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On Wednesday, February 14th, Czech rock giant Adam Ondra repeated a James Pearson song for the first time. bon voyage (E12) Annot, France. Along the way, Ondra confirmed the steepness of the climb (making it the hardest trad route in the world) and cemented his status as the sport's most versatile hardman.
bon voyage Pearson's 2017 variation le voyage (E10), breaks left across a sparse face via a thin pocket before finishing an exposed arete.Ondra spent 3 days voyage, Pearson was working on the top rope while sharing Beta. The first day started in segments, covering the main points, before taking a break to do some sport climbing at nearby Gorges du Loup and Bouhou.
He returned on the second day and began preparing for the Red Point challenge. On the third day, he almost took the lead, but fell near the end after a series of technical aretes.Still he finished bon voyage same day. (Three days may seem early for a cutting-edge trad route, but considering the fact that Ondra flashed her 5.15 seconds and onsighted a 5.14, that his three days It will have a different taste.)
While admitting he is not a trad expert, Ondra provided clear confirmation of Pearson's E12 proposal. Bon voyage Very well “could be the hardest route in the world (physically) in trad gear,” he reported on Instagram, adding that the climb will probably be around 9:00 (5.14 minutes) if you bolt. He said he was deaf. “This is definitely one of the best routes I've ever climbed,” Ondra added. It's a miracle that you have enough holds to climb and enough gear to be safe when you run out. ”
The admission is perhaps a welcome vindication for Mr Pearson, who has had a checkered scoring past. Some of his early career efforts were undervalued, especially in 2008, when he was heavily criticized after pitching his E12 on his 120-foot slab of a sparse, which he called . life's path. (At the time, his was the only E11 in the world and Pearson had not climbed it.) Dave McLeod later repeated: strollslapped a rare triple downgrade to E9, and Pearson was shunned as a grade inflator.
As a result of this past experience, when Pearson founded bon voyage In February 2023, he did not suggest a grade, only that it was a step up from other hard trad climbs he had attempted. But 10 months later, after watching some of the world's best gear fiends (Steve McClure, Sebastian Berto, Ignacio Mulero, Jacopo Larcher, etc.) try and fail, he finally offered E12. — still the most difficult grade ever given to a trad line — his line. At the time, McClure famously said, “I'd be surprised if this route wasn't E12.''
Pearson then explained the reasoning behind his grade in an essay published in 2006. climbing Last December.
“I found this route challenging in many ways,” Ondra said. “Aside from being very run-out (but probably safe), there are also some very difficult (and weird!) moves that require you to be a very complex climber.”
This transmission is more than just a singular achievement, it's a testament to Ondra's incredible rock versatility. Aside from bouldering (he hasn't submitted his V17 plan yet), the 31-year-old Czech climber is currently on the cutting edge of all areas of rock climbing.He sent his 5.14d multipitch wall of dawnsent 5.15d sport silencecreated the world's most difficult sports flash (5.15a). super clarinetwitnessed some 5.14ds and flashed V14 jadeand now with E12 as the head point, bon voyage.
“I’m really excited that he did that route and found it to be more difficult than I thought it would be,” Pearson said. British mountaineering After sending Ondra. “But more than that, he told me that he came to try this route and that he had such a great time on it and that it was a true miracle of Mother Nature. I'm really happy that they fully agreed.”