UKC

Font 8c Link-up Falls In Fontainebleau

© Bruiser
21 year old Remy Bergasse of Romans in France has completed the first ascent of Quoi De Neuf in Le Toit d'Orsay, Fontainebleau and proposed a grade of Font 8c.

The line is a link-up of two established problems; a 15 move Font 7c+ added to an already beefy Font 8b/+. It first rose to fame as French master Jacky Godoffe's project, but despite falling from the last move Godoffe never managed to complete the problem.

Bergasse first climbed Quoi De Neuf Acte 2 in May this year (see a video HERE) and was inspired to try the full line.

Bergasse is no stranger to hard climbing having red-pointed routes of F8c. The new problem is some 25 moves long and verges on route status, requiring huge power-endurance for success.

Can a problem such as this be compared to a short Font 8c bloc or would it be better to give long link-ups like these a route grade, as has been proposed for some of the long links in Hollow Mountain Cave in the Grampians, Australia?

The grade debate will rage on, and yes we need a benchmark, but grading is not an exact science and just as one person's proposed 8c is no consensus, neither is a first repeater's downgrade to 8b+.

Remy Bergasse is sponsored by Five-Ten, Beal and Expression Holds.

Sources: 8a.nu, bleau.info


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30 Sep, 2008
Well done to Remy. Any videos?
30 Sep, 2008
"Can a problem such as this be compared to a short Font 8c bloc or would it be better to give long link-ups like these a route grade, as has been proposed for some of the long links in Hollow Mountain Cave in the Grampians, Australia?" Good question, but not really part of the news item. Perhaps an in depth editorial featuring interviews would be illuminating. But a quick, simple answer would be no. 50,000+ problems using a system specifically designed for them vs 1 problem using a completely different system. Problem solved [sic]. "The grade debate will rage on, and yes we need a benchmark, but grading is not an exact science and just as one person's proposed x is no consensus, neither is a first repeater's downgrade to x." Do we really need this tedious caveat every single time anyone does anything hard? UKC takes itself far too seriously sometimes. Anyone who has ever climbed anything will understand the frustrating and confusing nature of grades. Going out of your way to end an article on a question doesn't make it profound. More fact less waffle please.
30 Sep, 2008
Stunning effort, the videos of the two sections to this were impressive in their own right, now its linked, wow! Yes, precisely because... I doubt it will stop the questioning and opinions on the debate, but hopefully by making it clear in the news article, perhaps one less person will bother to get drawn in to a pointless debate.
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