Seb Bouin adds Jamming Destruction (F9a+/b)
- Friday 1st September 2023
Seb Bouin has just added yet another new route, Jamming Destruction (F9a+/b) at Saint Auban in the Verdon Gorge, France.
Seb Bouin is always on the lookout for new opportunities and having recently flashed the first ascent of Baise Moi at Saint Auban in the Verdon – click here for that report – he checked out some of the other projects at the same crag. Seb explained that one project caught his eye; “There was a cool one on the left side of the crag bolted again by Adrien Boulon called Destruction. Starting at the left-hand side of the cave, Seb managed that in three attempts giving it F8c+.
He noticed that a direct start might be possible however; “I also saw there would be the possibility for a direct start from the lower part of the cave, so I bolted it. It looks a bit like The Big Island boulder in Fontainebleau. I was thinking it might be too hard at the beginning. But after few goes I found some crazy beta.”
After making the first ascent Seb called it Jamming Destruction; the name hints at the shenanigans Seb deployed to get the first ascent. “There is one particularity in this route: there is a crux with a full hand jam where you really need to wear a crack glove. If not, it feels impossible. As the crack glove is annoying for climbing hard on slopers, I didn't want to wear it for the first part. The problem was to put it before the second part and the hand jam crux. I found a kneebar right before the second crux, and I was able to put the crack glove on at this moment. I also found a kneebar right after the hand jam crux, where I was able to remove the crack glove. It's a bit of logistics, but it doesn't work if not. So, the first part should be around F8c+/9a, and then you still have to do the second F8c+ part. By my estimation, the full route adds up to be around F9a+/b”