25 August 2021
Hรฉlix au pays des merveilles 8c (+) by Katherine Choong
Choong Katherine, who previously has done two 9a's, has done Hรฉlix au pays des merveilles 8c (+) in Pic St Loup. The 29-year-old has been an active competition climber for 15 years and in 2009, she won the Youth World Championship. (c) Pierre Delas
"Not having seen a ray of sunshine since this spring in Switzerland and a bit tired of freezing in Switzerland in the middle of July, the idea of enjoying the beautiful cliffs of the south of France motivated me right away. After the first two lead world cups which did not go well, I learned that I was not selected for the rest of the season. A bad thing for a good thing, the next day I was on the road to Le Pic St-Loup to meet some friends. Cรฉdric Lachat had recommended me this cag which is not very frequented but which presents major routes, physically demanding in an impressive cave with tufas! Helix is in the heart of this cave. A long and very overhanging route, with a difficult bouldery move at the bottom, followed by a resistant part with a second crux at the 3/4 of the route before finishing on incredible tufas (where you can still fall). I liked the route right away, although at the beginning I was not strong enough to link the moves. It took me quite a while to figure out the first crux. Fortunately, I had Nina Caprez with me to help me find out the good beta for this crux and Pierre Dรฉlas for the rest of the route. The difficult section at the top was also a problem for me, not being able to use the usual beta with my T-Rex arms ๐
After falling on the last difficult move on the last day of my first stay, I had to come back in August for a few days to finish the route. With temperatures still around 30 degrees, I of course waited for the last day of my second stay to finally pass this second crux, fighting at every move and finally succeeding in the route thanks to a small saving wind. As always, the pressure of the last chance allowed me to give it my all!
About the grade, I heard that some climbers would downgrade it. I would say that it is a route of my style (endurance) but actually, it took me a lot of attempts (around 12 days). Maybe my judgement is a bit biased by the heat or because I'm just not that strong ;-) Really hard to say but I'd say the rating seems pretty accurate. Note that I didn't use a knee pad, not being essential with my methods. In short, as usual, a discussion that is not so important for me in view of the beauty of the line, the pleasure of having done a great physical and mental fight and the great moments spent at the cliff with a great team! Thanks to them for the encouragement and the good times, it helps so much in a difficult project to have the chance to be surrounded by a great team."
"Not having seen a ray of sunshine since this spring in Switzerland and a bit tired of freezing in Switzerland in the middle of July, the idea of enjoying the beautiful cliffs of the south of France motivated me right away. After the first two lead world cups which did not go well, I learned that I was not selected for the rest of the season. A bad thing for a good thing, the next day I was on the road to Le Pic St-Loup to meet some friends. Cรฉdric Lachat had recommended me this cag which is not very frequented but which presents major routes, physically demanding in an impressive cave with tufas! Helix is in the heart of this cave. A long and very overhanging route, with a difficult bouldery move at the bottom, followed by a resistant part with a second crux at the 3/4 of the route before finishing on incredible tufas (where you can still fall). I liked the route right away, although at the beginning I was not strong enough to link the moves. It took me quite a while to figure out the first crux. Fortunately, I had Nina Caprez with me to help me find out the good beta for this crux and Pierre Dรฉlas for the rest of the route. The difficult section at the top was also a problem for me, not being able to use the usual beta with my T-Rex arms ๐
After falling on the last difficult move on the last day of my first stay, I had to come back in August for a few days to finish the route. With temperatures still around 30 degrees, I of course waited for the last day of my second stay to finally pass this second crux, fighting at every move and finally succeeding in the route thanks to a small saving wind. As always, the pressure of the last chance allowed me to give it my all!
About the grade, I heard that some climbers would downgrade it. I would say that it is a route of my style (endurance) but actually, it took me a lot of attempts (around 12 days). Maybe my judgement is a bit biased by the heat or because I'm just not that strong ;-) Really hard to say but I'd say the rating seems pretty accurate. Note that I didn't use a knee pad, not being essential with my methods. In short, as usual, a discussion that is not so important for me in view of the beauty of the line, the pleasure of having done a great physical and mental fight and the great moments spent at the cliff with a great team! Thanks to them for the encouragement and the good times, it helps so much in a difficult project to have the chance to be surrounded by a great team."
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