Simon Lorenzi (born 9 February 1997) is a Belgian professional

rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

specializing in

sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

and

competition climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock climbing, rock-climbing competition held indoor climbing, indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition ...

. Lorenzi is one of the very few climbers to have repeated a bouldering route, and the third climber to solve ''

Burden of Dreams ''Burden of Dreams'' is a 1982 documentary film directed and produced by Les Blank. Synopsis The film is a making-of documentary about the chaotic production of Werner Herzog's 1982 film '' Fitzcarraldo''. It was filmed on location in the jun ...

'', the first-ever graded boulder route. Lorenzi also made the

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of ''Soudain Seul'', a V16/V17 boulder.

Early life

Lorenzi was born in Belgium and started climbing at age 2 with his father Claude Lorenzi, who was one of Belgium's leading rock climbers of the 1990s, and who created Belgium's first graded

route, ''La traction universelle'', in 1994.

Climbing career

Competition climbing

Lorenzi began his

career in 2010 when he "unexpectedly" won a Belgium Youth Cup competition. By 2016, he had won the gold medal in the Junior category at the

IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships The IFSC Youth World Championships are the annual World Youth Championships for competition climbing organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). The first competition was held in Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Bas ...

for

competition lead climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock-climbing competition held indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition climbing disciplines are lead ...

Bouldering

In February 2021, Lorenzi made the first ascent of ''Soudain Seul'', a sit-start to Dave Graham's 2008 graded bouldering route in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

called ''The Island'', which was later extended by two small moves by Vincent Pochon in 2010 to become ''The Big Island'', also at the grade. ''Soudain Seul'' was considered one of the "last great problems" in Fontainebleau. Lorenzi proposed a grade of , and at the time, the only other boulder in the world with such a grade was Nalle Hukkataival's 2016 problem, ''

''. Subsequent repeats by Nico Pelorson in 2021 and Camille Coudert in 2022 softened the likely grade to V16/V17. In December 2022, he became the fourth climber to repeat Shawn Raboutou's 2022 problem '' Alphane'', which has since become accepted as having a grade of . After completing ''Alphane'', Lorenzi said that he felt ''Soudain Seul'' was at least as hard as ''Alphane''. In December 2023, he became only the third climber to repeat ''

'', the world's first-ever graded bouldering route.

Notable ascents

Bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

: * ''Return of the Sleepwalker'' – Red Rocks,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

– March 2025. Fourth ascent. * ''

'' – Lappnor,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

– 27 December 2023. Third ascent. * '' Alphane'' –

Chironico Chironico is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality located in the district of Leventina (district), Leventina in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 1 April 2012, it was incorporated into the municipali ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

– 15 December 2022. Fourth ascent. : * ''Soudain Seul'' –

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

– February 2021. First ascent. : * ''Big Conviction'' –

– February 2022. First ascent. * ''Off the Wagon Low'' – Val Bavona,

– February 2022. * ''La Révolutionnaire'' –

– February 2022. : * ''Foundation's Edge'' –

Fionnay Fionnay is a village in the Swiss Alps, located in the canton of Valais. The village is situated in the western part of the canton, in the Val de Bagnes, valley of Bagnes, south-east of Martigny. It is part of the municipality of Val de Bagnes. F ...

– September 2022. * ''Satan I Helvete Low'' –

– 2022. * ''Power of Now direct'' – Magic Wood,

– 2021. First ascent. * ''The Big Island'' –

– 2020. * ''

Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...

'' –

Cresciano Cresciano is a former municipality in the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017, the former municipalities of Iragna, Lodrino, and Osogna merged into the new municipality of Riviera. History Cresciano is ...

– January 2019. Lorenzi's first V15 boulder.

Sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

: * ''Coup d'État'' – La Tranchée,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

– 28 June 2020. First ascent. * '' Action Directe'' – Waldkopf,

Frankenjura Franconian Switzerland (, ) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main in the north, its relie ...

( GER) – 2017.

Rankings

IFSC Climbing World Cup

Climbing World Championships

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

References

External links

Soundain Seul V16/V17
''HardClimbs'' (2024) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenzi, Simon Belgian rock climbers Boulder climbers Belgian competition climbers Sportspeople from Liège Province 1997 births Living people