European Women Crush POSTCOVID-19
Melissa Le Nevé Makes History with Action Directe 5.14d
Melissa Le Nevé became the first woman to climb Action Directe 5.14d in Frankenjura this spring. In 2014, she became the first woman to send Wallstreet 5.14c, also in Frankenjura. The classic 5.14d was first climbed by Wolfgang Gullich in 1991 as the first of its grade. It’s been repeated over 20 times, but still stands as one of the hardest 5.14d routes in the world. Le Nevé, 30, is one of the best climbers with 5.14 multi-pitches and V14s to her name. She grew up in the Vosges, France, and began climbing at age 15 at a gym near Bordeaux. She was the French women’s bouldering champion in 2010 and 2013, placed fourth in the Bouldering World Cup standings in 2011, and has placed second at World Cup events in Slovenia, 2013, and Switzerland and Japan, 2016. She retired from competitive climbing in 2016, after finishing third in that year’s bouldering world cup.
Oriane Bertone Climbs V15
French climber Oriane Bertone made the first ascent of Satan I Helvete Low V15 in Fontainebleau at only 15 years old. She’s the fourth woman to climb the grade following Ashima Shiraishi, Kaddi Lehmann and Mishka Ishi. Bertone became the youngest climber to send a V14 with she was 12. In 2019, she started competing in international youth sport climbing events where she won multiple gold medals in both lead and bouldering.
Laura Rogora Climbs Her First 5.15
Italian Laura Rogora, 19, joined the 5.15 club with her repeat of Adam Ondra’s Pure Dreaming Plus at Massone in Arco, Italy. Rogora is the fifth woman, and first Italian woman, to climb 5.15; joining crushers Margo Hayes (2017), Anak Verhoeven (2017), Angela Eiter (2017) and Julia Chanourdie (2020). This is only the second ascent of the powerful route. Rogora had repeated Pure Dreaming 5.14d earlier in the same week and wasted no time piecing together the difficult variation that is the Plus. In the weeks following, she climbed Bella Regis 5.14c and Underground 5.14d.
Anak Verhoeven’s First Ascent of Belgium’s Hardest Route
Anak Verhoeven put her post-covid-19 strength to the test with a quick repeat of The Project 5.14b. She then attempted and sent the extension which had never been climbed. She named it Krafio in memory of French climber Chloé Graftiaux and graded it 5.14c/d. It’s Verhoeven’s tenth 5.14+ send. Verhoeven gave a play-by-play of the climb: “I wasn’t looking forward to fighting through the cruxes all over again, but when I started, I somehow felt less nervous and managed to enjoy what I was doing. I passed the first crux, then the second and the risky move to the chains.”
Nolwen Berthier Sends Her First 5.14c with La Ligne Claire
Nolwen Berthier, from Aix-en-provence, France climbed her first 5.14c with La Ligne Claire in St-léger du Ventoux. The following day, she made the first ascent of Stay Kratom, Stay Safe 5.14b at the same area. Berthier tried the route last winter, but injured a finger during an attempt. She trained during the covid-19 lockdown and made quick work of it after restrictions were eased. The route has four cruxes with good rests between them. “It took me 10 sessions,” said Berthier, 26, who competed in a number of ifsc World Cups between 2012 and 2018, with her best finish being 14th at Briancon in 2018.