Seb Takes On The Unrepeatable 9a's | Seb Bouin's Vintage Rock Tour Ep.4

[@bloctribe]

That's better now. Release as much footage as possible. It's totally worth it. Hats off to Seb for honoring Fred. Much respect to both. "De L' Autre Côté du Ciel" is probably the most aesthetic route on earth, the moon and Mars as well...

[@GavynPendleton]

I really enjoyed this!! But don’t be afraid to make them longer. I’d have loved to see more footage of each climb.

[@AstEternal]

Honestly I think we should all be grateful to Seb for his contributions to climbing. Repeating some routes that have been unrepeated forever. Really gives some life into those routes and excitement into the community

[@johannessporer]

I think you can't blame Fred too much for claimbing 9b for Akira because the required style was so ahead of it's time. Todays pro climbers like Seb are so good at climbing steep stuff, but back then it was not that common. When you look at old routes it is often the case that vertical, super technical routes are graded extremly hard for todays standards and steep routes are almost soft in some cases.

[@8Hidan8]

yeah but he shouldn't have skipped the 9a+ grade, that was a big mistake and doing so he lost all his credibility

[@tunaficiency]

Fred said the route has changed so it is now 9a hold breakage I think ( I’ve climbed a very little at les eaux claire it’s nails

[@matthewgallagher4913]

@@8Hidan8 He didn't lose any credibility at all. What he did was brilliant and there is nothing more to say really.

[@8Hidan8]

@@matthewgallagher4913 that's history of climbing ,you can't deny it. He lost all his credibility and there is nothing more to say really.

[@lucast89]

@@8Hidan8 That's a great way to end any argument.

[@M0dElite]

Think of Fred Roughling what you will, but those lines are beautiful! Great job by Seb for the repeats!

[@Spungeur]

Le meilleur falaisiste français dans sa petite clio vintage

[@twpayne]

Absolutely brilliant video, and a fantastic tribute to Rouhling. Respect and thanks!

[@twpayne]

And who would have thought that Fred's move at the top of l'Autre Cote du Ciel would be in the Olympic final in 2024. Huge respect to all.

[@lafalck]

Seb Bouin + Chris Sharma = Lucien Martinez... I can't be the only one seeing this, right? 😅

[@runbikehell]

True 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ochoymedio78]

hahahhaha, so trueeee...hahah

[@robertohiroshi1789]

11:07 la souplesse et la dynamique du mouvement c’est impressionnant. De la danse sur roche, superbe ascension!

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Tout a fait!

[@AntoineAlluyn]

Seb t'es une machine de guerre ! Bravo pour ces répétitions historiques !

[@cotranzbb3535]

Super vidéo ! Dommage de ne pas avoir vu Fred en parler, ça aurait été ouf

[@vincentbelmas9787]

C'est clair, quel dommage, s'aurait été top d'avoir un peu sa vision des choses et son récit, mais je pense que Rhouling a été un peu échaudé des média grimpesques en général, donc bon s'exprimer sur un film où un grimpeur décote sa voie ça a pas du lui dire grand chose.

[@theboulderboys1572]

Honestly such a beautiful video 😍 the scenery and just the absolute amazing climbing. I could watch an hour of this

[@1981stonemonkey]

Finally someone who has an unbiased opinion about these routes, and just having a go at them for curiosity´s sake. I always felt Fred´s creations deserved wayyy more recognition than they did back in the day. Maybe they will, now. Well done, Seb. Did you contact Fred, at all, by any chance? Would have been even better to have witnessed a dialogue between you two.

[@Airsofter3009]

Merci Seb et Lucien pour ces belles histoires et ces magnifiques images. Chapeau, messieurs !

[@wondertof]

Bel hommage à Fred, et superbes images, merci Seb

[@donkyuhbuhts540]

That was some of the craziest roof climbing I've ever seen.

[@EpicTV]

Heck yes!

[@apostatepaul]

What an awesome collection of some amazing routes! Brilliant 👌👌👌

[@jeromelecat6859]

Great contribution and Lightning to our climbing history! Well done and thanks to you Seb and Lucien!

[@rodolphe5624]

Merci de nous offrir ça c'est juste un régale de voir du super contenu comme ça

[@frantzlanoue58]

Et en plus, la musique est très bonne les gars. Merci!

[@brendanacord2557]

Great production, editing and of course there is the super cool factor of seeing Seb climbing just oozing style on these futuristic routes :)

[@alixvolte]

Merci Seb de remettre sur le devant de la scene des falaises et des voies qui ont marque l'histoire et le developpement de l'escalade en France. Les images sont superbes ! Et bravo pour ces realisations !

[@CollinGill7]

the middlle crux of that chipped roof route was insane

[@Buckfast2003]

Small correction, Akira is not on the same climbing site in the Eaux-Claires valley, which has many climbing routes. But on a world scale, it's relatively close (21 km / 13 miles). Petite correction, Akira n'est pas sur le même site d'Escalade (de la vallée) des Eaux-Claires, qui comporte de nombreuses voies d'escalade. Mais à l'echelle du monde, c'est relativement proche (21 km / 13 miles).

[@ericfrisard2060]

Vidéo très sympa ! Et super complément au dossier du Grimper de ce mois-ci !

[@lyghty]

so many cool holds! great footage and music choice aslwell! cheers from Brasil

[@GalleryBones]

Seb is such an awesome guy

[@Matreynaud]

Toujours aussi bon! Merci! Et continuez à nous régaler. Dommage que Fred n'ait pas été présent. D'un autre coté, je comprends qu'il soit passé à autre chose.

[@ochoymedio78]

AMAZING VIDEO! Thanx so much for showing us such an inspiring and beautiful place. Love how you pay respect to Fred, though I would have liked to hear the man himself. Sure you tried to get in touch with him, it's a pity that he isn't on the video. Btw, you could make a 30 min video of this 3 routes and I wouldn't mind... translation: PLEASE do an extended video!!! hahahah

[@hikups]

06:40 Very confusing to see Seb spotting Seb :)

[@audiocratie]

c'est bien ce que tu fais seb :) c'est très très bien ;) à bientôt

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Such sick routes..it would be interesting to see Fred interviewed.

[@The0casanova0]

Your dream came true, an interview was released on another french climbing channel

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

@@The0casanova0 I watched, and it was great! I had to laugh how soon it popped up! I have put up almost 1000 routes myself (no 9a's lol) and only two chipped holds, but I respect Fred's work, looks like some real beautiful and futuristic stuff, too bad the bad vibes turned him off.

[@baschu101]

I love the final scene… no sponsored VW T6 - mini car packed to the roof… same goes for Sebs old bike on some videos…

[@justinjakimiak1998]

Finding myself strangely comfortable with manufactured routes

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Chipping can be artistic in the right situation. The Dark Art.

[@racerschin]

​@@terraflow__bryanburdo4547 Why not bolting some holds, like in a gym. And if route is repeated without them, remove them. Chipping is so egoistic and permanent.

[@dariorotaclimb]

Awesome brilliant video!! Tnx

[@2009ASGJPJ]

The classic Renault Clio scene in the end...!! :)

[@leoingson]

Is it actually Seb's car?

[@vincentgarruchet2093]

Super inspirant, merci Seb !

[@niamor17]

trop bien! merci

[@helmik666]

was Fred not willing to comment? it would be amazing to hear also some memories from him

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

I wonder if he took crap for chipping and washed his hands of climbing?

[@Hopesfallout]

Not sure what to think about the chipping in the last example ;D but damn these are easily some of the most interesting high-level routes I have seen in a while!

[@kriszteblade]

Great video. Loved it.

[@rixdalerheptads1505]

EpicTV: posts a video in french as the original language The entirety of France: This comment section is now our property

[@synkaan2167]

Oui monsieur :D

[@jeremiemaxit]

Merci pour ce nouvel épisode autour des voies mythiques de l'histoire de l'escalade en France. J'habite en haute-savoie et pas loin d'une voie libérée par Rouhling "Mandallaz Drive" en 9A à Allonzier la Caille pour ceux qui habitent dans le coin. Si jamais Seb passe dans le coin ?

[@morrisspliffberg4276]

Magnifique

[@Pink0745]

Je suis toujours agréablement étonné de voir l'approche historique que Seb Bouin a. Continue comme ça tu nous régales!

[@pabletedona]

"Calité" Increíbles vías!

[@maximeferre6903]

Dommage de ne pas voir l'intégralité des ascensions sans coupures ! Et de ne pas voir Lucien grimper. Sinon beau reportage, belles images, bonnes musiques, voies magnifiques ! ça pourrait être plus long ;)

[@flooo5071]

Finalement pas de pas de bloc en 8B au début d'Akira ? Il me semble que F. Rouhling mentionnait ça, d'ailleurs dommage qu'il n'ait pas été interviewé !

[@runbikehell]

Il s'est expliqué à ce sujet suite aux répétitions !

[@The0casanova0]

Il y a une interview qui vient de sortir sur une autre chaîne d'escalade française

[@BlocBusters]

very enjoyable video ;)

[@LFSJack]

no move harder then 7a?! i kinda doubt it ^^ 8:06

[@mikegruber1771]

thought exactly the same, 7a boulder with mono in a cave. I doubt it :D

[@tutecalmesoui]

7a boulder = 8a

[@the0neskater]

Yeah I lost my shit when that was said and then proceeded to do multiple nasty crimps, pinches and massive dynamic moves, and then a mono campus to top it off, all in a full roof hahahaha...

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

@@tutecalmesoui No...7A =7c at most. Looks more like 8A =V11+=8c=14b which matches better with overall 9A

[@tutecalmesoui]

@@terraflow__bryanburdo4547 the hardest boulder is 8c+ and the hardest route is 9c

[@MrEldorado15]

Wow !!!

[@yohannelbaz3690]

trop bien la dernier falaise

[@nathankenny7454]

Absolutely amazing. Great story telly. Less cuts and edits of the climbing please.

[@permaphil3973]

Sick

[@haywardab]

Is that the last episode of the vintage rock tour? Hope not! Great series

[@Psychid5]

Akira not harder than 7a boulder? How do I find that hard to believe..

[@escaladaseguraamimanera3621]

decir que es impresionante es decir poco. pero el grado es un factor determinante en la escalada, unos lo tienen y otros no.

[@ThomasRevest]

Bravo ! au top :) Ca fait plaisir de voir répéter ces voies historiques

[@laurentdaramy]

Pour bien saisir l'esprit castoche de l'époque de cette trilogie, on peut lire le billet 'histoire de taille' de mars 2011 sur le blog 'Vertical Concept' d'Axel Franco. En plus c'est drôle (contrairement aux commentaires qui n'autorisent pas les liens)

[@oldi6btm6t9d4]

Though these routes are really cool, I hope everyone understands that chipping is not expectable any more.

[@krakenattackin7617]

I really don't see why anyone cares if a literally blank piece of rock at a crag that wasn't some destination gets chipped. It hurts no one and nothing.

[@krakenattackin7617]

@@ohhhspanky We already bolt everything we can, I don't see how adding a couple lines at a cliff that is already established as a climbing cliff is an issue.

[@andrewscott5059]

@@krakenattackin7617 The current ethics almost everywhere in the world is to not chip, and the reason is as such: just because it's too flat and featureless for you doesn't mean it can't be climbed by somebody stronger, or the next generation of climbers when they're 2-3 grades stronger than anybody is today. If we decide it's okay to chip, routes that could have been climbed without it will be destroyed before their time, and finding routes pushing the limits will become impossible. Chipping isn't something we should see as okay for the sport, even if you don't think it's a problem environmentally. With the advent of modern plastic holds, there's little reason to make your own problems from the rock. If you want to create so badly, do it in a less destructive fashion. Bolts are as minimal as it gets for protection, and most people don't notice them or know they exist if they're not climbers. Especially in areas with climbable rock, it's not ethical to chip new routes (or old ones for that matter). The ethics of climbing are to minimize impact, not to have no impact. Chipping is unnecessary, whereas bolts often are the only way to safely climb an area.

[@Jane_Friday]

@@krakenattackin7617 if you can't climb it, you can't climb it.

[@Bsmd25]

@@andrewscott5059 I had the same question as to why it wasn't acceptable. I figured the ethical problems with chipping fell in the same category as people who believe you shouldn't climb anything that you cant protect with trad gear. Your explanation makes a lot of sense though and has helped me understand why chipping is a harmful practice. Thank you.

[@jerzykoakowski8018]

What is the song at the De L Ature Cote....route?

[@cats831]

someone please explain how the mid-route tie in worked? A pre loaded locker!?

[@matteobabic4963]

Pre tied figure 8 to locking carabiner is my guess. It’s very safe just shouldn’t use it a lot cause your knot will never come undone, and puts wear on certain spots on the rope only. If you are worried use two biners for redundancy.

[@synkaan2167]

Très bonne vidéo et merci à Seb pour ce tour historique =)

[@Fred-oz3tw]

wow

[@laurentdavou]

Bon, je vais juste reprendre les mot de la dame: "Très très bien ce que vous faites, c'est Bien!" Merci.

[@cillijed4291]

ÀMAZING

[@nicolasjeannet1063]

Très lourd

[@liam7342]

How did he tie in with the mid roof? I was expecting to see a tie in knot on a carabinier?

[@aspzx]

That's what he has done. If you look closely, you can see there is a carabiner between the knot and the harness.

[@anotherfloatingmind8842]

anyone know the name of the song that begins around 11:55? thanks

[@twpayne]

Still the best climbing video ever made

[@jeremoz3010]

Le grand toit lieux de mon enfance ou mon père a ouvert "la face cachée du grand toit" en artif, c'était fou de le voir pitonné et d'équiper cette voie

[@luape6593]

2:59 if its a yellow shirt i always think its megos

[@israelCaver]

What is the name for the music on 5-th minute (kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqawqXx5a9aXppo) ? Thanks!

[@000razo000]

Did he almost die at 3:42?

[@leoingson]

I love what Seb is doing! But please don't cut away so much (speeding up long shake offs is ok), it just ruins any climbing video. Quite often clipping is the most interesting part.

[@EKdlwoasred]

Comme si comme sa

[@rippendale]

why did you leave out all the controversy surrounding these routes and why doesn't Fred himself appear in the video? Feels like a mixture of a missed opportunity to touch on some of the more nonsensical 'rules' and hardliners within the sport who basically bullied Fred out of a career back then (feel free to Google), and also a 'wall of positive' noise trying to plaster over the actual history with a nicer, smoother narrative. I don't think that does justice to the routes and to Fred's story. Or was this all discussed in an earlier episode that I've missed maybe?

[@satanaz]

Omelette du fromage?

[@quezquez3084]

First, as an european, let me tell you that I love this series. Chipping holds has to be a really bad practice. Even in the 80's they should have known that chipping holds would have a long last impact on the rock and environment. I mean, millions of years! In the 21st century that practice should be seen as totally unacceptable.

[@manupinot]

But bolting is okay?

[@souslesbombes]

4:45 😳😳😳

[@dvdsct]

3:42 belay!!!!

[@paulmartin3355]

Super vidéo ! Je n'ai pas compris si Akira a finalement été confirmée en tant que 9b ?

[@papadeltavictor664]

Concernant le côté « vintage » de la démarche : Ca fait quelques décennies que je ne suis plus dans le circuit mais je constate tout de même un gros changement depuis les années 80: à l’époque on ne mousquetonnait pas les clous avant de passer mais on se trimbalait toutes les dégaines sur le baudard… Je veux bien que le niveau des grimpeurs a évolué en 30-40 ans mais je serais curieux de voir quelqu’un se balader au-delà de 8B/8C avec un trentaine de mousquetons. D’ailleurs, une des premières voie que j’ai vu mousquetonnée à l’avance, c’était Azincourt (pour la rose et le vampire, j’ai un doute).

[@imxd9698]

chipping holds is ok as long as it's super cool now?

[@krakenattackin7617]

Who cares? The rock was literally blank, this wasn't a popular destination crag at the time it was chipped.

[@imxd9698]

@@krakenattackin7617 yeah let's let this one slip and next thing it's chipping holds at a popular crag, but kind of out the way from the main area you know? chipping is totally fine if it's away from popular areas.

[@nicwilliams9709]

Manufacturing routes (ie chipping, glueing, etc) was a common and totally acceptable ethic at the time this area was developed. It's obviously no longer acceptable. This wasn't stated explicitly in the film, but I think most viewers are probably aware of this. No one saw this clip and got inspired to go chip some new holds at their local crag...

[@imxd9698]

@@nicwilliams9709 for all you know.

[@racerschin]

​@@krakenattackin7617 bolt some holds like in a gym. reversable.

[@Dynafet]

I dont understand how anybody can live with connecting eyebrowes...

[@petedangerous9616]

7A? Lol

[@peakinbuffalo8296]

07:15 "and even though it's not harder than a 7a boulder" Being a 7b+ climber and 7a boulderer, in what world is that horrendously strenuous route supposed to be a 7a lmao?

[@syneko7464]

The translation is misleading. Seb said that each move would not be above 7A.

[@moonti6820]

If you were to take each move separately, no one would be above Font 7A

[@kriszteblade]

Maybe those seem like 7A boulders when you have 8C strength ;)

[@MS-fg8qo]

Or 9b/+ strength... Yeah, a ton of 7a moves add up to a hell lot more than a 7a-boulder. Easy to understand. Admittedly, the transition on the roof mono looks really hard...

[@DrRaving]

Lucien Martinez est un cosplay de Seb Bouin ? On dirait un copier coller mdr

[@paolomarcotulli2388]

Action direct 1991

[@kikolification]

C’est le tour des falaises de France

[@moonti6820]

Yea everybody knows that, thanks. With this tour, Seb is doing the historic routes of France, so he's obviously talking about the first FRENCH 9a.

[@masterpropper2485]

The proper spelling is 9as, not 9a's. Just trying to make the world a better place.

[@Onmywayto8a]

Actually, I think you are wrong: www.grammarly.com/blog/apostrophe/ The plural of "a" is "a's". Thanks for trying to make the world a better place and thus obliging me to look this rule up.

[@masterpropper2485]

@@Onmywayto8a Sorry, I'm still right. The title doesn't say "a's" it says "9a's". There's no danger of misreading it as "as" because of the "9" in front of it which makes clear that we're talking about the plural of "9a". Apostrophes for plurals are always wrong with the one exception: when there is danger of misreading, which is not the case with 9as. You also don't write "the 1980's" to take a grammarly example.

[@Onmywayto8a]

@@masterpropper2485 "the 1980s" is not a good example since it is not ending with a lowercase letter. If we are talking about bouldering grades, then yes, it should be "I sent three 8As yesterday". Apostrophes for plurals are always wrong with the one exception: when there is danger of misreading, which is not the case with 9as. > This is not true since the same rule applies for all lowercase letters. Example: "Notice all the w's in the sentence". There is not risk to misinterpret since there is no "ws" word in English. we're talking about the plural of "9a" > 9a is an acceptable word in the English language therefore the plural morpheme (mark) will be carried by the last compound. I am a linguist and during my studies, I have been told something that was very liberating (I used to be more conservative language-wise): there are two "right", what the linguists/specialists think and the common usage. If the vast majority of people use a rule a certain way, it can be considered as "right". This said, in both cases "9a's" is correct. Google "9a's" and "9as" and you will get your answer. when there is danger of misreading, which is not the case with 9as. > That is not true; if you present "9as" to a non-climber, they will read it as such.

[@masterpropper2485]

@@Onmywayto8a I'm a linguist as well (nobody else would care). And I'm definitely not giving in to this, sorry. It doesn't matter if you know what 9a means or not, the correct plural is 9as and not 9a's. The rule of "common usage making wrongs to rights" (which mostly apllies to the English language) is something I absolutely try to refuse to accept, especially in our modern times of social media and messenger services where people (thanks to auto correct) write the craziest stuff...

[@Onmywayto8a]

@@masterpropper2485 I'm a linguist as well (nobody else would care) > I was almost sure you were :-) And I'm definitely not giving in to this, sorry. > You do not have to "give in". I gave you my arguments but you do not have to accept their validity. especially in our modern times of social media > I was referring to less deviant usage of the language. Just because many people write "there" instead of "their" does not mean they are right.

[@gregturner2668]

You know he could have made all the false claims in the world but by chipping the rock he committed the gravest sin of all.

[@listrahtes]

I wouldnt say gravest sin but people who say it wasnt a problem back then are wrong. In the excess Rouhling did it, it was quite the exception even as other top climbers as Menestrel did it on a lower level sometimes. Fred is a very creative person and he basically sculpted his own routes by working the rock. I dont think we should judge him for that. He created beautiful lines but I am glad this did not turn out to be trend . Otherwise a lot of rock walls and even big walls would imo be completely changed from their natural beauty.

[@racerschin]

​@@listrahtes how about bolting a couple of holds and not chipping the rock. why permanently altering a route. egoism, that is why.

[@jok5931]

Arretez d'enlever les moves de clip... c'est ridicule

[@johndawkins7823]

Seb's words, "By chipping the holds he made some insane boulders." To chip a route is completely bad style. Who cares what grade it is? Look further afield and leave those un-chipped crags for someone who might be able to climb them one day, without chipping them, and if they are unclimbable, so what. Saying that things are bolted anyway and you can see the bolts is nonsense and a false equivalence. Bolts are for protection, utterly different to hacking hand and foot holds in the rock. No respect here.

[@raulsuarez5421]

do you understand this was done in the 80's/90's and no one does it anymore? ..now, what? save the bees???

[@Bsmd25]

Yeah but we are judging the ethical decisions of someone in a totally different time period against the ethics of our time period. When Fred was climbing, manufacturing climbs was fairly common practice at the top of the grading scale. With the growth of climbing we have seen some things go by the wayside and be declared unethical, manufacturing climbs being one of them. I think that it is a great thing that we are growing as a community but why hate on people who were making the best decisions they knew how to make with the ethical standards and knowledge of their day. It doesnt make it right to chip holds and we certainly shouldn't be doing it now but we should extend some mercy to those who did these things simply based off the time period they lived in. They hadn't been taught better.

[@김밥동한]

The stingy garlic intraperitonally suit because thomas postauricularly handle to a internal game. careful, unused plaster

[@ScottandJodi]

Great vid, but, sorry, the chipping of the holds by Rouhling on that last big roof is BS. Not EVERY piece of rock needs to be climbed.

[@wesleychen4408]

I don’t think anyone disagrees with you, not even Fred himself (read the famous climbing world article about him).

[@twpayne]

Still the best climbing video ever made