Climbers Suggest Downgrade for 15-Pitch 5.14

On Aug. 19, Belgium climbing duo Siebe Vanhee and Sébastien Berthe managed to make a one-day, ground-up free-ascent of Rayu, a 600-metre bolted route on the south face of Peña Santa (2,596 m) in Spain. The route is near Orbayu, which Berthe went on to climb in one day with Ugo Monier a week later.

The second ascent of Rayu was in 2022 by Matilda Söderlund, Sasha DiGiulian and Brette Harrington, read about their adventure here.

Vanhee Talks About Send

Sébastien and I teamed up for a common goal we had. We aimed to climb Rayu in a one day ground-up push, on our first day on the route. Rayu was opened by Iker, Eneko Pou and Kico Cerdá in 2020 and is known as their second difficult multipitch in the Pico’s de Europa, after Orbayu, the infamous 8c [5.14b] multi-pitch on Picu Urreillu (Narano de Bulness). In 2020 I had the opportunity to make a free ascent of Orbayu, so for me it made complete sense to return to the Pico’s to try out this second masterpiece.

The weather forecast for the day didn’t look that great, few millimetres of rain and wind were predicted. We decided to see it as something positive, given the route is south facing, we would need the clouds to be able to climb without sun before 5 p.m. After sending the adventurous first 10 pitches, passing the humongous ledge in the middle of the wall, we made it up to the base of the crux pitch (pitch 11) at 2 p.m. Nothing too difficult but a certain amount of focus was already required, given that the first ascensionists opened this line in style without many bolts. The weather turned out to be great, windy and cloudy but no rain, yet.

Now the nerves started to kick-in and we were facing a dilemma; “Who would go first?” Even if it seems ambitious, we both thought we could have a chance to flash the pitch. The one who will go first might fail on his first go due to the lack of chalk and info, and will of course have to do some substantial work: finding beta, brushing holds, and therefore losing skin and getting tired. I felt like my chances to flash the pitch were lower than Sébastien’s, so I figured I could give it a good onsight go with the option to fall and figure out all the moves for a perfect second go. This way I would also mark all the holds and find the betas to give Seb the best chance of a flash! When I came down, Seb was freezing his tight lycras off while waiting for me. I explained him the final bits of beta and he took off.

FLASH! He did it, I was super psyched! I couldn’t wait to give it a try myself now. I was so confident. I went for it, clean and perfect climbing while surfing on the sending vibes, brought me to the anchor. A big scream of joy was accompanied by Seb’s load laughter and some more people at Refugio Vega Huerta celebrating with us. It was 5 p.m. and we continued to the summit. We reached the summit at 7:30 p.m. and descended the North side of the mountain. Climbing hard multi-pitches in a “one day – first day” push is exciting. Seb is the master in this style and I loved to take on this challenge as well. Big thanks to Kico Cerda, Iker and Eneko Pou for this amazing line and sharing logistical information with us. It’s been another great classic in the Pico’s.

Berthe Comments on Grade

“Rayu’s amazing crux pitch was proposed as 8c [5.14b] by the first ascensionists. We had the feeling that it could be a bit easier though. Despite the reasonably good shape we are in, we can’t honestly say that we are able to send an 8c [5.14b] pitch that quick, high on a multipitch.

Compared to the recent sport climbs I’ve done, it felt closer to 8b+ [5.14a]. The rests are too good and the moves are probably too easy to make it a proper 8c [5.14b]. Moreover, for Siebe, the crux pitch of Rayu definitely felt easier than the crux pitch of Orbayu (which is more or less confirmed as 8c [5.14b]). Maybe he got stronger as well? We reckon that the difficulty of the crux section of the pitch definitely depends on size and height, and it is probably easier for taller people. Siebe and I used a quite reachy beta which is probably impossible for smaller people. Let’s see what future ascensionists will think about it, time will tell.

Here are my feelings on the different sections of the pitch (based on the darth-grader algorithm ): 7a+ (route) – Medium rest – 7A (boulder) – Good rest – 6C – Bad rest – 6C – Medium rest – 7A – 6C ⇒ the algorithm gives it as 8b+ [5.14a]. Nevertheless, this downgrading proposition does not detract from the performance of the Pou brothers and Kico Cerdá: opening and free-climbing this pitch and route ground-up with this airy style is an amazing feat! Full respect!