Guerre Future 8c+ by Theo Blass (12)

Theo Blass reports on Insta that he has done the first repeat of Seb Bouin's new 8c+, Guerre Future in Claret. It is a variation to Guere d'usure 8c which he did last year. "There is a hard power endurance section on bad pinches and slopy sidepulls with a lot of heelhooks and small tricks to keep you balanced. I did not count the number of tries but there were many. The route pushed me to my physical and mental limit. I am very happy and relieved:)" (c) Laurent Dormont

Theo did his first 8b at age 9 and has previously also done three 8c's. We reached out to his father Vlad to get some further comments.
"Theo turned 12 a couple of months ago. In the last few months he did some on-sighting (up to 7c+, he also flashed an 8a), some easier routes (a few 8b and 8b+), and projected a few difficult lines mainly in the local area (including a couple of 9as) but due to sub-optimal conditions and difficult access he set this eyes on a new 8c+ in our local winter "old school" crag Claret, which has easy access and projects for the whole family (including Theo’s sister Alizee who is 8 and quite close to reaching the 8th grade).

Claret is known for its mild temperatures in the winter, its hard grades and sometimes ridiculous run-outs. The route is called Guerre Future (Future War) and it shares some common sections with Guere d'usure, an 8c he did last year. Although he was familiar with part of the crux, working a new very intense section leading directly to the crux of Guere d'usure took him another 5-6 sessions. The route was first climbed by Seb Bouin a couple of weeks ago and Theo did the first repeat. The route is a power endurance testpiece on bad pinches and sloppy sidepulls, climbing through a beautiful overhanging prow, combining compression moves, technique and precise footwork. Theo finds the route much harder than Guere d’usure because there are no rests in the hard section in the middle so there are around 20 hard moves to link. Theo loved the route because the line is very "pure" in his view - you need perfect flow, to do all the moves perfectly, using just the right amount of power to avoid slipping off the bad footholds or missing the sloppy handholds."

What is next?
He has a few projects to work on now, mostly in the local area or up to 4-5 hours driving from our place (we have decided not to travel further to reduce our CO2 impact and also because we are lucky and privileged enough to live in an area close to many amazing crags). He will also do some local and national competitions, mostly for fun and to gain some experience – we have been trying to avoid competitions in the past but at the same time we want to ensure that if he decides to do more competitions in the future, he is not completely out of touch with the competition world.