South Tyrolean trad specialist Jacopo Larcher has repeated James Pearson's "Bon Voyage" (E12) in Annot, France. This marks his fourth ascent of the world's hardest trad route.
The toughest trad route in the world
Nachdem James Pearson After the first ascent of the line was achieved in February 2023, he initially kept his success a secret for several weeks. With the rating of Bon Voyage He even waited a full 10 months. Rating a route E12, especially when that grade doesn't yet exist, sends a clear message to the climbing community.
The difficulty was increased in spring 2024 by the two repeaters. Adam Ondra and Seb Berthe confirmed. Ondra described the line at the time as one of the best routes of his career, and even if it were bolted, Ondra said it would certainly be a solid 9a.
Three years of project work and a difficult key position
Bon Voyage is often described as having "wide sweeps of good holds and bad footholds." It shares the starting point with Pearson's classic. The Journey (E10), but then veers left over small ledges and tricky holes, ending at a technically demanding edge. "I still remember when James first told me about Bon Voyage. He was still working on it at the time and showed me some pictures of these perfect pockets branching off from Le Voyage," Larcher says of the trad gem.
What a crazy line!
Jacopo Larcher
Immediately after James' first ascent, Larcher headed to Annot to attempt it himself. Between 2023 and 2025, he even made three trips to the French climbing area before finally achieving the ascent in November 2025.
A major hurdle for the South Tyrolean was the notorious crux of the line, the "Mono Move." A nasty one-finger pocket that can only be held with the little finger. "My little finger was simply too weak. I injured it the first time I tried the pocket move," Larcher explains. "I had to find an alternative solution, but it was brutal on the skin and barely worked." After several setbacks—including a neck injury in the spring—the project seemed doomed for the time being. But after spending the fall in Europe and deciding to cancel a planned trip to Yosemite, Larcher returned to Annot in mid-November. "Maybe it was the training, maybe the motivation within the team," he says, "but this time the move suddenly worked—right on the first try."
Flow state during the ascent
I simply couldn't find that fire that normally burns inside me, and the more I searched for it, the further away it seemed.
Jacopo Larcher
After several days of intensive planning, everything came together on a cool late November day: “On November 29th, everything suddenly flowed. Every move felt easy, almost effortless. It was one of those rare moments when you are completely in the here and now.” Together with friends who were also working on the route, and a cleverly devised beta system for belaying Mathieu Miquel – he had found a way to manage the rope so that a fall on the edge posed no risk of injury – Larcher finally succeeded in making the ascent.
2025 was a difficult year for him, Jacopo explains: “I had many wonderful experiences, but my climbing wasn’t going well. I was constantly searching for that inner flame – and just couldn’t find it.” Working on Bon Voyage finally rekindled that fire: “This project reconnected me with climbing. It showed me how important it is not to give up on goals – and how wonderful it is to share them with friends.”
In the end, it's just a piece of rock – but what a journey it was. A true bon voyage.
Jacopo Larcher
You might be interested in:
- Seb Berthe's epic ascent of Bon Voyage (9a, E12)
- Bon Voyage E12 (9a): This is behind Adam Ondra's ascent
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Credits: Cover photo: Andrea Cosu