Felipe Camargo battles his way up El bon combat 9b
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Red Bull
Brazil’s strongest sport climber, Felipe Camargo, has made the third ascent of El Bon Combat, the 9b at Cova de Ocell in Spain established by Chris Sharma in 2015 and first repeated by Austria’s Jakob Schubert at the end of 2018.
27-year-old Camargo first tried the route in 2018 for a fortnight, then trained specifically for it before returning this spring and sending it on just his 9th day on the route. He feels his success was influenced by his former climbing partner David Lama; the night before his redpoint Camargo dreamt about Lama who just last week perished in Canada along with Hansjörg Auer and Jess Roskelley, and during his ascent he remembered Lama’s class "On my second try the wind kinda of stopped, i made through the first crux, got to the kneebar rest and for the first time i didn’t feel any pressure...all i could think while resting was how fucking good David Lama climbed...i remembered some of the World cups that i watched him win, climbing so confident and so relaxed, the wind picked up again and i just went for it...didn’t hesitate, climbed fast and sent!! I clipped the anchors and just started crying immediately... that is a moment that i will never forget!"
While Sharma had originally graded the climb 9b/+, Schubert felt it may warrant 9a+. Should the route settle in at 9b, then this is his hardest route yet after the 9a+ Papichulo at Oliana and Gancho Perfecto 9a/+ at Margalef. Regardless of the difficulties, judging by all those who have laid their hands on it, El bon combat is most certainly another king line of the upper extreme.
