Seb Bouin makes first ascent of Wolf Kingdom (F9b+)
- Saturday 23rd November 2024
Sébastien Bouin recently made the first ascent of Wolf Kingdom F9b+, at Pic Saint Loup, France believing it to be his second hardest route ever.
We’ve reported numerous impressive ascents in the past by Frenchman Seb Bouin; he’s back in the news again with another super hard first ascent at one of his favourite crags, Pic Saint Loup in France.
Seb reports that he’s been working on this project for 18 months or so in and amongst other routes he’s been trying. Just six days before sending Wolf Kingdom Seb had a productive day at Têtard Parc near Grenoble, where he flashed Le Dernier Têtard (F8c) and sent another Amicalement Blues (F9a) on the same day.
Reporting his latest first ascent Seb had the following to say:
‘What a wave of emotions to complete this project. It’s one of the routes that has inspired me the most in my climbing career. I am proud and happy to add such a route to the global climbing scene and to place Pic Saint-Loup on the worldwide map of climbing.
‘That day, the wind was howling through the cliff at Pic Saint-Loup. It was cold, but I knew that very low temperatures were necessary to send the final section. When opening a route, you never really know what you're going to encounter. It takes a lot of luck for difficulty to align with beauty and fun in a single route.’
Describing the route Seb said:
‘Wolf Kingdom can be broken down into a F9a approach section which is the hard part of Beyond, leading into a F9a+ which is the hard part of Les rois du lithium (F9b). I’ve done the first 9a section more than 50 times.’
Seb also spoke about the quality of the route:
‘It's quite rare to have the chance to bring a route like this to life. Wolf Kingdom is undoubtedly one of my best additions, one of the most fun, and one of the prettiest. I think it will be one of the most tried 9b+ routes in the future, considering its style of climbing. I’m almost a little sad that I no longer have this beautiful project right next to home.’
As many do after completing a long-term project Seb reflected on his success and what it means to him:
‘The process was fun and positive. It was a real pleasure. I believe this route marks a major turning point in my climbing journey. Successfully completing such a big project while staying happy and positive the entire time—it’s an incredible feeling. I think this route is my second hardest achievement. It feels a bit easier than DNA, so the F9b+ grade seems appropriate.’
Read about Seb's 2022 ascent of DNA (F9c) at Ramirole here and his ascent of Les Rois du Lithium (F9b) earlier this year here. Previously, Seb has also climbed ACL (F9b) and Beyond Integral (F9b/+) at this Pic Saint Loup making it one of the hardest collection of routes added by a single climber at any crag in France.