Biographie 9a+

Biographie, also called Realization, is a 35 meter sport route on the steep limestone of Céüse in the Hautes-Alpes region of France. The line follows a series of pockets and edges up sustained, overhanging rock, ending in a hard, committing boulder problem after already tired forearms. Graded 9a+ (5.15a), it was the first route in the world to receive a consensus grade at that level, a marker climbers still use to gauge 5.15 ability today.

History

French climber Jean-Christophe Lafaille bolted the line in 1989 and named it Biographie, but could not free it. In 1996 Arnaud Petit freed the lower half, grading that section 8c+ (5.14c), and fixed an anchor at his high point without solving the harder finish above. Chris Sharma skipped a Bouldering World Cup to focus on the project and made the first ascent on July 18, 2001, linking Petit's section into Lafaille's final bolt after several days of effort. He called his version Realization, a naming choice that stirred some friction with French climbers, who traditionally credit the bolter. Sylvain Millet made the second ascent in 2004, Adam Ondra repeated it in 2014, and Margo Hayes became the first woman to climb it in 2017.

On film

Rotpunkt: Bibliographie (2021) follows Alex Megos at Céüse as he works Bibliographie, the harder line right of Biographie, and opens by setting the two routes side by side on the same wall. Margo Hayes Makes History (2019) covers Hayes's 2017 ascent of Biographie, seven months after she became the first woman to climb 5.15a on La Rambla in Siurana, confirming that first result was no fluke.