Rich Simpson makes 6th ascent of Action Directe

News just in report Richard Simpson from England having successfully made the sixth ascent of Wolfgang Güllich's Action Direct, Frankenjura, Germany

PlanetMountain.com

October 2005

Traduci in

News just in reports of Richard Simpson from England having successfully made the sixth ascent of Wolfgang Güllich's Action Directe, Frankenjura, Germany.

Simpson had travelled to the Frankenjura this summer, redpointing testpieces such as Infinity 8c+ and Güllich's Wallstreet 8c, but decided to wait for cooler autumn conditions prior to attempting Action Direct. The twentyone year old is obviously on great form this year, having made the fifth ascent of another 1990's classic, Ben Moon's Hubble 8c+ at Ravens Tor, England in May.

As we reported in 2001, Action Direct was the first route to touch upon the mythical 9a grade, even if its first ascentionist Wolfang Güllich, who climbed the line back in September 1991, was careful not to compromise himself on the grade.

But Action Direct has withstood the test of time, so much so that it has only been repeated by the German Alexander Adler (1995), the Spaniard Iker Pou (2000), the American Dave Graham (2001) and the German Christian Bindhammer (2003). The route is recognised as a milestone in sports climbing, and its few repeats spread over the 14 years since its first ascent demonstrate just this.

UPDATE 12/2010
Rich Simpson's ascent of Hubble has been contested by diverse sources, including ukclimbing.