Seb Bouin has made the third ascent of Adam Ondra's Move Hard (9b), in Hanshelleren Cave, Flatanger, Norway.

The route, first climbed by Adam in 2017, and repeated by Stefano Ghisolfi in 2022, links the start of Move (9b+) into the second crux of Silence (9c).

Both Adam and Stefano climbed the route as a 9b 'side project' whilst training for Silence, allowing them to experience the feeling of climbing from the ground to the very end of Silence, whilst avoiding the hardest section of the route - the infamous crack sequence.

Stefano Ghisolfi made the second ascent of Move Hard 9b late last year

Seb's ascent of the route is his tenth at 9b, and his third at 9b or harder this year. 

In an email to us earlier today, Seb said:

'We arrived in Norway a week and a half ago and my main goal was to try Project Big. The videos of Jakob and Adam from last year motivated me a lot to visit this route'.

'I spent six days on Project Big and managed to make some interesting progress on it, but I need more time for sure. Over the last week the conditions began to worsen, so I decided to shift my focus and try another route from Adam, Move Hard. I would say this route has more in common with Silence than Move, so could be called "Silence Easy" too'.

'The line starts from Move, and takes you through the very first crux, before turning right into Silence to do the second and third cruxes. Basically, you skip the main crux of Silence. It's a really good route combining multiple interesting cruxes. And it's a logical step to gain some confidence in crux two and three of Silence'.

'My beta for Silence crux two is a little different from Adam and Stefano. I am taking the first crimp with my left hand after the rest, and reach for a right-hand sloper on the right. I then use a really bad knee bar to reach the normal right gaston, and then bring up my feet. I don't think this is a game-changing beta for this route. It's quite different, but still hard'.

'This route is fun, and even if I am not currently involved in the "Silence" process, I was psyched to try it. Let's continue the process'.

Adam's first ascent of Move Hard came less than two months before his ascent of Silence, whilst Stefano's repetition of Move Hard came at the end of his first season trying Silence, which remains a project of his.

Whilst Seb may not 'currently' be involved in the Silence process, his record at Flatanger is undeniable. With repeats of Move Hard (9b), Iron Curtain (9b), Move (9b+), and Change (L1+L2) (9b+), Silence remains the only established Flatanger route at 9b or harder that Seb is yet to climb.

His own addition to the cave, the one hundred and thirty metre Nordic Marathon 9b/+, remains unrepeated.