30 April 2024
Seb Bouin FAโs Les Rois du Lithium (9b)
Sebastien Bouin has made the FA of
Les Rois du Lithium (9b) at Pic St Loup, and says it just might be his best 9b to date. In total, he has now done twelve 9bโs, out of which seven are FAโs. Additionally, Seb has a further five 9b+ ascents to his name, as well as the FA of the world's second 9c route, DNA.
โThis part of the wall was attracting me since a long time. From the ground, โLes Rois du Lithiumโ looked like the perfect line. Straight in the wall with a 20m hardcore ending. When I bolted it, I couldnโt imagine there will be so much perfect holds. And when I firstly tried it, I was amazed by the moves and the line.
โLes Rois du Litthiumโ is basically split in two parts. There is an easy approach around 8b / 5.13d tiering you for the main part. And then, there is this beautiful power endurance part counting 22 hard moves in a row. The line and the moves are so fun. Every try was a pleasure. Itโs like surfing a wave.
โLes Rois du Lithiumโ is possibly my favorite 5.15b climbed. The difficulty meets the beauty here. And there is something more: itโs fun. The fun fact is quite important on a hard project. When you like the effort, when riding the rock is inspiring yourself, you know you got the right project.
I tried this route during the fall season 2023. I was so psyched to finish the job this spring. I needed time to learn properly the 22 hard moves. There is no room for a mistake. The last hard move is so stunning. From two bad gastons, you have to reach left hand a sloppy crimp and take a swing with it. I fell few times upthere.
There is another hard and inspiring project in Pic Saint Loup : The โWolf kingdomโproject. It will be harder than โLes Rois du Lithiumโ. Letโs continue the fight !โ
โThis part of the wall was attracting me since a long time. From the ground, โLes Rois du Lithiumโ looked like the perfect line. Straight in the wall with a 20m hardcore ending. When I bolted it, I couldnโt imagine there will be so much perfect holds. And when I firstly tried it, I was amazed by the moves and the line.
โLes Rois du Litthiumโ is basically split in two parts. There is an easy approach around 8b / 5.13d tiering you for the main part. And then, there is this beautiful power endurance part counting 22 hard moves in a row. The line and the moves are so fun. Every try was a pleasure. Itโs like surfing a wave.
โLes Rois du Lithiumโ is possibly my favorite 5.15b climbed. The difficulty meets the beauty here. And there is something more: itโs fun. The fun fact is quite important on a hard project. When you like the effort, when riding the rock is inspiring yourself, you know you got the right project.
I tried this route during the fall season 2023. I was so psyched to finish the job this spring. I needed time to learn properly the 22 hard moves. There is no room for a mistake. The last hard move is so stunning. From two bad gastons, you have to reach left hand a sloppy crimp and take a swing with it. I fell few times upthere.
There is another hard and inspiring project in Pic Saint Loup : The โWolf kingdomโproject. It will be harder than โLes Rois du Lithiumโ. Letโs continue the fight !โ
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Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
26 January 2026
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Seb Bouin's story behind ACL (9b)
Sebastien Bouin did the FA of Ariรฉgeois Cลur Loyal (9b) in his home crag Pic St Loup, in April. It is a 20m extension to Legend (9a) which he made the FA of in 2017 after it had been a project for 20 years. "I bolted this route [the extension] 5 years ago when my grandpa passed away. His woodworker โฆ
Sebastien Bouin had a record breaking 2022, doing the FA of DNA (9c), Suprรชme Jumbo Love (9b+), Nordic Marathon (9b/+) and he also repeated Change (9b+). Add tโฆ
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Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
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Ondra flashes 3*8C in two weeks
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Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ