12-year old Italian climber Tito Traversa has passed away today after taking a 50-foot fall to the ground while climbing in Orpierre, France on July 5th. He was on a trip with his local climbing gym with 10 other kids and 3 adults.
Tito reportedly fell while climbing 50-feet off the ground and the quick draws he was using reportedly failed. The quickdraws may have been slung incorrectly.
Video of Tito climbing Wonderwall
12-year old Italian climber Tito Traversa was a child climber star and had climbed his first 8a by age 8, his first 8b by age 9, and his first 8b+ (~5.12b+) by the age of 10 when he sent Sarsifai in Tetto di Sarre, Italy. Only 2 days before his accident, he’d successfully ascended his fourth 8b+ at Pablo derettain in Gravere, France. Tito was one of the youngest climbers in the world to achieve such success and his climbing future brightly stretched before him.
In a report from Grimper.com it’s stated that the slings on the quickdraws were attached to the carabiners incorrectly resulting in total failure of quickdraw devices during Tito’s fall. 4 slings on the route were correctly slung, but these were too low on the wall to save Tito. These reports of quickdraw failure are not official.
Tito has been in the hospital for 3 days and succumbed to his traumatic brain injury today. This is very sad news for the climbing world and action sports world in general. Our condolences go out to Tito’s family and friends.
Lets all check out climbing gear twice before heading out this weekend.
Video of the dangers of open quickdraws
Not fair.
RIP. This kid has so much left to do.
Crazy Sad. I remember reading about this kid 2 years ago. Such talent.