The man known as Steezy has claimed the third ascent of what might be the world’s ‘other’ hardest climb. After Alex Megos called it 5.15d in 2020, Stefano Ghisolfi downgraded it to 5.15c in August. As yet, Bailey has proposed no grade.
“Obsession.” That’s the quality Sean “Steezy” Bailey said he needed to harness to make the third ascent of what might be the world’s second 5.15d.
Today, the 25-year-old reported on Instagram that sending the route, in Ceuse, France required fighting “the hardest battle I’ve ever waged with myself.”
Well fought, Steezy. The first ascent in 2020 took 60 days of effort by Alex Megos, one of the world’s fittest bolt-clippers. The German climber authored “Bibliographie” in 2020 as the last link in a chain of masterful ascents, starting with the world’s first 5.14d onsight in 2013 when he was 19. The difficulty of his routes crescendoed methodically until 5.15d became a reality.
Ghisolfi became the first to repeat Megos’ masterwork in August 2021. He called his 5.15c estimate a personal grade, evaluating that for him, it wasn’t significantly harder than other 5.15c grades he had sent.
Bailey, for his part, appears too fresh off the send to be bothered by numbers. Patience, training, self-inquiry, and process all factored into his repeat. He told the story via Instagram. While we await his verdict on the numbers, the least we can do is let him bask in the glow of what appears to be a deep personal victory.
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The world’s only other 5.15d remains unrepeated: Adam Ondra redpointed “Silence” in Norway’s Flatanger cave in 2017.
