Lost in Translation 8a+/5.13c

Lost in Translation is a four-pitch sport route at Getu Valley, Guizhou, China, graded 8a+/5.13c overall across pitches of 7b+, 7c+, 8a+ and 8a+. Getu's limestone is riddled with arches and caves cut by the Getu River, and the route climbs sustained, technical terrain typical of the area, demanding that a team pace difficulty across four hard pitches rather than surviving one short crux.

History

Getu Valley was brought to climbers' attention by French alpinist Olivier Balma after a 2007 visit, and development accelerated when Petzl staged its RocTrip there in October 2011, drawing more than 600 climbers and adding over 250 new sport pitches to the area. Arnaud Petit bolted Lost in Translation as his first route at the event, and he and Steph Bodet completed it as their project during the gathering, a route framed at the time among the harder multi-pitch lines to come out of that RocTrip.

On film

Petzl RocTrip China 2011 - The official movie (2012) documents the five-day Petzl RocTrip held at Getu Valley from October 26 to 30, 2011. Steph Bodet and Arnaud Petit's ascent of Lost in Translation is one of the featured climbs, shown alongside other event highlights such as Dani Andrada's first ascent of Corazón de Ensueño. The film uses the ascent to show how strong sport climbers moved through the event's new limestone terrain, with movement efficiency and on-lead route reading as the focus rather than the route's development.