Oriane Bertone Makes First Ascent of V15 at 15

Oriane Bertone has made the first ascent of Satan I Helvete Low V15 in Fontainbleau at only 15 years old. She’s the fourth woman to climb the grade following Ashima Shiraishi, Kaddi Lehmann and Mishka Ishi.

Bertone became the youngest climber to send a V14 with she was 12. In 2019, she started competing in international youth sport climbing events where she won multiple gold medals in both lead and bouldering. Prior to Satan I Helvete, Bertone had climbed at least one V14 with Golden Shadow in Rocklands.

Bertone talked about covid isolation and her new send on Instagram below. She said: “During this quarantine, my motivation suddenly went down. It was surely the hardest month of training I’ve never experienced. But thanks to that, I’ve learned that progress is the only real objective I must have… Everything obviously wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my family, my friends and my sponsors, thank you so much for your incredible work and your big involvement, I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

Bertone on Satan I Helvete Low V15

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{"Satan I Helvete low start" — 8c} This trip in lockdown in Fontainebleau taught me much more than I expected. During this quarantine, my motivation suddenly went down. It was surely the hardest month of training I’ve never experienced. But thanks to that, I’ve learned that progress is the only real objective I must have. Become and relive each day, renew and reinvent yourself with new shades of color on our canvas. Simply progress, move forward and keep your head up high. Dare to accept yourself as you are. Dare to accept being kneaded, molded and shaped with defaults and qualities, and that perfection and achievement of results doesn’t simply mean accomplishment. Accomplishment is the accumulation, the acceptance that our falls, our adjustments, our fears, our doubts, our abandonments and our surpassings are neither useless nor lost. That the way taken may be the right one, and that the longest path sometimes hides more treasures than the shortest path. It is thanks to all these stages, these stops, these injuries, these fears, tears and these questions that each in his own way progresses and advances. Here is "Satan I Helvete" my very first 8c and long-standing project. During this journey, I did some wonderful boulders that I’ll surely post later 😉 Everything obviously wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my family, my friends and my sponsors, thank you so much for your incredible work and your big involvement, I’ll never be able to thank you enough ! @scarpafrance @e9clothing_official @team_edelrid @verticalartclimbing @basaltevolution @zer0_3000

A post shared by OяıΔηε Βεяτoηε (@oriane_bertone) on May 27, 2020 at 6:48am PDT

Problem History

Dave Graham made the first ascent of Satan I Helvete in 2003 and graded it V14. It was repeated by Dai Koyamada, Paul Robinson, Jan Hojer and other top climbers. After a few years the grade settled at V13. In 2013, a key hold broke but a stand start was added by Alban Levier at V15, but Charles Albert and Nicolas Pelorson suggested V14. Many top climbers have attempted the new sit start that Bertone just opened at V15.

Levier’s Send