Supercrackinette 9a+ (5.15a)

Supercrackinette climbs a steep, fingery wall in the Praniania sector at Saint-Léger-du-Ventoux, a limestone gorge crag in southern France. It is graded 9a+ (5.15a) and has no single crux: instead it strings together roughly 25 to 30 moves of sustained, precise climbing through a big overhang, with the hardest section coming where a direct start links into the original Crackinette line before the climbing finishes up an awkward 8b+ crack. That combination of length and unrelenting difficulty is what puts it at the very top of the grade.

History

The line was equipped by Quentin Chastagnier and Laurent Triay. Alex Megos made the first ascent in October 2016, climbing it in three days of effort that came right after he had sent two 8c+ routes at the same crag. The route stayed a serious objective for the next few years, but it became widely known on February 10, 2018, when Adam Ondra flashed it, meaning he climbed it clean, bottom to top, on his first try with no prior attempts on the rock. A flash at 9a+ had no real precedent and the ascent was treated as a landmark in sport climbing. Julia Chanourdie later became the first French woman to send Supercrackinette, and Laura Rogora has also climbed it.

On film

World's Hardest Flash - Adam Ondra Climbs 5.15 (9a+) First Try (2018) documents that February 2018 ascent. The film follows Ondra through his read of the route and the flash attempt itself, and frames why a first-try clean ascent at this level was considered such an unusual feat: at 9a+, most climbers need dozens of tries and months of work, so doing it without a single prior lap on the wall stood out even among Ondra's other results.