Erwan Lievin does 7C+ with one hand

Erwan Lievin, who was born with one hand, has done Le Pilier du Désert (7C+) in Fontainebleau. The 22-year-old was #3 in a World Cup one year after he started climbing.

Can you tell us more about your climbing background and sending your first 7C+?
I started climbing 3 and a half years ago at the USBY club (Union sportive de bures sur Yvette), which I really thank and which continues to support me in my current projects with my coach Ludovic Delmotte, whom I also thank. I've been representing the French team on the international circuit for 3 years now, but that won't be the case this year as I finished 3rd at the French championships and wasn't selected. So I'll be able to concentrate on my outdoor crosses, whether in Fontainebleau or in other spots!

Last year, in May, I'd already done my first Bagheera 7C, and that's when I really fell in love with hard outdoor bouldering! And 5 days after the French championships, I took on the desert pillar, which gave me the chance to exact my revenge. To describe the boulder for those who don't know it, the desert pillar is a very physical compression boulder, to a jump start, where you have to arrive with precision on a right-hand arch and a left-hand flat ramp. Then you bring your left heel up to the level of your hand to move up the ramp to the point where it holds best, put your right foot on a flat hold and send everything you've got into a very good sloper where the crux is not to touch the pads and to hold the swing.

This was followed by a short, not very hard traverse on super-class holds and a really uncomplicated mantle. This boulder was a project for me last year, when I put in 3 or 4 sessions during the winter without any conclusive attempts and without ever landing the big move in the middle, which is the crux for me. I did, however, manage to set the jump start, the handstand and the traverse at the end. All I needed was this move... This winter I didn't go back because I had other projects in mind that I wanted to try out, but they didn't come out in the end.

I thought about this boulder again and motivated myself to go back and see if I was better than last year, and boom, I made the middle move by doing a sort of arm coordonination where I brought my left hand up in another press to hold the sing ! I was so happy! But I couldn't send it that session. I went back a week and a half later and tried to reposition the big move, but I couldn't do it again...

Either I don't take the hold correctly or I hit it too far from the sloper... But I'm not discouraged, I tell myself I might as well do some lower runs. The first try I hit the sloper but I can't hold the swing The next run is the right one, I slam the move and succeed just as I'd planned! All I have to do now is stay focused so as not to fall at the end, and I'm back on top of this great pillar!

For me, it means a lot because I've not been at my best all winter, between complicated conditions, injuries and a daily life full of pitfalls, it's been tough! It's like a big liberation, a weight lifted off my shoulders, and it's also a new personal and para-climbing limit that's just been broken! Now I've already got my eyes set on the next objectives, and the main one will be to get into the 8th degree single-handed!

What is your sport background and what got you hooked for climbing?
When I was younger, I did a lot of sports like handball, table tennis, swimming... But it wasn't until very late that I discovered climbing, at the age of 18, when I went to university, they asked me to choose a sports speciality. I'd been able to do some climbing for my baccalaureate and I thought it was really cool, so I thought why not? That's where it all started at first, for the first few months it was just a leisure activity, until I heard that there were handisport competitions, and that's when I joined the USBY and really started training with the aim of becoming strong. I discovered a super-cool environment with an ambulance and just incredible people. Alongside this, I discovered outdoor climbing and gradually began to fall in love with climbing For me, the next logical step is to continue pushing the limits of para-escalation, enter the 8th degree and travel to do major bouldering.