Take a break Alex. Realization in 3 tries.
Seemingly without even taking a rest day from his recent endeavors in Switzerland, 20 year old DMM climber Alex Megos on his first trip to Ceuse has sent Realization/Biography 5.15a (9a+) in three tries. That's three... 3... 1,2,3. A climb that was put up by Chris Sharma and has only been repeated 8 times, usually with siege tactics over many weeks. This is now getting a little ridiculous and he only seems to be staying off the 9b+'s as a mark of respect for Sharma and Adam Ondra.
photo by: pentranje.com
Rock and Ice Magazine's Chris Parker got in touch with him to ask him about his attention grabbing ascent. Q&A Rock and Ice contacted Megos to hear more about his ascent of Biographie and his other projects at Céüse. R&I: Is this your first time to Céüse? Yes, this is my first time to Céüse, but definitely not the last time. R&I: How did you manage to send Biographie in three tries? I would say this route totally suited my style! It's endurancy and has the crux of the route at about 80 feet. The crux, as well as most of the rest of the route is on pockets with a strange form. And that’s exactly what we also have in Frankenjura, Germany, on almost every route. So I felt quite comfortable on the holds. R&I: Did you expect to send it so quickly? Actually, before trying it I didn’t expect it, no. But after working the route I realized that it's definitely possible in one day. R&I: Did you flash the 5.14c intro before the 5.15a extension? I didn’t give it a flash or onsight attempt. I directly started working the moves and then started to do redpoint attempts. But when I actually started the redpoint attempts (after working the route once) I never fell on the 5.14c part. R&I: On the send, did you have a feeling it was going down? I already had the feeling that it was going down on my first redpoint attempt. But after falling two times on the crux, I changed my foot sequence (thanks to Felix for convincing me to try new beta) and then did it next (third) attempt. R&I: What other routes are are you psyched to try at Céüse? Sharma's Three Degrees of Separation (5.14d)? I tried Three Degrees of Separation, but I just can’t do the jump. After Biographie, I had a look at another project which would have been super hard (around 5.15a I would guess), but on my attempt where I actually was about to send, I broke off a hold … And now it's super, super hard. I wouldn’t say impossible, but definitely too hard for the remaining time … R&I: What goals do you have for the future? Same goal as always: Get stronger! And climb some hard stuff! Sources: Rock and Ice, DMM