New Tsaranoro multipitch in Madagascar by Thibau Grandjean, Jan Novak

Big walls in Madagascar's Tsaranoro valley are among the most beautiful and most impressive on earth. However, the first experience many climbers get on these little crimps and slopey slabs is horrific due to the spicy or at times even dangerous bolting.

In the past climbers usually only had a limited amount of gear to establish new routes, consequently they placed as few bolts as possible in order to have enough to top out. This is particularly true on many of the easy pitches. Of course ,there is also the category of climbers who want to demonstrate that they have bigger balls then others, and consequently they create big runouts on purpose. Unfortunately though not many people repeat these routes and the lines quickly get overgrown.

The first "European standard" hospital is on Reunion Island, which in the case of an accident involves about 24 hours of travel, including a pivate aircraft from Fianarantsoa, if you are lucky enough to be able to pay for the rescue. If not it's about 48 hours to get there. Even a simple accident could prove fatal or have seriously unpleasant concequences. I remember the stories of British climber Alan Carne, who told me about his bad fall back in 2018, after which he struggled for many months because of the long rescue operation and subsequent infection.

Bearing all this in mind, when Thibau and I travelled to Tsaranoro our main goal was to establish an inspiring line which could prove a good challenge for 6c/7a climbers, or become a good warm-up route for stronger climbers. We wanted the bolts to be placed at a safe distance, so that climbers don't get scared repeating it and, on the contrary, get a pleasant first introduction to climbing on this incredible granite.

Thibau had already bolted a few easy pitches ground-up, but I hadn't. And so, with almost zero experience but with a strong desire and endless motivation, we invested 100% of our energy into learning as fast as possible to create the best we could during our one-week stay. 

Circoncision is located on the Lemur Wall, checks in at 7a+ max (6c obligatory), is about 150m high and is bolted with FIXE M10x90mm stainless steel bolts. Thibau returned in September to make the first free ascent, and we are very happy with the result. 

by Jan Novak

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