Bibliographie is a circa sport climbing route on a limestone cliff on the southern face of Céüse mountain, near Gap and Sigoyer, in France. The route was bolted in 2009 by Ethan Pringle, and was first ascended by Alexander Megos on 5 August 2020. Megos initially graded the route as , the highest difficulty at that time. The route was repeated on 24 August 2021 by Stefano Ghisolfi, who graded the route as , which has become the consensus grade for Bibliographie, making it only the fifth-ever climb in history at a grade of 9b+.
History
Bibliographie was bolted by the American climber Ethan Pringle in 2009, and it lies just a few metres to the right of Chris Sharma's famous 2001 Realization/Biography route. Megos first started working on the route in June 2017, and was still unsuccessful after a four-week visit in September of that year. In June 2018, after 16 days of work, he freed the route Perfecto Mundo, in Margalef, and decided to go straight to Céüse, but again without success. In 2019, he concentrated primarily on climbing competitions and only spent around three days in Céüse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all climbing competitions were canceled, so Megos refocused on Bibliographie again.
On the last day of a trip to the crag, and after having fallen lower down on the route, Megos made the first free ascent of Bibliographie on 5 August 2020.
Grade
Megos spent 60 days working on Bibliographie, which led him to suggest a grade of (i.e. it had taken him much longer than the 16 days needed for Perfecto Mundo, which was by then a consensus 9b+ route), making Bibliographie the second-ever route at the grade, after Adam Ondra's Silence. At the time, Megos told Rock & Ice that grading such a route was particularly hard given he started with no beta, and had no other opinions to rely on; he added: "I am very curious about what the future of the route will look like, and grateful for other people’s opinions".
Other climbers unsuccessfully attempted Bibliographie including Jakob Schubert, Stefano Ghisolfi and Dave Graham. On 24 August 2021, Stefano Ghisolfi made the first repeat of Bibliographie but graded the route as ; Ghisolfi had previously repeated Megos' Perfecto Mundo, which was a consensus 9b+, and also Adam Ondra's , which was also considered a 9b+. Megos consulted and publicly agreed with Ghisolfi, making the accepted grade for Bibliographie; the fifth-ever climbing route to have such a grade.
Ascents
Bibliographie has been ascended by: 1st Alexander Megos, 5 August 2020. 2nd Stefano Ghisolfi, August 2021. 3rd Sean Bailey, September 2021. 4th Sébastien Bouin, June 2023.
See also
History of rock climbing
List of first ascents (sport climbing) Silence, first climb in the world with a potential grade of La Dura Dura, second climb in the world to be graded Realization/Biographie, first climb in the world with a consensus grade of Action Directe, first climb in the world with a consensus grade of Hubble, first climb in the world with a consensus grade of
References
External links
Bibliographie, Hard Climbs (2023) VIDEO: Watch Alex Megos Red Point Film Rotpunkt, a 2020 film that includes Megos' on Bibliographie, Gripped Magazine (February 2020) VIDEO:See the actual Holds on Bibliographie 5.15d in France, Gripped Magazine (August 2021) VIDEO:Watch Historical Repeat of “5.15d” That Ended With Downgrade to 5.15c, Gripped Magazine (December 2021)