Seb Bouin Repeats Novena Enmienda (5.14d/5.15a) in Spain
Despite a finger injury, French climber Seb Bouin repeats Dani Andrada’s famous Santa Linya cave route, La Novena Enmienda (9a/+ 5.14d/5.15a), in Catalunya, Spain.
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French climber Seb Bouin has repeated the Santa Linya testpiece La Novena Enmienda (9a/+ 5.14d/5.15a) in Catalunya,
Spain. He decided to attempt the 50-meter roof climb after a recent finger injury.
![Seb Bouin styles <em>La Novena Enmienda</em> (9a/+ 5.14d/5.15a) in the Santa Linya cave, Catalunya, Spain. Photo: Raphaêl Fourau.” title=”Seb Bouin styles <em>La Novena Enmienda</em> (9a/+ 5.14d/5.15a) in the Santa Linya cave, Catalunya, Spain. Photo: Raphaêl Fourau.”>“I<br />
was scared about this injury,” he says, “that’s why I am happy that I did this route. It’s good for my mind, and good for the next [climb].</p>
<p>Dani Andrada established the endurance linkup in 2005, and the route was considered to be the hardest climb in the cave at the time—now Chris Sharma’s<br />
<a href=](https://d1vs4ggwgd7mlq.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/Article-Images/News-Photos/2017/Jan-2017/Seb-Bouin-La-noveda-enmienda-web.jpg?width=730)
Stoking the Fire (9b/5.15b) and
Neanderthal (9b/5.15b) top the list of the
area’s hardest climbs.
La Novena Enmienda, which translates to “the Ninth Amendment,” has since been repeated by some of the world’s best climbers, such as Sharma, Patxi
Usobiaga, Edu Marin, Adam Ondra, Magnus Midtböe, Ramon Julian and Andreas Binhammer.
Before his ascent last week, Bouin had been training for La Rambla (9a+/5.15a) in Paris, where he works as a sports teacher. But one week before
heading to Siurana, he suffered a pulley injury to a finger.
“So to climb La Rambla wasn’t possible,” Bouin says, since the crux involves crimps. “I had to find a project without crimps, but where? Santa
Linya was the solution. Even if [my finger] was hurting I was able to try La Novena Enmienda.”
Bouin was able to do all the moves of the route on his first go, he says, but the crux for him was to not further aggravate his finger injury.
“I had to be careful with my finger and my shape,” he says. “I couldn’t try the route [when] tired. And some days, when my finger was hurting, I couldn’t
climb and I needed to wait, sometimes for many days.
“Even if it’s not my maximal level, I enjoy doing something where I put [in] energy and risk.”
Watch Magnus Midtböe on La Novena Enmienda:
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