"Climbing with nuts is certainly the purest approach to climbing, while maintaining a satisfactory level of safety!" Alexis COOKNRUN.

" The tension is palpable, with every movement, I'm afraid. Not necessarily of falling, but that sensation so particular to trad routes, you raise your head and nothing sticks out, no quickdraws, no bolts, only a flared crack, small poofed holes, you feel very alone. "

It was one of my dreams to climb such a route, the definition for me of the beauty of climbing: a pure line following the natural roughness over 45m, a wall free of any artifice and the need to place all the protection yourself, more or less solid. All on rock of exceptional quality with incredible movements. So many superlatives for a piece of rock but it was a great emotion to succeed in climbing this "Voyage".

I've been hearing about this route for a while now, initially as an extreme project in a gloomy place, such a description gave little appeal and completely underestimated the splendor of the line. In 2017, Grit maestro James Pearson took on this project and ended up completing what he called "The Journey" which is none other than the hardest traditional climbing route in France. After his ascent, the line remains relatively unknown and is rarely repeated.

Personally, I waited a little while before trying this piece of climbing, firstly out of fear of the difficulty but also of the commitment, the E10 rating corresponds to a significant commitment on sometimes poor protection. At the end of this winter I feel rather fit and ready to break the myth, firstly on a top rope 🙈 .

After 4 wedging climbs I succeeded in the mooring route, which seems to be a very technical 8b+ with a fairly short but very demanding hard section, especially on the foot placement which is microscopic and sandy. I took a lot of time to set up my methods during the first climbs with incessant zippettes but at the end of these first sessions I am quite confident, I identified the different protection locations and the chocks to use right hand, left hand, I put in place my little strategy...

One section particularly stands out for me, halfway up, the route crosses between two cracks on a row of small holes, this section is exceptional and protected by a rather exotic mechanical Ball-nutz wedge.

I feel ready to come back and score some tries in the lead by putting the protections on.

A month later, I feel particularly fit, I've climbed up to 8c, I'm confident. The first attempt at putting on protection quickly disillusions me, the tension is palpable with every move, I'm scared. Not necessarily of falling, but that feeling so particular to trad routes, you look up and nothing sticks out, no quickdraws, no bolts, only a flared crack, small pofed holes, you feel very alone. I can't climb loose and 3 times I fall in the hard section in the middle. I had redone the section on top rope and it had seemed rather easy to me, I no longer saw the difficulty. But with my first attempts in mind, I quickly realized that the real sequence was well beyond doing a classic 8b+, managing the installation of protections in addition to the rests and the rhythm to put in the hard sections, you need a lot of margin to chain.

In the crux, I choose to place a friend, adding a significant challenge, but for me, it's essential to tackle the final hard moves with confidence. Without this protection, I'm facing a 15m flight on a mini cable. But I feel that placing this friend is really eroding my resilience.

Last Monday, I was dejected, I felt mentally weak, I thought I could do 3/4 attempts a day, I only did 3 attempts in 2 days and I felt exhausted, not physically, but mentally, I felt like every climb was taking its toll on me like no other route I've tried. I tried to keep hope by telling myself that "at worst I'll come back next weekend", the weather forecast was disastrous, it was today or not for a long time. As if I wasn't already stressed enough as it was.

I make my attempt, in the first pitch in 7a, I have horrible sensations, I almost fall several times. And strangely, the higher I climb the route, the more I unload the few nuts on my harness, the better I feel, the more liberated I feel. In the crux section, everything goes as planned, sheathed and precise, I rush to the tray with a victorious cry. But the route is not finished, 10m of ascent on a vibrating flake where it is particularly inadvisable to put protection on pain of tearing off a sandstone fridge. I still put a "mental friend", my last solid point and more than 15 meters below me, the movements are no longer extreme but I have to stay focused.

Finally, a crack with hand/finger locks, I put all my energy into each lock, without gloves, my skin is bleeding, I press even harder.

And there it is, the relay is reaching out to me, an immense joy takes hold of me, I let go of my stress, my fear.

I am happy.

Here I am at the top of the hardest trad route in France, and the first Frenchman!!! 😃

It's not the hardest, but certainly the most beautiful route I've had the opportunity to climb!

Thanks darling Manon, belaying on this kind of route is almost as stressful as climbing it!

And congratulations to James Pearson for opening one of the most beautiful climbing lines I know. 🙌

Text: Symon Welfringer

Photos: @Marc Daviet