The now 41-year-old Spanish Climber Iker Pou redpionted the impressive roof route „Artaburu “ (9a/+) in Margalef in Catalonia (Spain). The Spanish climbing master trys six years (!) for a successful access. Iker made the third ascent of Action Directe in the Frankenjura in 2000 and also in 2012 at Margalef he made the first ascent of „Nit de Bruixes“, a 9a+ which may well be 9b and which so far has only been repeated by Ramon Julien Puigblanque.

Iker to his ascent: „A perfect roof, well not quite perfect, because it even descends, about 20 meters long across a series of pockets. A authentic ‘fiesta’ of monodoits and two-finger pockets across a roof that is scary just to look at.“ The climbing is obviously ferocious and extremely physical: „Very few footholds, and those that exist are very bad so you have to constantly dyno them from one pocket to the next.“

Iker to the difficulty: „The route cost me a lot; infinitely more than my previous 9a+, but I have no reference on routes harder than this, and that’s why I prefer future ascentionists to provide a grade. The only thing I can say for sure is that the route is very good and that I believe it will become a reference point in the future.“

Teaser from his ascent (c) Jordi Canyi – Filmut.com