French climber Julia Chanourdie sent 9a+ Super Crackinette. She has become the 3rd woman to climb such a hard route. The 1st was Margo Heyes (2017, La Rambla, Spane), the 2nd was Anak Verhoeven (2017, Sweet Neuf, France). SKALOLAZ.PRO team congartulated Julia with the incredible achievement and askes some questions about it.
Photo by Frédéric Delay
- Why Super Crackinette? Please say something about the route, why did you choose it?
- After my Olympics qualification, I wanted to go back and enjoy the rock, it’s why my boyfriend and I decided to go to Saint-léger. I didn’t planned to try Super Crackinette, but a friend was trying the route, and it made me want to try. It’s a beautiful and powerful route, 25 meters high, after discovering it, the only thing I wanted was to crush it. It is just about pulling really hard on some many different kind of holds.
- How many days did it take to send the route?
- It took me 17 days to send this route.
Photo by Mélanie Cannac
- Is the crag located near your home? Where did you live during the siege of the route?
- I’m living in the city of Lyon and the crag is 2,5 hours from my home. Usually we were renting out airbnbs but the night before the sent, we were camping down by the river. - Is it the hardest route you’ve ever climb?
- Yes it’s the hardest route I have ever climb. Even though I’ve already climbed three 9a, this one is definitely the hardest ever. I just think that it’s a huge mental battle more than a physical one due to the fact that I was falling so many times on the top crux. - Did someone help you to send the route by giving you some information about beta?
- No I didn’t ask advices from someone who sent the route before, it was just sharing with others friends who tried the route with me. - Sending such a hard route takes a lot of time and forces. And not every climber before the Olympics is ready to work so hard on the rocks. Please say something about your competition plans and training program before the Olympics.
- I always needed rock climbing in my competitions preparation. It’s a kind of physical and psychological balance for me. And I know that working hard routes is a good training because the limits are always being pushed further, and thanks to that I can have different objectives. - What’s next? Do you already have some project on the rocks for the next year?
- I don’t have others projects yet. We will see.
The Super Crackinette route is located in France in Saint-Léger du Ventoux. It was bolted by Quentin Chastagnier and first ascented by Alex Megos in 2016. Adam Ondra flased that route in 2018 after getting the beta from Quentin Chastagnier. It was the first time a man flashed the 9a+ route.
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