Fred Rouhling (born 24 January 1970) is a French rock climber and boulderer , noted for creating and repeating some of the earliest grade 9a (5.14d) sport climbing routes in the world, including Hugh in 1993, the first-ever French 9a (5.14d) sport route. Rouhling is also known for the controversy from his proposed grading of 9b (5.15b) for his 1995 route Akira [ fr ] , which would have made it the world's first-ever 9b-graded sport route; 25 years later, it was graded at 9a (5.14d).
27-945: [REDACTED] Look up Akira or あきら in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Akira may refer to: People [ edit ] Akira (given name) ; and a list of people with this given name Surnames [ edit ] Asa Akira (born 1986), American pornographic actress, model, and director Elly Akira , Japanese pornographic actress Francesco Akira (born 1999), Japanese ring name for Italian wrestler Francesco Begnini Mononymed people [ edit ] Akira (actor) (born 1981), Japanese actor and dance performer Akira (American wrestler) (born 1993), American professional wrestler Akira Nogami (born 1966; ring name "AKIRA"), Japanese professional wrestler and actor Natalie Horler (born 1981; stage name "Akira"), German singer and television presenter formerly using
54-626: A 2017 album by Black Cab "Akira", a song by Kaddisfly from Buy Our Intention; We'll Buy You a Unicorn Other uses [ edit ] Akira class, a class of starship in Star Trek Akira (climb) , a sport climbing route created in 1995 by French climber, Fred Rouhling Akira (ransomware) See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] Search for "akira" on Misplaced Pages. All pages with titles beginning with Akira All pages with titles containing Akira Akhirah , an Islamic term referring to
81-562: A 2017 album by Black Cab "Akira", a song by Kaddisfly from Buy Our Intention; We'll Buy You a Unicorn Other uses [ edit ] Akira class, a class of starship in Star Trek Akira (climb) , a sport climbing route created in 1995 by French climber, Fred Rouhling Akira (ransomware) See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] Search for "akira" on Misplaced Pages. All pages with titles beginning with Akira All pages with titles containing Akira Akhirah , an Islamic term referring to
108-426: A 2021 documentary, Rouhling said that finding natural new hard routes is difficult (particularly of the overhanging roof style that he was attracted to) and that the chipping of new "hardest" routes was far more widespread than was understood; Rouhling also noted that other leading French climbers had manufactured such routes in their own local quarries for their development and training. Home again in 1995 as his wife
135-666: A Japanese cyberpunk franchise Akira (manga) , a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo Akira (1988 film) , an anime film adaptation of the manga Akira (video game) , a 1988 video game based on the anime film Akira Psycho Ball , a 2002 pinball simulator for PlayStation 2 based on the anime film Akira (planned film) , a planned live-action film adaptation of the manga Akira (2016 Hindi film) , an Indian Hindi-language action film by A. R. Murugadoss, starring Sonakshi Sinha Akira (2016 Kannada film) , an Indian Kannada-language romantic-drama film by G. Naveen Reddy, starring Anish Tejeshwar Akira (album) ,
162-666: A Japanese cyberpunk franchise Akira (manga) , a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo Akira (1988 film) , an anime film adaptation of the manga Akira (video game) , a 1988 video game based on the anime film Akira Psycho Ball , a 2002 pinball simulator for PlayStation 2 based on the anime film Akira (planned film) , a planned live-action film adaptation of the manga Akira (2016 Hindi film) , an Indian Hindi-language action film by A. R. Murugadoss, starring Sonakshi Sinha Akira (2016 Kannada film) , an Indian Kannada-language romantic-drama film by G. Naveen Reddy, starring Anish Tejeshwar Akira (album) ,
189-497: A fifth with Salamandre at 9a+ (5.15a). Rouhling did not use any chipping to create these new routes, they were natural. In 2007 Rouhling went on bouldering trips with French climber Romain Desgranges to Rocklands, South Africa and to Joshua Tree, California . In 2010, the pair went on a bouldering trip to New Zealand where Rouhling repeated Chris Sharma's 2005 problem, Archilles last stand 8A+ (V12), which
216-724: A life-threatening illness, and Rouhling largely abandoned extreme climbing for a number of years to focus on his family and young children. In 2001, on his wife's recovery, Rouhling repeated Fred Nicole 's Bain de Sang [ fr ] , that – after Fred's brother François – was the second-ever repeat of a 9a-graded route in history. In 2002 and 2003, Rouhling visited Switzerland's leading bouldering areas repeating several of Fred Nicole's most notable problems including several up to V14 (8B+) (e.g. Eau Profonde ), and one at V15 (8C), with E la nave va . In 2004, Rouhling established his fourth route above 9a with Mandallaz Drive at 9a (5.14d), and in 2007 he added
243-402: A line he called Hugh with a double-overhanging bulge that required little footwork. Having climbed it, he made the route harder by filling in holds and chipping-out new ones that he graded at 9a (5.14d). At the time, there were only three known 9a routes in the world. Hugh was repeated in 2001, and by Dai Koyamada (2002), and Sébastien Bouin (2020), confirming the grade of 9a,
270-902: A route was unprecedented as a sport climb at the time. On completing Akira , belayed by his recovered wife, Rouhling graded it at 9b (5.15b). At the time, nobody had climbed 9a+ ( Chris Sharma would climb the world's first consensus 9a+ in 2001, and the first consensus 9b in 2008). In 1997, Rouhling added another chipped route at Eaux Claire, L'autre côté du Ciel , a spectacular high roof, that he graded at 9a (5.14d). Rouhling faced an unprecedented level of personalized attack for Akira . Leading climbers publicly challenged his integrity, and various unsubstantiated theories were promoted about Rouhling and his routes. Those that tried Akira , failed to climb it. In 2004, Climbing sent Pete Ward (a future American Alpine Club Board member), to interview Rouhling over several days, and see him on his routes. Ward could not opine on
297-529: A variation on Jean-Baptiste Tribout 's famous 1987 route, Les Spécialistes , which was bolted earlier by Alain Robert ; with the downgrade of Les Spécialistes to 8b+, Rouhling's ascent remains the first 8c route in the gorge. Returning home in 1993, Rouhling wanted to create different routes from the long steep stamina crimpy routes of the Calanques and Verdon. At his local crag of Eaux-Clairs, he freed
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#1732773040552324-1002: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Akira [REDACTED] Look up Akira or あきら in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Akira may refer to: People [ edit ] Akira (given name) ; and a list of people with this given name Surnames [ edit ] Asa Akira (born 1986), American pornographic actress, model, and director Elly Akira , Japanese pornographic actress Francesco Akira (born 1999), Japanese ring name for Italian wrestler Francesco Begnini Mononymed people [ edit ] Akira (actor) (born 1981), Japanese actor and dance performer Akira (American wrestler) (born 1993), American professional wrestler Akira Nogami (born 1966; ring name "AKIRA"), Japanese professional wrestler and actor Natalie Horler (born 1981; stage name "Akira"), German singer and television presenter formerly using
351-457: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Akira (climb) Rouhling grew up in the small French farming town of Le Panissaud. His neighboring village of Vilhonneur has a limestone quarry (which supplied materials for the Statue of Liberty ). Twenty minutes away is the larger town of Angoulême , where limestone crags overhang many of
378-576: The afterlife Aki Ra , former Khmer Rouge conscripted child soldier Aquila (disambiguation) Arika , a Japanese video game developer Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Akira . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Akira&oldid=1255541674 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
405-576: The afterlife Aki Ra , former Khmer Rouge conscripted child soldier Aquila (disambiguation) Arika , a Japanese video game developer Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Akira . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Akira&oldid=1255541674 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
432-577: The first 9a in France. The use of chipping to create new extreme routes was not uncommon then in France, and included examples such as Antoine Le Menestrel [ fr ] 's famous Buoux route, La Rose et la Vampire 8b (5.13d). Some major North American routes also relied on chipped holds for their development, with examples such as The Phoenix 5.13a (7c+) in Yosemite , and Just do It 5.14c (8c+) at Smith Rocks . In
459-530: The grade but verified that Rouhling was able to climb his routes as they were. Ward also believed that Rouhling should have classed Akira as a boulder problem rather than as a sport route. Ward was able to debunk several of the criticisms about Rouhling and Akira , and expressed a positive view of Rouhling from the interview process. In 2020, Seb Bouin climbed three of Rouhling's routes in his local crags and found two of their grades accurate at 9a ( Hugh and L'autre côté du Ciel ), however, he felt Akira
486-404: The roads, with the best-known being Les Eaux Claires ("The Clear Waters"), with 15 to 20-metre overhanging extreme routes that require strong fingers to manage the small pockets used to ascend them; and contains nationally-regarded extreme routes such as La Crépinette (1983), France's first 8a (5.13b). Rouhling began to climb in school, and by age 19 was climbing at 8b (5.13d) when
513-476: The route. In 2021, the climbing database 8a.nu agreed that changes in equipment and techniques for roof climbing could explain much of the downgrade. In 2022, climbing author Sam Anderson attributed some of the vilification of Rouhling to the fact that at the time, he was not considered "the world's best climber", and thus would not be accepted as the person who climbed "the world's hardest route". After Akira , Rouhling's wife Celine needed brain surgery for
540-499: The same name Akira Hiragi, a character from Valkyrie Drive -Mermaid Akira Kurusu, the protagonist in the manga adaption of Persona 5 Akira Otoishi , a minor antagonist and antihero in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Akira Nijino, a.k.a. ToQ #6, a character from Ressha Sentai ToQger A-Kira, a.k.a. Minoru Tanaka, a character from Death Note Arts and entertainment properties [ edit ] Akira (franchise) ,
567-449: The same name Akira Hiragi, a character from Valkyrie Drive -Mermaid Akira Kurusu, the protagonist in the manga adaption of Persona 5 Akira Otoishi , a minor antagonist and antihero in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Akira Nijino, a.k.a. ToQ #6, a character from Ressha Sentai ToQger A-Kira, a.k.a. Minoru Tanaka, a character from Death Note Arts and entertainment properties [ edit ] Akira (franchise) ,
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#1732773040552594-581: The stagename "Akira" Akira the Don , stagename of British DJ Adam Narkiewicz Akira the Hustler (born 1969), stagename of Japanese artist Yukio Cho Fictional characters [ edit ] Akira Yuki , a major character of the Virtua Fighter series of video games Akira ( The Simpsons ) , a Japanese chef on The Simpsons Akira ( Akira ) , a character from the 1980s cyberpunk manga of
621-415: The stagename "Akira" Akira the Don , stagename of British DJ Adam Narkiewicz Akira the Hustler (born 1969), stagename of Japanese artist Yukio Cho Fictional characters [ edit ] Akira Yuki , a major character of the Virtua Fighter series of video games Akira ( The Simpsons ) , a Japanese chef on The Simpsons Akira ( Akira ) , a character from the 1980s cyberpunk manga of
648-515: The world's hardest routes were then at 8c (5.14b). In the early 1990s, Rouhling had moved to the south of France for college where he also had access to the leading sport climbing venues of France. Rouhling made the first ascent of UFO , the first 8c (5.14b) in the Calanques , and then completed Les Spécialistes Direct at the Verdon Gorge . Les Spécialistes Direct was
675-402: Was Rouhling's 100th boulder ascent above 8A (V11). In 2009, one of the main online databases for extreme rock climbers, 8a.nu , asked the question "Is Fred Rouhling the best ever FA [first ascent] climber in the world?", noting that Rouhling's combination of first ascents for the hardest sport climbs and hard bouldering routes ranked him #3 in their All-Time High Combined rankings. In
702-400: Was also a "hard 9a", and that the roof was at V9 (7C). Bouin said: "Anyway this route is hard", "and quite unbelievable for the 90's". Rouhling was disappointed at the downgrade and felt that the requirement to hang from a pinch hold in the roof at the first crux, while familiar in contemporary extreme routes, was novel in 1995, and was why no climber of his generation could send
729-458: Was recovering from back surgery, Rouhling began work on a new route he called Akira [ fr ] in the Vilhonneur quarry. Akira was a 65-foot long low horizontal roof (only circa 12 feet off the ground), that he estimated had an 8B (V13) bouldering problem, with a final 20-foot 5.13b (8a) vertical section beyond the lip (the only part for which he used a rope); such
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