The Frenchman cannot stop aiming higher. One day after dispatching ‘Jumbo Love,’ he’s intent on unlocking a never-before-redpointed variation that might make the iconic climb much harder.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Explorersweb.
Not many people climb “Jumbo Love,” the United States’ first 5.15b sport route. Why not? Because both getting to it and climbing it amounts to undertaking marathons in the sport climbing world.
Seb Bouin was up to the task, drawing from a source of inspiration that started all the way back when the route first arrived on climbers’ radar in the mid-2000s. And because he thinks he can redpoint a never-before-climbed alternate segment of the route, he’s hanging tough in the Mojave Desert to keep trying.
Bouin started climbing in 2005 — prolific American developer Randy Leavitt had already bolted what would become “Jumbo Love” by then. And the freight train that was Chris Sharma would make the first ascent 2 years later.
The line always captivated Bouin.
“When I first saw the route on Reel Rock [in 2016], I said, ‘Ooh! I would like to climb something like that someday,’” he said while taking a rest day in nearby Las Vegas. “I am not disappointed by the route and the place. It is cool and really big and magical. It’s well deserving of a movie from Reel Rock and [the effort of] Chris.”
Describing the climb itself on Instagram, Bouin said, “It’s an amazing line with perfect moves.”
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