Judging from the latest videos from Seb Bouin’s time in Portugal — which see him and friends laughing amidst the massive waves crashing into the country’s famous cliffs — he enjoyed the trip.
Of course, it wasn’t just fun and games.
The French climbing phenom brought his A-game to this gorgeous Portuguese crag known as Cabo Espichel, located 45 minutes south of Lisbon. Several of the country’s hardest routes are found here. Bouin quickly ticked them off before establishing some new routes of his own, he wrote on Instagram.
One of those first ascents could now be the country’s toughest line.
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But first, Bouin plowed through several uber-hard routes. He onsighted Tensao Nuclear, an 8b, and took down Nessum Dorma, an 8c, on his second try.
No word on how many tries it took Bouin to send the 9a route Filipinos, which had stayed unrepeated since the first ascent by André Neres. After becoming the first climber to second that line, Bouin searched for another challenge.
“I am trying to find something harder,” he wrote after the send.
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That search led him to the line that would become Mar de Bering, which Bouin gave a tentative grade of 9a+, a tad stiffer even than Filipinos.
“It’s a cool route,” Bouin said. “The rock is really good, and the holds quite amazing.”
Though climbing near the ocean presents unique dangers, Bouin called the experience one of his favorite climbing trips.
“It’s amazing to climb near the ocean. It adds a special atmosphere,” he wrote. “The colors are unique when the sun hits the water [at the] end of the day. You can see some dolphins…I am discovering a new element here.”
