Realization (climb) (original) (raw)

Sport climbing route in France

Realization
Biographie
Sectors Berlin (left) and Biographie (right, overhanging) on the Corniche de Céûse
Map showing the location of RealizationMap showing the location of RealizationMap showing the approximate location of Realization / Biographie
Location Céüse, France
Coordinates 44°29′53″N 5°56′54″E / 44.4981333°N 5.9482208°E / 44.4981333; 5.9482208
Climbing area Céüse
Route type Sport Climb
Vertical gain 35-metre (115 ft)
Pitches 1
Rating 9a+ (5.15a)
Bolted by Jean-Christophe Lafaille, 1989.
First free ascent Chris Sharma, 18 July 2001.[1]

Realization, also called Biographie, is a circa 35-metre (115 ft) sport climbing route on an overhanging limestone cliff on the southern face of Céüse mountain, near Gap and Sigoyer, in France. After it was first climbed in 2001 by American climber Chris Sharma, it became the first rock climb in the world to have a consensus grade of 9a+ (5.15a).[a] It is considered an historic and important route in rock climbing, and one of the most attempted climbs at its grade.[5][6]

Long south-facing cliffs of Céüse, known as the Corniche de Céûse

In 1989, French climber Jean-Christophe Lafaille bolted the entire circa 35 metre pitch, and named it Biographie (he was not able to climb it).[7] Biographie remained a long-standing open project, and in 1996, French climber Arnaud Petit [fr] freed the lower half of the route, added an anchor at his high-point and graded it at 8c+ (5.14c).[7] Petit estimated that the remaining unclimbed section was about 8b+ (5.14a) but had a very difficult 7C (V9) boulder problem that he could not overcome.[7] American climber Chris Sharma made over 30 attempts from 1996 to 2000 but could also not overcome the boulder move.[7] In 2001, Sharma skipped the Bouldering World Cup in Gap, and after three days working on the route, on 18 July 2001,[1] successfully free climbed the route, linking up Petit's first section to Lafaille's final bolt.[7][8]

Sharma's first ascent was captured in Josh Lowell's 2002 climbing film, Dosage Volume 1.[6] Witnessing his ascent was a 10-year old Charlotte Durif [fr], who was out hiking with her father.[9]

Sharma did not assign a grade to the climb.[10][8] however he did name it Realization.[7][11] The naming was a source of controversy as in France climbing routes are named by the person who first bolted the route, while in the U.S. (and the U.K.), they are named by the first person to successfully free climb the route.[7] Sharma would later clarify:[7][12]

I named the route Realization because the first part "Biographie" ended in the middle and I wanted to differentiate the two. Then there was some frustration from the French that I changed the name etc. So upon speaking with some French friends, I understood the history of the line and the tradition in France that the bolter names it, and I told them "that's fine with me to call it Biographie". ... I guess the whole thing was a bit confusing due to the middle anchor and not wanting to discredit the first pitch or have the name be exactly the same as the first part. For me personally, people can call it whatever they want. Naming things is just for fun. ... That piece of rock was there long, long, before us, so to get worked up about naming it is kinda ridiculous.

Though only aged 20, Sharma considered retiring after completing the ascent, but found new inspiration in extreme deep-water soloing routes in Mallorca.[13] It took almost three years until the second ascent was made by French climber, Sylvain Millet, who also refused to grade it given his lack of experience of other equivalent reference climbs, however, he noted that the failure of other strong climbers to repeat the route (e.g. Patxi Usobiaga, and Dave Graham), implied that 9a+ was the likely grade.[14]

On 24 September 2017, American climber Margo Hayes became the first female climber to climb the route.[15][16] On 5 August 2020, German climber Alexander Megos created Bibliographie, a 9b+ (5.15c) route, a few metres to the right of Realization/Biographie.[17]

The route starts with an immediate hard "four-move boulder problem", which partially broke in 2010, potentially rendering the lower section even more difficult (it has been compared to the notable bouldering problem, Necessarily Evil). Sustained 5.13 climbing after the initial bouldering problem leads to the main rest, a large right-facing flake. After this pause, a series of "super-resistant two and three-finger pocket moves", with cross-throughs, underclings, and high-steps lead to Arnaud Petit's old anchor (now since removed),[6] which is almost halfway.[8]

To the anchor, the route is considered 5.14c (8c+), although some have suggested an upgrade to 5.15a (9a+) due to the initial bottom boulder breaking. There is a small rest at the old anchor, then sustained resistance climbing leads to a slightly better rest just below the finishing crux. This final crux is 12 moves, described as "a bunch of foot movement, and some very fickle pockets and crimps". Its difficulty is amplified by the amount of hard climbing undertaken to reach it. Above this crux is a small rest, and 5.11 climbing for 50 feet leads to the final anchor at around the circa 35-meter mark".[6]

Realization was the first route to carry a consensus 9a+ (5.15a) grade, and Climbing called it a "technical revolution" in rock climbing.[13] The quality and sustained difficulty of Realization means it is still considered an important rite-of-passage for the world's best rock climbers, whose repeat ascents of the "legendary" route, are covered by the climbing media.[10][18][19] Outside magazine called it "the benchmark for the grade",[6] and it has become one of the most attempted and repeated routes at the grade at 9a+ (5.15a).[20] In 2014, National Geographic called it, "one of the most famous sport-climbing routes in the world".[5] PlanetMountain included Realization on its list of important climbs in the evolution of free climbing (1918–2013).[21]

In 2012, when Adam Ondra attempted to flash the route (i.e. complete on the first attempt) he said: "It had always been my long-term crazy dream to flash this route".[10] In 2014, when American climber Jonathan Siegrist made the eighth ascent of the route and told Outside magazine: "I can remember the first time that I saw the route — it is truly magnificent. I was shocked to see that such a bold and impressive, seemingly perfect line exists. Add to that, the historic significance of this climb, not to mention its unique and brilliant holds and movement — it really is a proud route".[6] On repeating the route in 2014, German climber Alexander Megos said: "I wanted to climb this route because it is the world’s first 9a+ and definitely one of the most famous routes worldwide! But it’s not just the history behind the route, also the route itself is one of the best ones I ever climbed!".[5] In 2016, remembering his own 2015 repeat of the route, Italian climber Stefano Ghisolfi called it, "..perhaps the most famous cutting-edge route in the world".[22]

Subsequent first 9a+ contendors

[edit]

Many years after the ascent of Realization, other earlier sport climbs have been revisited as potential first-ever 9a+ routes:

Realization, or Biographie, has been ascended by:[1][19]

First female free ascents (FFFA):

  1. ^ It is possible that it was not the actual first-ever 9a+ route to be climbed, as in 2008 Czech climber Adam Ondra estimated that Alexander Huber's 1996 ascent of Open Air [de] (in Tyrol, Austria) was at 9a+ (5.15a).[2][3] Climbing author Andrew Bisharat notes in a 2016 essay on climbing re-grades, that "The other interesting point about Open Air that’s worth mentioning is that the route reportedly contains some rather flaky holds that have broken off over the years. So was the Open Air that Ondra climbed the exact same route that Alex Huber climbed? Maybe, but probably not."[4]

  2. ^ a b c "Biographie / Realization, 9a+ Sport route at Céüse". climbing-history.org. Retrieved 25 December 2021.

  3. ^ a b "Chris Sharma Turns 40 Today, Happy Birthday!". Gripped.com. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  4. ^ a b McDonald, Dougald (15 June 2012). "Groundbreaking 5.15 Gets Second Ascent". Outside. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  5. ^ a b Bisharat, Andrew (4 April 2016). "Setting and Revising the Record in Climbing". EveningSends. Retrieved 21 June 2022.

  6. ^ a b c d Potts, Mary-Anne (14 July 2014). "Behind the Shot: Alexander Megos, 20, on Climbing World-Famous Biographie in France". National Geographic. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.

  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Jonathan Siegrist Sends Biographie (5.15a) AKA Realization". Outside. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Biographie and the importance of the names". UP-climbing.com. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  9. ^ a b c d "Chris Sharma climbs Biographie!". PlanetMountain.com. 19 July 2001. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  10. ^ "Interview with Charlotte Durif". Petzl. 20 May 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

  11. ^ a b c d Costa, Susan (12 June 2012). "A for Effort: Ondra Almost Flashes Realization (5.15a)". Outside. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  12. ^ Fioravanti, Roberto (20 September 2001). "Chris Sharma, the energy of Biographie". Planetmountain.com. Retrieved 21 December 2021.

  13. ^ Pojl, Bjorn (17 August 2010). "Chris Sharma about "that route at Céüse"". UKClimbing.com. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  14. ^ a b Noble, Chris (27 September 2016). "Interview: The Future of Sharma". Outside. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  15. ^ a b McDonald, Dougal (8 June 2004). "Millet Won't Grade Realization". Outside. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

  16. ^ a b c Carpenter, Hayden (25 September 2017). "Margo Hayes Sends Biographie/Realization (5.15a)". Rock & Ice. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

  17. ^ a b c Samet, Matt (26 September 2017). "Margo Hayes Redpoints Realization (5.15a)". Outside. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

  18. ^ "Breaking News: Sean Bailey Sends Bibliographie 5.15c". Gripped Magazine. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

  19. ^ "Fifteen-Year-Old Repeats Realization". Outside. 16 August 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

  20. ^ a b c "Sébastien Bouin blasts up Biographie at Céüse". Planetmountain.com. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2021.

  21. ^ "Biographie / Realization". MountainProject.com. Retrieved 22 December 2021. One of the most repeated 9a+'s in the world but also one of the oldest.

  22. ^ Oviglia, Maurizio (23 December 2012). "The evolution of free climbing". PlanetMountain.com. Retrieved 4 January 2022.

  23. ^ a b "Stefano Ghisolfi, a year after climbing Biographie". PlanetMountain.com. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

  24. ^ "NEWSFLASH: First Repeat of Mutation 9a by Will Bosi, Proposes 9a+". www.ukclimbing.com. Retrieved 2023-04-02.

  25. ^ "Millet repeats Realization!". planetmountain.com. 27 May 2004. Retrieved 16 May 2013.

  26. ^ "Patxi Usobiaga repeats Realization 9a+ at Ceuse". planetmountain.com. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 16 May 2013.

  27. ^ "Dave Graham sends Realisation at Ceuse". planetmountain.com. 31 July 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2013.

  28. ^ MacDonald, Dougald (6 September 2007). "Pringle Sends Realization". Climbing. Retrieved 28 July 2023.

  29. ^ "Repeated Realization - Sixth repetition by Ramon Julian". up-climbing.com. 26 September 2008. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2013.

  30. ^ "Ceuse hard sends by Enzo Oddo, David Lama and Alizée Dufraisse". planetmountain.com. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2013.

  31. ^ "Jonathan Siegrist Sends Biographie/Realization (5.15a)". rockandice.com. 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.

  32. ^ "Alex Megos encadena "Realization" en tres pegues". escalando.org. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

  33. ^ "CONFIRMADO: Adam Ondra encadenó Realization 9a+ (5.15a". escalando.org. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.

  34. ^ "Biographie, 9a+, by Amma". ukclimbing.com. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2016.

  35. ^ "Biographie, 9a+, by Ghisolfi". ukclimbing.com. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2016.

  36. ^ "Jon Cardwell Sends Biographie/Realization (5.15a)". rockandice.com. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2016.

  37. ^ "Sean Bailey, 20, Clips Chains on Biographie/Realization (5.15a)". www.rockandice.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

  38. ^ "Piotr Schab 8c first ascent onsight at Cuenca and Biographie at Céüse". PlanetMountain. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

  39. ^ "Stefano Carnati a Céüse chiude Biographie". PlanetMountain. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

  40. ^ "Jorge Díaz-Rullo dials Biographie at Céüse in France". Planetmountain.com. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2021.

  41. ^ Miller, Delaney (30 May 2023). "Hong Does 'Biographie,' Cobra Crack Sees a Repeat, and 70th Anniversary of Everest FA". Climbing. Retrieved 20 July 2023.