Jernej Kruder ticks Crown Royale (9a) trad

Jernej Kruder has done the first repeat of Pete Whittaker’s 100 meters step trad route Crown Royale (9a) in Jøssingfjord. The 34-year-old Slovenian is among the world’s top all-around climbers, having won the Boulder World Cup in 2018 and the European Championship in 2020. On rock, he has climbed routes up to 9a+, boulders up to 8C, tackled deep water soloing up to 9a+ and completed several challenging multi-pitch routes. Interestingly, his preparation for competitions typically involved climbing outdoors rather than training indoors. (c) Bernardo Gimenez

”When everything goes perfect! Last day before the rain and my flight back home. It was my 3rd day without rest, so the expectations were low. Barley crawled over the first crux, then somehow found a perfect flow. My body was getting extremely tired in 60 meters of overhang, but the wind was cooling me down. I used 16 pieces in 100 meters and it still felt super safe- just a bit of run outs at the top. Hats off to Pete for the vision and effort to make it possible to free!! Great place, hope to return again for more.”