Seb Bouin Sends New 5.15b/c in France

French climber Seb Bouin has made the first ascent of La Rage d’Adam in the Verdon Gorges at 5.15b/c as one of the hardest sport climbs in the country. The steep limestone route has a tricky 5.14b section that’s followed by 10 powerful crux moves to a 25-metre 5.13 finish.

It took Bouin four years of working on the route to send it. He’s previously sent two Adam Ondra test-pieces with Mamichula 5.15b and Move 5.15b/c. In 2015, Adam Ondra attempted the project.”It was a summer day of 2015, conditions felt quite good though and Seb showed me this project,” said Ondra.

“He had briefly tried it before and mentioned a hard boulder problem. Even after 20 minutes, I couldn’t really imagine any possible sequence that could make it more climbable. After hanging on the bolts, I came up with some crazy gaston beta, but I could not do the moves either and dismissed the route as too hard to be climbable in the near future. Well, Seb did not give up, came back, got some better beta, got super strong and finally sent it this year. My guess is that it could be more of 9b/b+, if not even harder, based on my one and only experience of the route – which felt hard.”

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Rock Combined Challenge : Step 1 ✅ "La Rage d'Adam" 9b/+ (5.15b/c) was the first step of my Rock Combined Challenge. It's probably the hardest French sport climbing route. It would be amazing if someone else come to try this route. Sharing the passion is one reason why I am doing this sport, and I would be so happy if this route can live again. The second step of my Rock Combined Challenge is to send the hardest French multi-pitch "Hossana" 8c max announced. Here the description of this multi-pitch : 8b/+ – 8b – 8b – 8c – 7b+. I will rest two days and try to send it Monday. So, have a nice weekend ?! Pic by @julia.cassou in the crux of "La Rage d'Adam 9b/+ (5.15b/c) Challenge de combiné sur rocher : Première étape ✅ "La Rage d'Adam" 9b/+ était la première étape de ce challenge de combiné. C'est possiblement la voie sportive la plus dure de France. Il faudra néanmoins attendre une répétition pour confirmer cela. Je serai heureux de partager avec d'autres personnes à propos de cette voie afin de la voir vivre à nouveau. La seconde étape de mon challenge de combiné est d'enchaîner la grande voie la plus dure de France "Hossana" 8c max annoncé. Cette grande voie se décompose ainsi : 8b/+ – 8b – 8b – 8c – 7b+. Je vais me reposer deux jours (ce weekend) et essayer de l'enchaîner lundi. Passez un bon weekend alors ?! Photo de @julia.cassou dans le crux de la rage d'Adam 9b/+ • Thanks to my partners to support me in these adventures @blackdiamond @eb_climbing @amazonas_ultralight Kayland @natureclimbing @climbskin @kayland_official @grandpicsaintloup

A post shared by Seb Bouin (@sebbouin) on Sep 7, 2019 at 1:28am PDT