E10 at Annot
Back in May, we reported that James Pearson had made the first ascent of an impressive E10 7a crack line at Annot, in Provence. He named the route Le Voyage. Our Friday Night Video is made by James and documents his ascent of the route.
At the time, James told UKC:
"From the first day, where I couldn't even understand the moves, to the last day, running it out in hope of sticking the last jug, the whole process was quite a journey. It was complicated to work out, pumpy to climb, and is certainly one of the hardest trad routes I have ever done, but instead of getting bogged down by difficulty, I'd love to focus on the quality of the line for once. Just look at this thing! It's beautiful, a real marvel of nature. Take away any one hold in several places on the route and it just wouldn't work. It's incredible that it even exists, anywhere, but especially in Annot where so many of the other big faces are just blank.'
He added: 'Le Voyage is definitely the best new trad route I have ever done'.