Enzo Oddo, Gorges du Loup 9a linkup

Last time we reported about Enzo Oddo it was because the 14 year old French youngster had repeated a staggering four 9a's in a mere two months. This time he's caught our attention because a couple of weeks ago he managed to climb the a combination boulder + route which weighs in at 9a.

The route in question is the intense, 15 move 7pm JP Chaud, an 8c in its own right, while the boulder start called Inga is a traverse established by Dai Koyamada from Japan in 2002 at Fb8A+. Just lik the Japanese climber Oddo tied in to his harness, climbed the boulder problem through the cave and then continued up 7pm belayed by his father. 

Although this type of sit-down start may appear unusual at first glance, it is according to locals "a logical climbing challenge". If you stop and think about it, it's even fairly sensible: there are many examples of this sort and the great thing about climbing is that it's free, to be interpreted and reinvented thousands of times and in a thousand different ways. And seeing that the boulder also leads to the start of PuntX 9a, perhaps there's more in store when he returns from climbing at Margalef...


Video of PunX, which starts where the boulder problem Inga finishes

Anatole bosio punt-x from henneteau mathieu on Vimeo.