At the tender age of 21, Frenchwoman Soline Kentzel is one of the youngest women to free climb a route on El Capitan in Yosemite. Together with rope partner Sébastien Berthe, she climbed the 36 pitches of Golden Gate in nine days.
As the Alexander and Thomas huber aka the Huber boy Golden Gate (1000m, 8a) as the first rope team to free climb in 2000 Soline Kentzel just the light of the world. In the past two decades, the line has not been freely climbed too often. The repeaters include well-known sizes such as Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, Brad Gobright, Emily Harrington or Roger Schäli. Soline Kentzel has recently been able to count herself among this illustrious circle. She's the sixth woman to do this, and at 21, she's behind Beth Rodden one of the youngest to free climb an El Cap route.
Rapid progress
Soline Kentzel is part of the team at Sebastien Berthe, which sailed from Europe to America in November 2021. The Belgian climbing pro who recently put up an epic fight with the toughest multi-pitch route in the world, has become something of a mentor for the French in trad and crack climbing. “When we got to Yosemite three months ago, she could barely reach the deflector of a 5b,” Berthe writes about the Golden Gate redpoint ascent.
This statement is of course greatly exaggerated, especially since Soline Kentzel will be in Oliana in April 2021 China crisis (8b+) drew. However, the young Frenchwoman has little experience when it comes to securing routes herself. And in this regard their development on the granite walls of the Yosemite National parks are very impressive. At the beginning of April, Soline Kentzel managed the trad route final frontier (9 pitches, 8a) at the Fifi Buttress. Three weeks later they are now doubling with the repeat of Golden Gate (36 pitches, 8a) after.
Demanding weather conditions
In the easier pitches up to 7a, Soline Kentzel and Sébastien Berthe took turns in the lead. They both climbed all the heavier ones by lead climbing. The duo spent a total of nine days on the 1000 meter wall. "We experienced some epic snowstorms and rain showers that made surviving the face a real challenge," says Sébastien Berthe.
They spent those enforced rest days in their little portaledge, trying not to get wet or freeze. Despite their efforts, one of their sleeping bags had become totally stiff and icy. However, the two were not encouraged by this. "We were able to keep the motivation high and continued climbing as soon as the wall was dry again," says Sébastien Berthe.
“The level of dedication, commitment and perseverance that Soline has brought to the whole process of discovering trad and crack climbing is tremendous. It was really inspiring to follow her path.”
Sebastien Berthe
On the sunnier climbing days, the ice melted from above and threw impressive chunks of ice down on the climbing duo. There was a lottery game every five minutes. "We had to stop climbing, lean against the wall and wait for the chunks of ice to fall around us."
In view of these challenging conditions, Sébastien Berthe is particularly proud of his climbing partner Soline Kentzel: “The level of dedication, commitment and perseverance that she brought to the whole process of discovering trad and crack climbing is enormous. It was really inspiring to follow her path.”
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Credits: Cover picture Sebastien Berthe