Britain’s Rich Simpson, 22, has repeated Action Directe (5.14d) in Germany’s Frankenjura region. It is only the sixth ascent of the route since the late Wolfgang Gullich climbed it in 1991. Simpson sponsor Ben Moon wrote on his website: “Rich obviously has a strong sense of climbing tradition and has been working his way through all the classic sport routes of the ’80s and ’90s, ticking along the way routes such as La Rose et la Vampire (8b), Le Minimum (8b+), Agincourt (8c), Wall Street (8c), Liquid Amber (8c), Hubble (8c+) and now Action Directe.”
Action Directe is a power problem with tiny holds, including a crux dyno off a mono, on very overhanging limestone. The landmark route also has been repeated by Alexander Adler (Germany), Iker Pou (Spain), Dave Graham (U.S.) and Christian Bindhammer (Germany).
