In the French sports climbing prayer Pic Saint Loup, Seb Bouin manages the first ascent of an extremely difficult route: Ariégeois Cœur Loyal. Bouin gives a rating of 9b.
The Frenchman Sébastien Bouin has long since climbed into the Olympus of the strongest outdoor athletes. La Rage d'Adam (9b / +), Supreme Jumbo Love (9b +) or Nordic marathon (130m, 9b/+) are among the most difficult routes in the world - all of them were first climbed by Seb Bouin and none of them have been repeated so far. A possible reason for the lack of motivated repeaters may be that Bouin's routes are rated as rock-hard.
Video: This is how Seb Bouin climbs Ariégeois Cœur Loyal (9b)
Steep start to the season
Bouin set up another impressive test piece five years ago at Pic Saint Loup. Last autumn he was almost able to climb the route, but failed on the second to last train. After a seasonal break, Bouin tackled the route again in the spring.
“The route was really a challenge. There were two tough 20-meter sections to climb."
Seb Bouin
Just a few days ago, Bouin expressed uncertainty as to whether the ascent would soon work out. The route consists of two difficult sections, both located in area 9a, which have to be climbed in one go. "Luckily there is a resting point between the two sections," Bouin quipped earlier this month. But despite the difficulty of the entire line, Bouin did not hesitate. Last Friday he made short work of it and added another high-end route to his ticklist with Ariégeois Cœur Loyal (9b).
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Credits: Cover picture Sam Bie