THE BALKAN DREAM WITH SEB BOUIN

BD Athlete Seb Bouin was looking for a new experience. “We usually go to places where the climbing is already developed,” he explained. So, Bouin, along with his mom and two dogs, got in the van and drove up the coast of France to reach Albania.

FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020

Video and Photos: Etienne Tafary

IDEA: WHY THIS DESTINATION?

The idea to choose this destination for a climbing trip came from the motivation to discover a new "virgin” place for climbing.

We usually go to places where the climbing is already developed. I am always going to places where climbing is conventional. But this time I wanted a new experience, I wanted to discover a place where climbing was almost unknown. Only a few people know what climbing is in Albania. There is no climbing tourism. We had to find the lines and bolt them. Luckily, some climbers had already developed a few routes in this area. It allowed us to start climbing when we arrived. Adam Ondra bolted a 9b king line project in 2018 called "The Dream.” This route was also what motivated me to go there. The footage I saw from Adam was just incredible. This unique tufa followed by slopey tufas for 50 meters ... OK, so that route was on my mind. Few other people had bolted additional lines before our trip. And It was a chance to be able to mix bolting and climbing from the beginning.