Retired Comp Champ Anak Verhoeven Sends Another 5.14d
In 2017, she made the first ascent of Sweet Neuf 5.15a
Belgian climber Anak Verhoeven is one of Europe’s top climbers with a number of hard routes to her name. This week she sent Jungfrau Marathon 5.14d in Switzerland. The 26-year-old has climbed at least a dozen routes 5.14+ or harder.
“I enjoyed it very much,” Verhoeven said about Jungfrau Marathon. “It starts with a sequence on slopy holds, followed by a decent rest. Then comes the crux which ends with the hard move. The route finishes with a fun-to-climb top part.”
Verhoeven spent two days climbing in Gimmelwald with local climbers showing her the route. “On my third climbing day I went for the redpoint,” she said. “I fell twice at the crux move, every time feeling a little better than before. On my third redpoint try I climbed through the crux and the upper part and clipped the chains.”
In 2017, Verhoeven would become the second woman to climb 5.15a and the first to make a first ascent of a route with such a high difficulty. Her route, Sweet Neuf, was established in Vercors, France, and combined the 15-metre 5.14d Sang Neuf with the 25-metre Home Sweet Home 5.14b/c. This ascent is just as ground-breaking as Margo Hayes’ La Rambla 5.15a as first ascents into new difficulties are difficult to establish.
In 2019, Verhoeven sent the 30-metre Joe Mama in Oliana, her second 5.15a. In 2017, she won the European Championship and made the first ascent of Sweet Neuf 5.15a before getting a serious elbow injury. The first woman to climb 5.15a was Margo Hayes in February 2017, a few months before Verhoeven sent Sweet Neuf. Ashima Shiraishi had climbed Open Your Mind Direct 5.14d/15a in 2013 and Josune Bereziartu had climbed Bimbaluna 5.14d/15a before that.
Before Sweet Neuf, Verhoeven had already climbed 26 routes 5.14a or harder, including Era Vella 5.14d, La Reina Mora 5.14+ and Broadway 5.14+. In 2019, Cédric Lachat did the second ascend of Sweet Neuf and confirmed the grade at 5.15a.
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