UKC

Steve McClure has made the seventh repeat of James Pearson's route Le Voyage, E10 7a, in Annot, France. The route, which James first climbed in 2017, shares the same start as his recent route Bon Voyage, which Steve believes may be the hardest trad route in the world.

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Amazing looking place. Geology looks like geos, but it's obviously inland. 

I love Steve's attitude. Reading between the lines it seems like Bon Voyage may well be virtually impossible for someone of Steve's height, but instead of playing the height card, he graciously declares that it's just very very hard so he'd be unlikely to have much success.

Well done, Steve, both on getting up Le Voyage with what sounded like ridiculously minimal practice, and on being so gracious.

Great to see James' redemption arc complete with a probable e12! I hope it gets a repeat at some point and bravo Steve. 

Steve manages to come across as genuinely modest  and honest in this article, all to often modesty seems false in these kind of reports. 

52 and still one of the leading lights in British climbing is one hell of an achievement. Inspiring to me and proves I should have no excuses not to get fit again as I approach my late 30s.

I know I'm childish, but I really cant believe this sentence got left in after an edit.                                 "I had the pleasure of James giving me a blow-by-blow account of the route when we were side by side on an abseil"

Steve, you seem to be making a habit of getting sucked into going for it with what might be described as "less than optimal" practice and then getting up by the skin of your teeth having managed to somehow stay on.

Although this may lower your success rate, please keep doing this since it leads to much more absorbing accounts of your ascents that we can more happily relate to. 😁

Very good piece !
Thanks for this

Stunning looking place and routes(s).  Great price and great effort Steve (and James of course).