Mammut with Andrea Zanone: Back and Forth

Back and Forth tells the story of a past experience in which Andrea Zanone, at a certain point in his life, saw himself plunged into a black hole.

In 2017, after reaching the goal of climbing Coup de Grace, his first 9A route, something inside him changed: he could no longer express himself as he really wanted to.

Thus began a dark, negative period that lasted more than a year, a period where anger and frustration overcame the beauty and fun he felt when climbing. Sometimes, in dark times, it is difficult to see the glass half full but Andrea always tried to see things in this light. He always loved climbing so much that he never managed to take a break: he lived with the hope that this situation of negativity could end at any moment.

It no longer mattered how strong he had climbed in the past, the fear of continuing to fail and the thought of having wasted so many years doing what he believed to be the only fixed point in his life, had created pressures and insecurities that made him fragile. He had become his own enemy. The highlight of this dark period was in April 2019, when during a normal bouldering session in the gym, Andrea injured his right shoulder badly and was forced to rest for about 3 months.

Only then did he realize that he had gone further, that he would have to take a step back if he wanted to make two forward. When he came back from the injury, he had no expectations and started climbing again with the same energy that belonged to him. He wanted to put himself on the line and as he recovered he discovered again what he was capable of, but this time in small steps. A rediscovery of himself just when he thought he had nothing more to learn. Andrea understood that even in the darkest moments, even when everything seems to go wrong, even when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, you must never stop fighting and believing in yourself. He has learned how important it is to listen to yourself to understand when it’s time to take a break, even if inside we have that unstoppable desire to conquer our goals.