Enzo Oddo does Just do it! at Smith Rock

French climbers have had a long love relationship with Smith Rock, one of America's finest sport climbing crags, ever since 1986 when the superstars Jean Marc Troussier and Jean Baptiste Tribout paid their first visit to the park in Oregon. After 10 days of effort Tribout freed "To Bolt or Not to Be", the first 5.14 (8b+) in the United States and the route sent shockwaves down the US climbing scene encouraging them to adopt new, European redpoint tactics.

Six years later "Jibé" returned and upped the ante by freeing "Just Do It" 5.14c, a line originally cleaned and bolted by local Alan Watts on the Monkey Face, while in the years that followed what was formerly America's hardest sport climb received only a handful of ascents while, on the whole, the crag remained somewhat under par.

French attention rekindled in November 2009 when Pierre Bollinger established "Shoot'm Up" 8c, and Enzo Oddo has now made headline news with his fast two-day ascent of the massive stamina testpiece. The 15-year-old youngster is currently on a day 3 of his trip to the States and with his recent Realization form, we're sure we'll be hearing more from him yet.

For those, like Oddo, who weren't around at the time, check out this brief video featuring Alan Watts, J.B. Tribout, Todd Skinner, Beth Wald and many others of when "tights were scary and sport climbing was being discovered."