Chris Sharma climbs huge Pont d’Arc Deep Water Solo

American rock climber Chris Sharma has made the first ascent of a circa 30m high deep water solo climb on Pont d’Arc, Ardèche, France.

Last Thursday Chris Sharma made the first ascent of what he has described as “one of the best routes of my life”, namely a huge deep water solo climb through the underbelly of the spectacular Pont d’Arc arch in the Ardèche, France.

Free soloing has never been my cup of tea. But put some deep water below and now you’re talking! Last week I climbed one of the best routes of my life. After so many years, it’s amazing to keep finding routes that inspire me in new ways. The Pont d’Arc is an absolute dream line. It’s hard to believe something like this even exists! After 4 days trying from the ground up and taking some big falls I was finally able to link to through the arch. It tops out at around 30 meters on the far side of the arch (that you can’t see in the photo). A perfect line, on perfect rock in a perfect location. It’s hard to get more perfect haha. Id say its around 8b+ (5.14). Although it felt plenty hard, it may not be the most difficult climb I’ve ever climbed. It’s interesting how a grade is only a small part of what defines the whole challenge or the value of our climbing experience. Stay tuned for some rad video clips coming soon! Hopefully I’ll be able to come up with a good name soon too. Anyone have any good ones? ? @giancolafoto @sharmaclimbingbcn @prana @evolvusa @petzl_official @climbskinspain @clifbar @sterlingrope @buffofficial @redbull @vertical.life.climbing

A post shared by Chris Sharma (@chris_sharma) on Jun 19, 2017 at 10:06am PDT

Source: planetmountain.com