News link: Fifteen-year-old French crusher Enzo Oddo has repeated Chris Sharma's Realization (5.15a) in Céüse (this was his seventh route of 5.14d or harder). This was the first ascent of the line since a hold broke on the opening boulder problem in July, upgrading from V9 to V11. The route has a somewhat controversial history, as the bottom section of the line was bolted and climbed in 1989 by Frenchman Jean-Christophe Lafaille, who named it Biographie. In 2001, Sharma climbed an extension to the line, dubbing it Realization, although many French climbers still refer to the entire route as Biographie.
Since the small, left-hand undercling broke, Oddo used a tiny pinch below the broken hold to power through the sequence.
Young Czech climber Adam Ondra has also been dispatching more than a few hard routes recently. In August, Ondra climbed more than 20 difficult routes in France, including two 5.14d's, four 5.14c's, and four 5.14b's (among which are several FAs). He reported that some of the routes were "poorly/mainly chipped," and suggested that one route (Short Cut, 5.14d) could possibly be downgraded to 5.14c.
