Archon, 8b trad in Germany's Frankenjura

The last time we mentioned the Frankenjura, we talked about Chasin the Trane greenpoint, i.e. the ascent of an established sports route without the bolts but with trad gear only. This time our attention was grabbed by Archon, where the game is similar but with an important difference: this trad route is completely new, no bolts can be skipped and the confirmed difficulty is a whopping 8b.

Archon is located at the Circus Maximus crag and was freed on 6 November by Patrick Matros who obviously placed all the camming devices and nuts during the ascent, with no gear pre-placed. Repeated quickly and confirmed by Alexander Megos, the route is a direct variation to another trad route, Vernissage 8a+ freed in 2003 by Philipp Warda.