Bereziartu and Otegui free Divina Comedia

Josune Bereziartu and Rikar Otegui have made the first free ascent of the 1981 aid route Divina Comedia 7c in the Ordesa National Park, Spain.

PlanetMountain

July 2006

Traduci in

After serving her apprenticeship repeating some of the hardest bolt routes around, Josune Bereziartu has now travelled to the startlingly wild Ordesa National Park together with Rikar Otegui to check out some of the classic trad routes routes in the Spanish Pyrenees.

The highlight of their trip? The first free ascent of the "muy espectacular" Divina Comedia, a 1981 eleven pitch aid route set up by the Catalonian climbers Juan Tomas, Juan Carlos Serrano and Enrique Promio originally graded A2+.

Bereziartu and Otegui made short work of the route, on-sighting the 300m line in a single push using the in-situ pegs and natural gear for protection and grading the line F7c.

Bereziartu and Otegui, better known for their hard sport route ascents, are no newcomers to searching for new stimuli in the mountains. In 2002 Bereziartu made the first free ascent of another old aid route, "El Pilar del Cantabrico" together with Iker Pou on the magnificent El Naranjo de Bulnes in the Picos De Europa range, while in 2004 Bereziartu and Otegui made the first free ascent of "Yeah man" on the north face of the Gran Pfad, in the Swiss Gastlosen mountain range.

Divina Comedia
Ordesa National Park, Spain
F.A. Juan Tomas, Juan Carlos Serrano & Enrique Promio 08/06/1981
F.F.A.: Josune Bereziartu, Rikar Otegui 07/2006
Length: 275m
Grade: 7c
Pitches: P1: V P2:6a+, P3: V+, P4: 7A, P5: 7B, P6: 6B+, P7: 7A, P8: 7A+, P9: 7C, P10:7a+, P11: III

photo: Josune Bereziartu during the first free ascent of Divina Comedia 7c.