Seb Berthe and Hugo Parmentier 24h Verdon climbing challenge

After "Bleau Dans La Peau" and our 100 x 7A challenge last year, we both dreamed of taking on a new ultimate endurance project together — a challenge we specifically designed to push ourselves to the absolute limit. A test that would give us an idea of what is humanly possible.

We named this project "VAUTOUR": Verdon - Abrasive - Ultimate - TOUR. Our goal was to climb 5 major routes (5 of the hardest in Verdon) in less than 24 hours, totaling 1500 meters of climbing, more than 50 pitches including 9 in the 8th grade, 25 pitches in the 7th grade, and many tricky 6c/+ pitches. "The 7b+ at L'Escales? I've done easier 8a's." Esteban Daligaut is quoted as saying. In short, a seemingly impossible challenge.

The 5 planned routes were the famous and formidable classics, each between 250 and 350 meters high with pitches up to 8b:
El Topo (300m, 8a),
Le Pornographe (350m, 8a),
Jolie Fleur (250m, 8b),
Dame Cookie (200m, 8a+),
Mingus (350m, 8a).

The first challenge was to decide the order in which to attempt the routes. We had to plan to climb mainly in the shade, decide which routes to attempt at night, consider the type of effort each route demanded, and think about our physical state on the harder pitches. It was a complete mystery as we had never done, or even imagined, such a gigantic challenge. We could only guess how our skin would hold up, how our forearms would feel on the overhangs, or how long it would take us to send the key pitches after hundreds meters of climbing, etc.

The van parked at L'Escales was our home and our base camp. We had everything ready: meals, water bottles, shoes and outfits for each route. The week of specific preparation was short: trying out the routes, memorizing the moves, figuring out the strategy, and resting as much as possible! On the 8th day after our arrival, we launched the attempt, starting at night... 24 hours on the clock!

It was a memorable, intense, and epic run: in 19 hours, we completed the first 4, but couldn't finish the last one due to extreme exhaustion. It was undoubtedly one of the greatest endurance projects we've ever completed, and probably the biggest ever attempted in Verdon.

Hugo and Seb