SEB BOUIN: AKIRA

Photographer: N Julien Nadiras Athlete: N BD Athlete Seb Bouin

SEB BOUIN: AKIRA

Watch BD Athlete Seb Bouin go for the second ascent of the mythical 9b Akira.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2021

For 25 years, Fred Rouhling’s masterpiece sat nearly untouched. Dust and cobwebs covered the holds. The chalk, once a beacon of light in a dark cave, both figuratively and literally, was fading. But in 1995, while Rouhling cared for his wife Celine who was recovering from a serious spinal cord injury, this cave was a refuge for a worried man. Located just 200 meters from his parent’s home, this limestone cave gave Rouhling a few hours of escape every day during his wife’s recovery. A place where he could relax his mind and let his body flow through 65 feet of overhanging crimps and pockets. When he completed the route, he called it Akira and proposed the unprecedented grade of 5.15b. Considering that was two letter grades harder than anything in the world at the time, many considered Rouhling an eccentric who was out of touch. But after all these years, this route, which was once a mental sanctuary for a distraught husband, was left waiting for someone who could also find meaning in the movement. Fortunately, BD Athlete Seb Bouin was intrigued, and journeyed to the village of Vilhonneur to uncover the mythical Akira.

Video & Photos by Julien Nadiras

Akira was one of the main points of my Vintage Rock Tour. If we speak about historical climbing routes, Akira is for sure one of them.

More than the first 5.15b world proposition, it was a mythological route. For 25 years, this route remained unrepeated. The world controversy was huge at the time because Fred Rouhling skipped one step on the world grades: he proposed 5.15b, and 5.15a wasn't existing yet ...

No one could say anything about the climb because no one repeated it.

So, 25 years later, here is the story of the first repetitions.

I came on a rainy day to the Akira cave. It was an expedition just to find it. There was no trail because no one had been going there for several years. We opened a path in the mud, cutting the brambles. We finally reached the cave and it was entirely wet.

When I saw the place, I felt like Indiana Jones in the old times. I had the feeling I would find an archeological treasure. There were spider webs on every holds. Luckily the local Christophe Jacoupi was here to show me where start and finish the route were located.