Realization (climb)

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Realization, also known as Biographie, is a sport climbing route on a crag on the southern face of the 2016-meter (6614-foot) Montagne de Céüse near Gap and Céüse, France.[1]Coordinates: 44°30′51″N 5°56′36″E / 44.514196, 5.943432

The route is unusually difficult. While not having been graded by its first ascensionist Chris Sharma, it is generally considered[citation needed] to be 5.15a (Yosemite Decimal System) or 9a+ (French grade).

[edit] Name dispute

The name of this route is disputed: routes in France are named by the person who first bolted the route, while in the U.S. they are typically named by the first ascensionist. In 1989, Jean-Christophe Lafaille bolted the first "pitch" of the route and named it Biographie; in July 2001 Chris Sharma became the first person to climb the full route and gave it the name "Realization".

Some people[who?] consider "Biographie" to be the first, easier route (8c+/5.14c, first climbed by Arnaud Petit) and Realization to be the full extension. Others refer to the entire route as Biographie: Sylvain Millet[2], for example, argues in favor of that name, describing the first "pitch" as really more of a "half-route" that flows naturally into the rest. The route is no longer equipped with an anchor chain at the point where the first part of the route used to end.

[edit] Other ascensions

Realization has been repeated by Sylvain Millet [3] (May 2004), Patxi Usobiaga (July 29, 2004), Dave Graham[4] (July 30 2007), and Ethan Pringle (September 2 2007).

[edit] References