Buster Martin repeats Action Directe F9a
- Tuesday 11th October 2022
Buster Martin has recently repeated Wolfgang Güllich’s iconic Frankenjura test-piece Action Directe.
Wolfgang Güllich made the first ascent of Action Directe on September 14th 1991 just five days after he was married. He was in the prime of his life. Without doubt Güllich was one of the best climbers of his generation having climbed the world’s first F8b (Kanal im Rücken), first F8b+ (Punks in the Gym), the first F8c (Wallstreet) and then Action Directe – a route now considered to be one of the world’s first F9a’s. One of the many iconic images of Güllich is that of him training on a campus board using just one finger on each hand! Güllich is famous for numerous quotes but his quote about having strength/power is legendary; "There's no such thing as too much power."
Tragically, less than year after establishing Action Directe, Güllich died when he fell asleep driving his car on the German autobahn. Already world renown, Action Directe has remained at the centre of many climbers’ thoughts and ambitions since. Ben Moon, having established Hubble in 1990 – then graded at F8c+ but now considered to be F9a - tried to repeat Action Directe but had to walk away when he injured himself in the process.
Buster is no stranger to hard climbing himself having climbed numerous hard routes including Hubble (F9a) and First Ley (F9a+). He first made headlines as a 16 year-old when he became the then youngest British climber to climb F8c when he repeated Bat Route at Malham.
Buster Martin’s ascent of Action Directe last week is the first confirmed repeat by a British climber. Alongside Alex Megos, Buster is the only other climber in the world to have repeated both Action Directe and Hubble. In an exclusive interview Climber talks to Buster as he reflects on his success on this iconic, world famous route.
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Great effort on getting AD finished off! You must be as pleased with that as almost any other route your every done?!
Yes it’s great to have climbed it, but the experience was the best part. The years of dreaming, the over-the-top training that I put all my experience into and the selfless support from others.
Now recognised as one of the World’s first F9a’s the classic Wolfgang Güllichtestpiece is steeped in history; was that the attraction?
Maybe not the grade, but for sure the history and Wolfgang's legacy. His ascent was a culmination of the progress he made in his own climbing and in pushing grades in the 80’s and 90’s. All the training and dedication, it’s very inspiring. On top of that the route is just stunning with very athletic and enjoyable climbing.
For the record, when did you first get involved with AD and how many sessions/days have you spent on it in total would you say?
I had 2 sessions in July before going traveling around Asia . I came back a couple of weeks ago, having another session where I got reacquainted with things then came back a few days later and just had the one go, getting to the last move but gave myself a proper flapper so I then had to wait for that to heel and the rock to dry. The flapper wasn't really healed and the route was a bit wet, but I had a film maker there and as much as there wasn’t pressure to send there was defo pressure to climb! I was a bit moody that day and fed up but once I took a moment to chill out and enjoy again, it all worked out and I climbed the route. It didn’t go down easy, the wet holds, the flapper meant I had to adjust my route on the day, getting up it was a proper battle which made things even more satisfying.
Famously, Güllichtrained for AD doing one-finger campus moves on the campus board. What was your training approach?
The more experienced I get the more simple and flexible my training becomes. No secrets or special routines. What's important is following the basic principles of training and science and doing this allows me that flexibility. I’m always trying to get stronger but for me improving as a climber is about more time on rock and getting experience.
I couldn't help but do a really specific training block for the route, almost out of pure psyche for the history and wanting to relive a bit of what Wolfgang experienced rather than out of a need to train.
My training wasn't anything complicated, the challenging part is adjusting and making the training fit around rock climbing and the rest of life.
I used the fingerboard to prepare my fingers in a slow, heavy and controlled way. Three finger drag and half crimp for shorter more intense hangs as well as some slightly less intense hangs on monos and pockets. After all this training I could add 20kg for a BeastMaker one-arm hangs on three finger drag and 48kg for two-arm hangs on the monos.
The fingerboarding was good but climbing on pockets on a board really tied things together and got me ready. More contact strength and pulling through on holds as well as learning to relax on scary monos. On the board I was doing some limit bouldering as well some longer boulder problems and intervals for the specific power endurance.
For reducing injury risk and body strength, weights were an important part of my training. Deadlifts for tension and the strength in my hips to throw them into the wall for the dyno. Bench press for keeping the shoulders strong for some of the wide and compressing moves.
For power: high velocity pull-ups at bodyweight for power in the arms, jump and catch exercises for contact strength. This trained the two separately but to put things together and get specific coordination and for history's sake I used the Campus board! Ladders on two fingers and some big moves, even building up to 1-6-10.
Within the last year you’ve had finger tendon problems; clearly that’s now all sorted. Would you say you’re as strong as ever now?
I rehabbed that in a couple of months, I’ve been on good form since the start of the year, but mostly focused on flashing 8C, which I have been close to but not managed yet.
Remarkably, AD was first climbed over 30 years ago; what’s your take on that?
It’s pretty cool, since I wasn’t even born then. The route is a very modern and powerful style which is more common these days with climbing walls and training knowledge but back then the route was far more unique. I think the route still has less than 30 ascents in those 30 years which shows how tricky it is.
Alongside Hubble, AD represented a step-up in the difficulty at the time it was first done. You – along with Alex Megos - are one of the few people to have climbed both routes, what are your thoughts on how they sit together both in term of difficulty, grade and iconic status?
Both routes are very special to myself, the wider climbing community and also the history of sport climbing. The conversation on grades sounds like the type of pub chat we should save to have over a pint in the Broady.
How does AD compare to more modern routes?
Although climbed over 30 years ago, Action is a very modern style of power endurance climbing, with dynos and an athletic style. It’s not too dissimilar to some of the short, powerful routes I’ve climbed in Catalunya.
What are your plans for the winter; Spain?
I plan on sticking around the Frankenjura until the weather gets bad. Then off to Ticino for some bouldering, hoping to check out some of the old school blocs. Then over to Croatia for a training block and to check out some of the climbing there.
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Buster documented his sessions on Action Directe on his Instagram page here. Alternatively, visit Buster’s website here for advice on training or to contact Buster for a programme.
Likewise, you can see more of Hannes Huch’s imagery on his Instagram page here.