Marco Sappa repeats Necronomicon in Canyonlands, USA

The first time I saw pictures of this line, I completely fell in love with it. I like cracks, especially roof cracks. And Jean-Pierre Ouellet's Necronomicon is something of the queen of cracks!

I was in Moab last spring and, after climbing Excommunication and Ivory Tower, the most beautiful and difficult routes at the Castle Valley Towers, I devoted myself to Crack House. A crack boulder under a 30-meter-long roof graded 5.13, 7c+ in Europe. I managed to climb it, at the very limit, on my last day in the USA. Definitely harder than Greenspit! Since I had enjoyed it so much, I immediately wondered if there was anything similar but even harder.

And so I discovered Necronomicon 5.14/8b+, an impressive line which runs along a roof for 30 meters and located along White Rim Road, an off-road trail within Canyonlands National Park in Utah. There is no information or guides, and the area is huge, making it impossible to find if you don't know where it is. There is very little information online. Only five ascents in 15 years. I began to dream.

But dreams always have to face reality: it's not easy to get there, and it's not easy to leave your family for a long time, especially if you've got young children. Furthermore, as with any great project, there's always a good chance of failure. Honestly, after the initial enthusiasm, I had put the idea aside for a while.

During the year, however, I occasionally thought about the line, as I browsed the few photos and videos available online.

Then, in summer, Thomas Larivierè and I started thinking that we could really go back to Utah this autumn, so I decided to give it some serious thought. I started asking my contacts for information, and finally Pete Whittaker gave me the GPS coordinates.

Okay, now the next step would be to figure out how to train specifically for this. The problem is that we don't have similar routes here in Europe; there's nothing that can prepare you for this kind of physical effort. Over the years though, I've learned that if you don't arrive in Utah physically ready, it takes a long time to adapt, to get your muscles used to that sort of intensity and, above all, to be able to maintain that intensity for a long time because the routes are really long.

The only way to do this is on a crack trainer. At home, I built a 4-meter crack and, as soon as the summer season ended, I added specific sessions for a month. The great thing about the crack is that if you're motivated, you can train even when you can't hold the crimps anymore. Throughout September I sent some nice projects I had in mind, and in the meantime, I continued to train for Necronomicon.

We set off on 13 October, and on the 16th I had my first day on the project. The first part of the jam is a fist crack, long but relatively easy. Then it transforms, more than 6 meters of “green.” The first lap was a bit of a trauma: it seemed really impossible just to stay attached to the rock, let alone do any moves. It's really narrow, and besides your hands, the problem is that your feet don't fit.

The other big complexity of Necronomicon is how to work it, because going back and forth under a ceiling is no mean taks, and then if you fall, you have to pull your way back up the rope, which is exhausting! All this while carrying a whole lot of cams!

Initially, I focused on the difficult section, and slowly I began to gain some confidence with those elusive jams. I did all the individual moves, got used to jamming my feet better, but climbed with that feeling of constant precariousness.

On the third session, I managed to do the whole hard sequence with pre-placed cams, and I realised that I would probably have to do it without placing cams. I made a few attempts from the start. The key would be to climb the first section quickly and efficiently in order to be as fresh as possibile for the crux.

At the end of the green sequence, with a beautiful and very strange move, you invert and go feet first, jam your knees in and take a breather. After that, the route is easier, but it's still long and you have to fight to the end.

On the fourth and fifth sessions, I fell three or four times at the end of the hard part, swinging wildly and grazing the bushes below.

Honestly, I felt the pressure more that I'd ever felt before, and I also felt a little guilty towards my family. After investing so much, the more you realise that you are about to succeed, the more difficult and stressful it becomes. You have to keep all these emotions under control so that they don't take over. It wasn't easy. On the sixth day, on my second attempt, I did it. An indescribable feeling. What a relief!

Necronomicon is definitely the hardest crack I've ever climbed, physically and mentally. I'm very proud to have made another step forward as a crack climber. Wow, I sent Necronomicon!

- Marco Sappa, Courmayeur

Sappa thanks: Grivel, La Sportiva, Lazy Ghost and Julbo Eyewear