Sébastien Bouin (born 7 April 1993) is a French rock climber born in

Draguignan Draguignan (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" an ...

. By 2022, Bouin is regarded as one of the strongest sport climbers in the world, being only the second-ever climber to establish a route graded , with ' in 2022, and one of only a handful of climbers to create a new route at the grade of . Bouin is also regarded for his documentary series on the history of extreme sport climbing in France.

Climbing career

Sport climbing

Seb Bouin started sport climbing at 11 with his mother Claire. He did his first 8a at 13, first 8b at 14, first 8c at 15, and his first at 17. Unlike other leading climbers, Bouin avoided the indoor climbing competition circuit, focusing solely on finding "mega lines" on outdoor crags, which he described as his sole motivation. By 2012–13, at age 20, Bouin was starting to climb routes at 5.15 (9a/9a+) (e.g. ''Tierra Negra'' 9a/9a+, ''La Modone'' 9a+), and over the next few years would repeat the major test pieces, including: '' La Rambla'' (2017), ''Papichulo'' (2019), and '' Realization/Biographie'' (2020). During this period, Bouin came to international prominence with the third ascent of the controversial route ' (2015), considered at the time, but which Bouin downgraded. Bouin climbed his first confirmed in 2019 with the first repeat of

Adam Ondra Adam Ondra (; born February 5, 1993) is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. In 2013, ''Rock & Ice'' described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondr ...

's ''Mamichula'', and in that same year climbed his first 9b/9b+ with the first repeat of Ondra's ''Move'' (which Bouin felt was 9b+); Ondra called Bouin "one of my favorite climbing partners". Bouin would continue in 2019 to – as ''UK Climbing'' noted – "tick more 9th Dimension climbs than any other climber on earth", including the first ascent of Albania's hardest sport climb, ''The Dream'' (9b), and the first ascent of France's hardest sport climb, ''La Rage d'Adam'' (9b/9b+) at La Ramirole cave in the

Verdon Gorge The Verdon Gorge (French language, French: ''Gorges du Verdon'' ) is a river canyon located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is about 25 km (15.5 mi) long and up to 700 metres (0.4 ...

. 2022 would be another strong year for Bouin putting up three major new routes, starting off with ' in the

(France), which Bouin proposed at , only the world's second-ever route at that grade after Ondra's ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

''. Bouin followed with two other first ascents, the enormous 430-foot (130 m) single-pitch ''Nordic Marathon'' in

Flatanger Municipality Flatanger is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is Lauvsnes. Other villages incl ...

(''

Climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

'' called it "the biggest single pitch of hard climbing ever done"), and the first in North America, ''

Suprême Jumbo Love ''Jumbo Love'' is a very long sport climbing route, on remote limestone cliffs on Clark Mountain in the Mojave Desert. Bolted by American climber Randy Leavitt in the 1990s, he invited Chris Sharma to attempt it in 2007. When Sharma completed ...

'' (a ''direct start'' to

Chris Sharma Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...

's historic 9b route). Bouin also repeated some of the world's other hardest climbs including ' (9b+ in Norway, third ascent), and '' Jumbo Love'' (9b in the USA, fourth ascent).

Documentary series

Bouin is also regarded for his love of French extreme sport climbing history, and his ''The Vintage Rock Tour'' documentary series revisits some of the most important – and controversial – moments in French extreme sport climbing. French 1980s climbing legend features in the series, and said of Bouin: "Seb doesn't consume climbing, he is a part of its evolution. He respects history and is adding his signature as a climber." The series came to international prominence in episode 4, when Bouin repeated

Fred Rouhling Fred Rouhling (born 24 January 1970) is a French rock climber and boulderer, noted for creating and repeating some of the earliest grade sport climbing routes in the world, including ''Hugh'' in 1993, the first-ever French sport route. Rouhlin ...

's controversial 1990s routes of ''Hugh'', ' and ''L'autre côté du Ciel''. In a follow-up series, ''Hidden Gems'', Bouin travels to smaller French crags to meet with local climbers and put up new test-pieces.

Personal life

Bouin climbs regularly with his mother Claire Cerisier (who in 2019 was climbing at 8b), including going on sponsored expeditions to Turkey, and belaying him during his development of ''DNA''. In a 2020 interview with ''UK Climbing'', Bouin said that his mother was a major influence on his climbing development and his overall approach to life and facing adversity and challenge. In the same interview, Bouin said he completed his studies and become a fully qualified French state physical education teacher to have a fall-back saying: "There is less pressure knowing I have a career to fall back on in time which means I can enjoy my climbing 100%".

Notable ascents

Redpointed routes

: :* ' – La Ramirole,

( FRA) – 29 April 2022. First Ascent. Second 9c in history (after ''

''). Bouin worked the route for 150 days. : :* '' Bibliographie'' –

Céüse Céüse () is a limestone mountain in the Hautes-Alpes ''département in France, département'' of France near Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Gap and Sigoyer, Hautes-Alpes, Sigoyer. The "Pic de Céüse" is at an elevation of , and the whole massif is include ...

(FRA) – 6 June 2023. Fourth ascent of the fifth-ever climb in history (once considered a potential first 9c) to be graded at . :* ''

'' – Clark Mountain (US) – 1 November 2022. First Ascent and direct start to ''Jumbo Love''; first-ever route in North America, and the 6th 9b+ in history. :* ' – Flatanger ( NOR) – 5 August 2022. Third ascent of the world's first-ever 9b+ route that was first climbed by

in 2012; Bouin felt a

kneebar A leglock is a joint lock that is directed at joints of the leg such as the ankle, knee or hip joint. A leglock which is directed at joints in the foot is sometimes referred to as a foot lock and a lock at the hip as a hip lock. Leglocks are featu ...

enabled by the use of a knee pad made it (5.15b/c). (5.15b/c): :* ''Nordic Marathon'' – Flatanger ( NOR) – 21 July 2022. First Ascent of a very long single-pitch route; ''Climbing'' called it "the biggest single pitch of hard climbing ever done". :* ''Beyond Integral'' – North Face, Pic Saint-Loup ( FRA) – 22 October 2020. First Ascent. The route was bolted by Fedric Ferraro. :* ''La Rage d'Adam'' – La Ramirole,

( FRA) – 4 September 2019. First Ascent; hardest sport climb in France that was previously tried by

who felt the grade could be 9b+. :* ''Move'' – Flatanger ( NOR) – 6 June 2019. First repeat of

's 2013 route (Bouin belayed Ondra); Bouin felt ''Move'' was harder than ''Change'' and should be . : :* '' Jumbo Love'' – Clark Mountain (USA) – 19 October 2022. 4th ascent of the world's first-ever confirmed 9b route. First ascent was by

in 2008. :* ''Iron Curtain'' – Flatanger ( NOR) – 11 July 2022. First repeat of

's 2013 route (belayed by Bouin). :* ''The Dream'' – Brar crag,

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

(

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

) – 12 December 2019. First Ascent. Hardest climb in Albania in the crag that was described by

as "the best

Tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water in ambient temperature, unheated rivers or lakes. hot spring, Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less ...

climbing I have ever seen". :* ''Mamichula'' –

Oliana Oliana () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Urgell in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the Segre valley immediately below the Oliana reservoir. There is a factory of domestic electrical appliances in the town, and the presence ...

( ESP) – 31 July 2019. First repeat of

's 2017 route. (5.15a/b): :* ''Les yeux plus gros que l'antre'' (translation: ''Eyes bigger than the cave'') – Russan crag, Pont St Nicholas-Seynes ( FRA) – 11 May 2018. First ascent. The route was bolted over 20 years previously but had defeated all prior attempts and became an " open project"; Bouin called it the "French Chilam Balam". :* ' –

Villanueva del Rosario Villanueva del Rosario is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located off the motorway from Málaga to Granada and Seville. It is situated in the northeast of the pr ...

( ESP) – May 2015. Third ascent. A controversial route that in 2003 was proposed as the world's first-ever by Bernabé Fernández after his first ascent, only to be downgraded in 2011 by

to on the first repeat, and further downgraded by subsequent repeats. Selected : :* '' Realization/Biographie'' –

( FRA) – 13 June 2020. Bouin completed the 19th ascent of the famous test piece. :* ''Papichulo'' –

( ESP) – April 2019. Repeat ascent of

's 2008 test piece. :* ''Pachamama'' –

( ESP) – March 2019. 8th ascent of

's 2009 test piece. :* ''La Côte d’Usure'' – La Ramirole,

( FRA) – 1 October 2018. First Ascent. Bolted by Bouin when he was 16 years old, he regards it as one of his "Mega Lines". :* '' La Rambla'' – Siurana ( ESP) – 6 December 2017. Bouin completed the 20th ascent of the famous test piece. :* ''La Modone'' –

Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a massif in central Provence in Southern France, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum elevation of and an area of about . It is composed of three mounta ...

( FRA) – May 2012. First repeat of Gérôme Pouvreau's 2011 route; Bouin's first-ever route.

References

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * '' ...

'' (March 2022)
VIDEO: Séb Bouin – First ascent of "La Côte d’Usure" (9a+/5.15a)
''

Rock & Ice ''Rock & Ice'' is a magazine published by Outside focusing on rock and ice climbing. The first issue came out in March 1984. The first publisher was Neal Kaptain. George Bracksieck worked for him, beginning in January 1984, and the two became e ...

'' (1 October 2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouin, Sébastien 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Var (department) French rock climbers People from Draguignan