Pierre Marzullo, 16, does his first 8c+

Pierre Marzullo has done La proue debridée (8c+) in Roche de rame. The 16-year-old has previously done nine 8c's out of which the first one was at age 11. (c) Emile Pino

"This route took me a total of 3 sessions, and I was surprised that it went so quickly because the first session was tough for me and it was hard to do the moves as a single move. I was surprised, however, by the first tries the following day, which were very promising. At that point, I knew that the sequence was possible, and the hardest thing to manage was the mental aspect, which is not what I'm best at. I often tend to put too much pressure on myself once I know I can do the route. But this time it all worked out pretty well and I managed to complete the route on the 6th try from the bottom after falling 3 times on the last crux😅. This is only the beginning and I don't intend to stop here, but I'm already very happy with what this route has brought me and I'm already looking forward to the next ones!"

So what are the next ones?
This route is a milestone for me, but it's only the beginning! A few months ago I tried Supercrackinette (9a+) a lot and came very close, so this is my goal for the winter. There's also the direct version of the 8c+ I did, Redoublement d'effort (9a) in which I've already worked out the moves. I think it can be done very quickly but I'll have to come back in a few weeks well prepared. There's also "Biographie" (9a+), which is my big goal for 2024 and which I've already started working on!

Can you tell us about your climbing background?
I started climbing at the age of 9, and quickly fell in love with the sport, so I progressed quite quickly. At 10 I did my first 8b and at 11 my first 8c. After that, I started to put more intention into competitions, but after 2 years of doing nothing but indoor climbing, I started to lose motivation, which led me to train less. I even thought about giving up climbing, but I hung in there and 6 months ago I regained the motivation I'd lost. So I decided to devote my life to climbing!