Historic Crag in Europe Gets its First 5.14d
Seb Bouin and Théo Blass visit Claret for a session of projecting two 5.14+
Seb Bouin made the first ascent of the hardest route at Claret, one of the most historic crags in southern France. Until recently, the area didn’t have anything harder that 5.14-.
“I bolted two new routes in the main wall,” said 5.15+ climber Seb Bouin. “Guerre Future 5.14c is a cool variation on the big prow of the crag, and Guère de Bruit is the first 5.14d.” Bouin was joined by Théo Blass for a session at Claret, Blass is the youngest climber to send 5.14d.
In 2022, Bouin was one of the world’s strongest climbers with hard repeats and first ascents. In May, he made the first ascent of DNA at La Ramirole in the Verdon Gorge, and graded it 5.15d. While he acknowledges that it might be downgraded, he also goes into detail about why he gave it 5.15d here.
He then went on to make the first ascent of the hardest route in the Americas. He also repeated Adam Ondra’s Change 5.15c and made the first ascent of Nordic Marathon 5.15b/c in Norway. It will be interesting to see where Bouin puts his energy in terms of projects in 2023.
Claret’s First 5.14d
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