Seb Bouin has scored the 9a+ route X Integral in the Ravoire climbing area. Interesting side note: The strong Frenchman scored the line on his rest days while training for a larger project.
On his recent climbing trip, the French climbing professional Seb Bouin He had heard of good conditions in the Gottreux sector and was motivated to continue the route X integral (9a+) by Dylan Chuat. He managed the ascent on the fifth day in Ravoire.
The whole line is really cool and doesn't allow for any mistakes.
Seb Bouin
X Integral: Complex climbing
Even though the line is well below his maximum climbing level, it is quite complex to climb, says Bouin: "The rock is gneiss and can be nice and sticky when it's windy, but also really slippery when it's wet."
X Integral connects the two routes Satire and The Shoker, with a good rest position in between. "The first part is an 8c+ with great ledges and a small dyno. This is followed by a section with hard compression climbing." He felt much more comfortable on the latter, says Seb Bouin.
Redpoint ascent as a rest day activity
The strong Frenchman spent a total of four days projecting the line, and managed to complete it on the fifth day. But projecting is perhaps not quite the right term, as Bouin was primarily training for a harder project.
So the climbing days in the climbing garden were my rest days, and on the other days I trained hard.
Seb Bouin
Since the route is not too steep, it somehow worked. After climbing X Integral, Seb Bouin said of its difficulty level: "It could be 9a+ soft, but I don't think it should be 9a."
Video: Dylan Chuat opens X Integral (9a+)
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Credits: Cover picture Seb Bouin