“A Gift From Nature”

This might be a new trend – trad climbing previous sport routes. Watching this guy climb this bolted 5.14 limestone route (it’s bolted because the previous climbers couldn’t find places to put trad gear) makes my hands sweat. It’s not the same as free soloing, but it’s quite exciting.

At one point, he puts a sling thru an eyelet in the rock and says “Here is a real gift from nature.” He climbs 45-50 feet between pieces of gear. And tells his belayer to run downhill if he falls. In order to lighten his harness, he carries only 1/2 of the gear he needs. At the halfway mark, he pulls up a 2nd rope with the rest of the gear. It’s quite a display of climbing prowess. Of course, he’s French. (That’s for you, Fabrice.)