Sébastien Bouin, the young Frenchman who made the first ascent of a 9a/+ in the Ramirole cave, Verdon, back in August, has struck again.

Now he has made the 2nd ascent of Gérôme Pouvreau's Complexe du playboy, 9a/+, at Lubéron in the South-Eastern part of France.

Seb says he needed somewhere between 10 and 15 session to get it done and that the break down is something like an 8a into a 8 move boulder crux that bumps the first part up to 8c+. Then there's a rest with a heel hook followed by a big dyno and finally an 8c/+ section with monos to the top. This would add up to 9a/+ or so, but Seb says he feels his own 9a/+ is probably a bit harder.

So, if I get this right we're talking about a soft 9a/+ and a hard 9a/+...

Source: Kairn