Blind climber Nicolas Moineau, 46, redpoints 8a

Fanatic Climbing has made an interview with Nicolas Moineau, who has sent his first 8a, Los Tacos de los dos rigolos in Saint-Géry, which is 40 m long, although he can not see. The 46-year-old won the World Champion in 2012 and has since he retired from the competition scene focused on outdoors and last year he did his first 7c+.

"The things specific to my blindness here were tickmarks in the first section up to the 4th QD precisely. I marked three micro-feet for the belayer/guide. I ended up finding them almost without help but it reassured me that someone could tell me I was really putting my foot in the right place."

Can you tell us how you memorized all the moves and how many there are?
I just did it again and again for one year, until the route was a part of me. I can count 87 moves with the hands. I did not count the moves of the feet.

"What reassures me about my mental health is that boulderers spend several months adjusting two movements on extreme lines. You can always find someone more neurotic than you in the end."