Rémy Bergasse has made the first ascent of Steppe de pierres (Stepping stones) in the Oasis sector at Calanques, close to Marseilles on the Côte de Azur.

The line was bolted way back in 1992 by Laurent Simoni and I can't help but wondering if the bolts are still ok... Be it how it may, but apparently they were strong enough to stop Rémy from decking during the 15 or so sessions which preceded the successful ascent.

This is what he says about the difficulty: ...the route can be divided into a resistance 8c followed by a section with very small holds. These 10 moves would also weigh in around 8c. Last but not least comes a very hard boulder crux which is around 7C in itself.

Later in the day Rémy went back on the route for a photo session where he succeeded in breaking off a big chunk of rock and smashing it into his own face... Ouch!

This was Rémy's second 9a after his own DTN: Déséquilibre Technique Naturel at Roquevaire

Rémy Bergasse is sponsored by Five Tenand Expression holds

Source: Rémy's blog