Corazón de Ensueno 8c/5.14b

Corazón de Ensueño is an 8-pitch, 240-meter sport route up the Great Arch in the Getu Valley, Guizhou, China, climbing steeply overhanging limestone from deep inside the cave. The eight pitches run 8a+, 8b, 7c+, 7a, 8b+, 8c, 7c+ and 8a+, giving an overall grade of 8c (5.14b) and a level of sustained difficulty across so much terrain that it has been called possibly the hardest continuous overhanging sport route in the world. The name translates to Heart of Dreams, and the line begins deep inside the arch, meaning the lower pitches climb through the cave itself rather than open rock.

History

Dani Andrada established the route during the Petzl RocTrip China event in October 2011, spending eleven days equipping it and three more days working the eight pitches before linking the whole thing without a fall. The route sat unrepeated for nearly five years until Alex Honnold and Felipe Camargo both climbed it clean in April 2016, a rare instance of Honnold, better known for free soloing, applying his climbing to a long, technical sport multi-pitch.

On film

Petzl RocTrip China 2011 - The official movie (2012) documents the event where Corazón de Ensueño was established, held from October 26 to 30, 2011, when more than 600 climbers gathered and organizers bolted over 250 new pitches on the area's limestone. The film features Dani Andrada alongside Steph Bodet, Arnaud Petit and Gabriele Moroni, using the route-building push in Getu, including Andrada's line on the Great Arch, to show how the event opened up Chinese limestone to elite sport climbing.