[VIDEO] 9b at 1800m: Pirmin Bertle in “La Cène du (Roi) Lézard”

The name of the route is another dedication to the oeuvre of Jim Morrison – the climbing is a present for anyone who joins this game of weird scenes (or moves) inside the gold mine (referring to one of the most impressive landscape, flora and fauna settings among climbing spots in the Alps).

Vimeo Text

The line contains the first 8m of Le Roi Lézard (8c+) until a rather bad rest (8b/8b+ up to there). Then turns right into the 8B crux of Des scènes bizarres… (9a+) and finally adds a “new” last 8A+ jump that results from a broken hold. To be finished into some meters of 7b+.

There is no other way of describing the beauty of this line than watching the video 🙂

The grade is another chapter of “Lost in Quotation” – kind of a tragic comedy that evolved over the past years. To give some orientation: When you on sight standard 9a you may climb this in one or two days – thus a logic, rather tough 9b. When you compare it to e.g. Via de la Capella (9b) – the same. But if you decline down from the hardest route(s) in the world, it might appear soft.

Well, anyway, I hope that everyone who still argues about grades for a route like this, in a place like this will be taken on the horns by an ibex or a chamois passing by. (Or he or she waits a bit, I just deciphered a potential new first part that should be tough 9a instead of 8b/8b+ – hopefully making it “barrier” ;))

QuellePirmin Bertle (Vimeo User)