she told Red Bull, one of her sponsors, after the climb.

"But this experience taught me that patience really is the most important thing. You can train hard all you want, you can do everything right, but it's still not guaranteed that you will succeed."

The world's best climber and a towering figure of the sport, Garnbret has two Olympic gold medals and 49 World Cup wins, but the Bibliographie is unlike anything that she is used to on indoor walls.

The climb is at an elevation of over 2,000 metres and the conditions can be very treacherous. Bibliographie has more than 80 moves over its 35 metres, including two very difficult crux sections.

"I was really struggling with the conditions, but that's the game when you climb outside ... sometimes it's very windy, sometimes no wind at all, so it's very unpredictable. That also made a huge difference."

Oddly enough, her winning attempt was supposed to be only a trial run.

"I honestly thought it would just be a warm-up," she said. "But my head was super calm. I was honestly just vibing on the wall. I had zero thoughts, just warming up, trying to feel the moves."

After the Bibliographie, it may seem like there are few things left for the 27-year-old, but she is adamant she will find a new challenge.

"I want to enjoy this moment, but then I'll look for a new project, something that lights a fire in me like Bibliographie did."

Photo: Instagram/janja_garnbret