Seb Berthe Climbs Bon Voyage 5.14d Trad
This is the third ascent after James Pearson and Adam Ondra
Seb Berthe has made the third ascent of Bon Voyage, a trad route in Annot, France, that James Pearson said is E12 and Adam Ondra said is 5.14d. It was first climbed in by Pearson in February 2023 and repeated last month by Ondra.
Pearson was initially reluctant to offer a grade for the route but decided to give it E12, read his story about the grading here. Steve McClure, one of the world’s most accomplished climbers, attempted Bon Voyage last year, and said, “If this route is not E12 I’ll be amazed, just for the pure difficulty, never mind the scary big fall potential.”
In terms of the grade, Berthe said, “As James and Adam thought, I do believe that Bon Voyage is 9a [5.14d], even though it’s a really specific climb and quite hard to grade.” He added that he has no experience with E grade but that the climb is “committing and dangerous.”
Berthe has climbed several 5.14d and 5.15a sport routes and became the seventh climber to free The Nose on El Capitan in 2019 – read about his ascent here. If you’re looking to learn more about E grades, watch a video with Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall below.
E Grade Discussion
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