UKC

Josune Bereziartu has made the first repeat of the fred nicole route Bimbalauna 9a+ . awesome

In reply to broughton power: BREAKING NEWS: MAN BOILS EGG
Film at 9

In reply to broughton power: That's a bloody good effort, we tried some grade 6's at the Westway and they were desparate.

In reply to broughton power: And given it's a Nicole route probably proper 9a+ as well.

A fine effort, but I have to ask what has she ever done on, errr, grit?

In reply to broughton power:

Yeah, but what's she ever done on Grit?

;-P
H.D.

In reply to sloper:

I can't believe you beat me to that one!


H.D.

In reply to broughton power:

She's so far ahead of her nearest female rival, it's embarassing. I'm not sure even Lynn was ever this clear of the pack wrt sport routes.

I don't think McClure has done 9a+? If not, one of the best ever British male sport climbers has just been outdone by a woman. If you'd predicted that ten years ago, you'd have been laughed at.

In reply to hugedyno: you had 13 minutes, you snooze, you lose.

In reply to Smitz:
pissing myself laughing - not PC but very funny

In reply to broughton power: Francois, not Fred.

In reply to Peter Walker: woops sorry

In reply to Dom Orsler:


Slightly pedantic I know, but I doubt if either of them sees it as Josune "outdoing" Steve. Hopefully that's not what motivates them.

In reply to broughton power: Didn't Lynn Hill do 9a like ages ago? I don't think that is such an achievement any more and as Lynn points out in her autobiography, women often have an advantage on super hard routes cause their small fingers can hold onto small holds more easily.

In reply to Jon Dittman: As far as I know LH has done 8b+ (Masse Critique?).

In reply to Jon Dittman:

In reply to Jon Dittman:

>Didn't Lynn Hill do 9a like ages ago?

No - nowhere near which goes to show how hard any climbing beyond 8c/8c+ actually is.

9a+ is a fantastic achievement for any climber, male or female and is still very much at the cutting edge of the sport..

In reply to broughton power:

Fantastic and most inspirational for us women!!

Can I just ask where is the source of your info?

In reply to The sharp end:

It sems to have made a bit of a splash in Spain:
http://elmundodeporte.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2005/05/09/masdeporte/11156...

I'm in awe of anyone who climbs at such levels, it's fantastic achievement.

In reply to Dom Orsler:


There are a fair few people around who think a couple of Steve's routes are 9a+ - particularly Northern Lights!

In reply to The sharp end: Josune did the first 9a by a woman in 2002 (Bang de Sang)
desnivel.es usually writes about her latest achievements, plans etc

In reply to sloper:

Never mind what she has done on grit, she obviously isn't spending enough time in the kitchen

in reply to spanish bird and tony!

thank you

knew about the 9a (b-d-s) but not the 9a+! thanks for the link too! gracias!

In reply to Dom Orsler:


I think climbers have long known that women can excel in the sport. The steeper routes get, the more weight becames a disadvantage, the more a womans's physiology becames the optimum. And as more women get into the sport, the more likely one will come along with the right mental and physical attributes to challeng the top men.

In reply to sloper:

"A fine effort, but I have to ask what has she ever done on, errr, grit?"

*Yawn*

In reply to Jamie B.:

Yes, umm, saying Steve has been outdone by Josune was kind of meant to be more than just a little bit tongue in cheek. Sorry; I thought that was obvious.

One thing you have to be very careful of on forums is the use of humour which would be obvious in a face to face conversation but often sails over people's heads in the written word.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

But the point is, in terms of men's sport climbing 'women' do not excel in the sport. A 'woman' does, however, and her name is Josune Bereziartu.

That's what is incredible about her; she is so far ahead of the rest, it's bizarre. If a male climber was as far ahead of the rest of the world's male climbers, he'd be doing 9c+/10a.

In reply to broughton power:

That's amazing!

Thanks for the story.

In reply to Dom Orsler:

liz sansoz has done 8c+; some people claim lynn's free ascent of the nose is in the 8c/8c+ range despite her sandbag grade of 8a

also worth noting that francois only gave bimbaluna 9a/9a+, it could well be 9a; dave graham thought b-d-s was only 8c+

In reply to polished_circus:

I'm glad someone else pointed that out; Iker Pou also thought Bain de Sang was a grade easier than Action Directe. Is Bain de Sang the only other 9a or above route that Francois Nicole has done? And hadn't he "only" climbed up to 8c before he did that?

In reply to Peter Walker: b-d-s is not the only 9a she has done!!

In reply to broughton power: I was talking about Francois Nicole rather than Josune.

I know she's done Logical Progression, but that's been downgraded to 8c+, apparently.

9a+ is f...ing great! woman or man but should be especially encouraging to all those women u can see at every crag in this world who have this strange preconception they have to climb worse than their boyfriends but have about 10x more talent than them.....
and obviously, the male macho community can't resist to immediately downgrade any hard route a woman has climbed...

In reply to lululu:

no offense but you are talking random sh*t - just look at the nose of el cap which is being upgraded because it is so much harder than lynn said it was. or look at mortal kombat which was thought to be 8c/8c+ when yuji onsighted it and he himself said was not more than 8b+, and is now thought to be 8b/8b+ - and yuji is a guy.

In reply to broughton power:

i always reconed that women are better climbers than men and this helps to prove it. (Plus , they are better looking.)

In reply to anonymous1:

Only potentially better - you only have to look at the general standard in mens and womens comps to realise that parity is not yet the norm for women's climbing.

In reply to broughton power:

It seems odd that the title of the post was

woman climbs 9a+

rather than

Josune Bereziartu climbs 9a+

I mean - can you imagine posting 'man climbs 9a+' rather than giving the name of the actual climber?

In reply to mich:


Not really, the most significant thing about this ascent is that she is a woman and it is therefore a world first. Obviously clibing 9a+ is pretty news worthy whoever climbs it but unlikely to generate much interest here.

In reply to mich:

I doubt it would be "man climbs 9a+". If it was a first ascent, i'd assume it'd just be "first ascent of 9a+". If you're looking for true equality (which seems to be what you're getting at) this post shouldn't exist, it's just another person climbing 9a+ (admittedly this is still fairly newsworthy!). Just be appreciative that people want to talk about women's climbing.

In reply to Tyler:

yeah, what he said.

In reply to Patrick Ruane:

Wanting equality is different from wanting to be the same...

I guess it was the anonymity of the heading which seemed strange to me - just some woman - it felt like it didn't matter who she was as an individual at all - like 'dog climbs 9a+' (which would be REALLY newsworthy!).

I'm happy for people to want to talk about women's climbing - I like talking about it myself! and I can see the point, that it is the fact that she is a woman that captures people's interest... I don't think it was wrong, it just seemed so impersonal somehow....

In reply to GrahamD:

never actually been to a competition , but when watching a good women climb they appear to be more fluid and graceful .
But i suppose that's when compared to beer guzzling slobs that i climb with ( and i am ).

In reply to broughton power: Wasn't she reported to be training up to climb Yuji Hirayama’s route Flat Mountain, 5.15a

In reply to glyn28:

I don't know much spanish but the article tony posted ( http://elmundodeporte.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2005/05/09/masdeporte/11156... ) seems to say that.

Bereziartu, que estuvo a punto de completar en Japón el pasado mes de diciembre una vía de esta dificultad, la Flat Mountain, equipara con su logro los récords mundiales de escalada masculina y femenina.

Bereziartu, who is in [will be in?] Japan, spending December on a more diffult route, Flat Mountain, which is the world record of climbing (male and female).

Who can actually speak spanish?