23 April 2023

Jean-Baptiste Jourjon, 44, sends La Novena Puerta (8c+) and onsights La Ruta del Sol (8b)

Jean-Baptiste Jourjon has done La Novena Puerta (8c+) in Santa Linya. The 44-year-old also onsighted his second 8b, La ruta del sol (8b) after having done his first in 2021.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Santa Linya is a quite similar style compared to my home crag La Balme where I'm pretty good. Powerful sections are not too demanding for finger strength, and there are some kneebars.

When Novena Puerta was put up, I think there were already a few kneebars, but on which you couldn't put as much pressure with regular or even reinforced pants, as you can now with stiff rubber. The route has approx three sections for about 60 moves. It starts with a boulder with a huge drop knee, then power endurance to a good rest next to the end of the 7c+ to the right. The second section is quite bouldery, with a technical "friction" kneebar that helps catch a mono static before holding the swing (scary for the finger). This beta can't work without rubber on the knee. Medium rest brings us to the last section ending with a nice dyno from a slopey three finger hold. The jump is easy by itself but it's hard to keep enough body tension after so long and very steep climb. I spent 4 sessions during a week's holiday and 8 to 10 tries. It's always hard to choose the right project when climbing quite far from home, neither too easy nor too hard. Spending a lot of time at the same crag on the same route without guarantee of success is hard when there is so much easier nice stuff around to do, where you are pretty sure you would send within a day. I could do the moves at first work go, but I felt pumped quickly in the sections. Then came the mental game: you can't know how far you are from sending, you just have to try hard. I fell two times at the last move before sending it. I sent it at the first go of the day after a rest day, quite early because of conditions getting worse, warmer with no wind.

Can you also tell us something about your 8b onsight?
For the 8b, I felt relaxed after sending the 8c+ and still quite fresh. I was advised it was a good one for an onsight try, so I had a good mindset. I needed to try something completely different from redpoint project. I could see most holds from the ground, but I still had to improvise and change decisions during the climb. I didn't have much in the tank to allow mistakes, I had to go dynamic a few times with no possible return. Hopefully, the landing holds were correct enough, especially for the last spicy move, just before the warm sun touched the rock.

It seems you are peaking at age 44?
I don't know if I'm at peak, as I had never climbed there it's hard to say. At pure power, I'm certainly weaker than a decade ago but I'm more experienced to optimize the betas quickly. During bad weather on winter days, I've been more to the gym, and modern bouldering didn't suit me well: painful joints and not feeling strong on the rock. So I went back to rational basics in March and April in a more structured way to better focus on weaknesses and avoid injuries: finger strength, locks off, old school bouldering, and loops between 20 and 40 moves.
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