The American bouldering specialist Paul Robinson succeeds in only the second repetition of the 9a route Legacy, the first 9a in South Africa.
The history of the route Legacy goes back to 2014, when the Swiss bouldering pioneer Fred Nicole created the impressive line in the Roadside sector in the South African bouldering Mecca Rocklands discovered.
In 2016 could Fred Nicole free climb the route in two sections, in 2017 and 2018 he struggled with hip problems instead of the line, the route remained untouched. Freshly recovered from hip surgery, Fred Nicole returned to South Africa with no expectations whatsoever to rededicate himself to the line. But then the story went in an ugly direction, like Lacrux reported in this article.
The fact is: Giuliano Cameroni managed the first free ascent of the first 9a route in Africa. The Legacy route in the Roadside sector was born. Things took a turn for the better as Fred Nicole also got a free ascent two days later.
Repeat was a long time coming
Since the story about the first and second ascent of the Legacy route, the line has remained quiet. The reason for this was the global pandemic, which restricted the travel activities of the international climbing elite. While before Corona everything of rank and name spent the summer months in South Africa, in 2020 and 2021 it remained quiet and the red blocks.
But that changed this year. Among other things, the American Paul Robinson traveled back to the African bouldering Mecca - and initially devoted himself to easier boulders and routes, specifically Legacy. It has to be said that Legacy is a mixture of highball boulder and short route.
“The route is short, which is why it is difficult to say whether the line should be rated 9a or 8B+. One thing is certain: the line is absolutely fantastic!»
Paul Robinson
A look at his tick list so far suggests that Paul Robinson was slowly approaching difficult boulders, as he was struggling with numerous injuries in 2021. A few days ago we got the message: Legacy (9a/8B+) climbed! We are excited to see which line Paul Robinson will take home with him during his trip.
That might interest you
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