A 9a goes to 8c+ barefoot

Fanatic climbing reports that Seb Bouin has made the first repeat of Enzo Oddo's Salidad de Sol in Cantobre giving it a personal grade of 8c+. "Funny trick : for the send, Seb Bouin has left one climbing shoe for doing the crux barefoot for being able to grip a hole with the big toe, finishing the route with a shoe less. Charles Albert attracts imitators!" This could possibly create a new trend. Where you can stick in your big toe in a two finger pocket and pull with the toe it might be an easier way compared to just standing on some millimeters on the outside of the little pocket. Charles Albert has already showed this in Bouldering. Last year 8a said that in the future there might be a market for shoes where the big toe is actually separated from the other four toes. Alternatively, climbers could start with a shoe which they can easily take off, doing the crux barefoot, and later put it on again. This could actually mean that some routes could be downgraded! That might be the case for routes with drilled two finger pockets! The picture shows Marius Morstad's design from some 25 years ago which he sent to some shoe producers.