Anak Verhoeven climbs 8b trad roof crack at Vadiello in Spain

Anak Verhoeven is currently one of the best female rock climbers in the world. Her recent day & night ascents of the 9a Cosi se Arete at Rodellar in Spain, backed up a few days later with a repeat of the nearby 9a/+ De Battre Mon Coeur s'est Arrete, demonstrate that she's well and truly on top of the sport climbing game.

Now the 27-year-old has dabbled in some hard trad, making a fast repeat of La Fuerza de la Gravedad at Vadiello. The route in question is a horizontal roof crack, originally breached with A2 aid then freed in 2017 by Carlos Logroño, aka Citro, and graded 8b+. After a series of repeats the difficulty has settled in at 8b and late last year Pete Whittaker made a remarkable flash ascent of this huge roof.

Verhoeven spent four days working out the beta and gear placements before sending the route on her first redpoint attempt. She placed all gear on lead and a few hours later she climbed the route again, this time without knee pads, "because I thought that was possible, too."

It goes without saying that with her sport climbing fitness and the right frame of mind, this trad aspect could open up exciting new scenarios in the future for the Belgian.

Links: anakverhoeven.be, Petzl, La Sportiva

 

 

 

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