Coming back from China with empty pockets, I was more motivated than ever to be back on some French projects.
I first set my sights on a beautiful line in the Drôme, near Die, at the Romeyer cliff.
To go back a bit, a very active local route setter, Quentin Chastaigner, had told me about a super physical and endurance-based prow that was still a project. He said: “this one’s for you.”
So, I decided to check out this route, which seemed to match my strengths perfectly and had the potential to be a mega line.
This route follows the crest of a beautiful prow to fight through a real endurance battle. The final moves are extremely hard to execute with the fatigue already in your arms. You need to hold onto those tiny holds to escape the steepness, throwing your left hand far out to a distant sloper. Once you stick the sloper, it’s normally “finito.”
To go a bit deeper in the description of the route, it starts with a 5.14b/8c, quite physical. There’s a bouldery compression move on the very aesthetic prow. After that comes endurance climbing on the overhang just below the prow. Here you reach a knee-bar rest. The goal: try to refresh as much as you can. But that’s not always easy …
Then you return to the prow for the final battle, where you have to climb a short but intense 5.14c/8c+ section on small holds.
That’s really what makes the route hard: you need strong fingers after already many meters of physical climbing.
Back to the story—I had fallen a few times in the final crux before my trip to China in February, so it was definitely on my mind when I got back.
After a couple of tries, I fell on the very last move …
Then the north wind started blowing hard. It helped me fight the fatigue and clip the chains.
I’m really happy to finish such a beautiful project. At the same time, a bit sad to lose that excuse to come back to this little paradise.
Thanks everyone for the great moments out there, it was fun! I hope to see some people on this route, there aren’t many lines like this one!
—Seb Bouin
More Hard SENDS WITH SEB BOUIN
Hard Sends with Seb Bouin—El Gran Cabron
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Hard Sends with Seb Bouin: ACL (9b/5.15b)
In the first of the Hard Sends series, BD athlete Seb Bouin takes us to Pic Saint Loup near his home in France, where he attempts the first ascent of ACL (5.15b)—a route he bolted in memory of his grandfather.
Hard Sends with Seb Bouin—Bibliographie 9b+ (5.15c)
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Hard Sends with Seb Bouin—Jamming Destruction 9a+/b
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Black Diamond Presents: Hard Sends with Seb Bouin—Vidra La Vida (9b/+)
Featuring a wild 360°-spin crux, and draw-dropping beauty, Seb’s recently established route is now Croatia’s hardest sport climb.
