October's New Hard Routes in Wales, Germany, and France

October's been a good month so far for European climbers. This time of the year in Europe is generally dry and mild with cooler temperatures which are perfect for hard cranking.

In North Wales, 52-year-old Stevie Haston returned to Craig Dorys at the Lleyn Peninsula and climbed two more major new lines. Earlier this year, Haston established two difficult and scary routes--Bam, Bam and Harmony--up the steep and loose cliff. The new routes, put up with Leigh McGinley, are just as hard and just as scary with scant protection and lots of rotten rock.

The first was 2-pitch Dream Canyon Handshake (5.12b/c), which Groundup Climbing describes as "a wild and physically hard line," which features tottering blocks and overhanging climbing. Requiem for a Vampire (5.13a/b), the second route, is "an astounding line that eclipses all previous routes on the cliff" and "tackles absurdly loose and steep ground...." Haston's belayer Leigh McGinley called it, "The greatest lead of a rock climb that I have ever seen!"

Is there any American climber right now who is doing comparable routes to Stevie Haston? Serious and difficult ground-up routes with no bolts, minimal inspection and cleaning on rappel, and without top-rope rehearsal? These routes are extremely serious. The consequences of a fall are huge. Is anyone flying under the radar and doing these kinds of routes in the United States? Or are we too quick with the Bosch power drill, slamming in a few bolts on these kinds of routes?

In other European news, Planet Mountain reports German climber Toni Lamprecht's free ascent of Le Vieux et la mer in the famed Verdon Gorge in southern France. The Verdon, one of the world's great climbing areas, is no longer the proving ground for hard free climbs but "it still offers sparkling new gems to those who know how to look." Lamprecht did the first ascent of the seven-pitch route in 2008 with Uli Strunz and Benno Wagner, before returning this fall and free-climbing all the pitches, but not in a single day. The line features three 5.13 pitches.

At Germany's Frankenjura area, Planet Mountain reports several notable hard routes were climbed this month. Sarah Seeger redpointed Steinbock, "a steeply overhanging 22-move 8c (5.14b)" at the Orakel. This is the hardest route yet climbed at the Frankenjura by a woman. At Grüne Hölle, 30-year-old Markus Bock free-climbed The Man that Follows Hell, rated a hefty 9a+ or 5.15a. Bock described the route in the German magazine Klettern, "16 moves--exactly as many as Action Directe 9a--with comparable climbing and steepness--yet the individual moves are significantly harder." The route is, with Bock's Corona, the Frank's hardest route.

Photograph above: Sarah Seeger sending Steinbock (8c) at the Frankenjura climbing area in Germany. Photograph courtesy Ricarda Miller.