Marine Thévenet claims her second 8C with 'Méithra' in Arolla
French climber Marine Thévenet has made the first female ascent of Méithra, an 8C boulder in Arolla, an area of the Swiss Alps surrounded by big mountains. She spent the summer there and finished it on Saturday 3 October, after more than ten days of work and attempts.
She herself described it as a real battle of micro-crimps from start to finish. For her, what makes it special is the process: discovering the line, searching for methods, doubting, and committing to come back again and again, between the calm up there and the frustration of having to come down. She was also happy to share the day of the send with her parents.
With some irony, she remarked that spending more than ten days on a three-metre boulder while people next to you climb 4,000-metre peaks in less than two days is the beauty of the irony of bouldering. That line made me smile.
Méithra was opened in November 2018 by the Swiss climber Théo Chappex, and the first repeat came three years later from the Frenchman Benjamin Nicolas. American Sam Weir repeated it at the end of last month. It is Thévenet's second 8C, after Juneru in Albarracín in October 2024.
The grade is a bit debated: Chappex proposed 8C, but other repeaters have settled on 8B+. Whatever the number, the story of persistence is what I like most.
Source: Desnivel
She herself described it as a real battle of micro-crimps from start to finish. For her, what makes it special is the process: discovering the line, searching for methods, doubting, and committing to come back again and again, between the calm up there and the frustration of having to come down. She was also happy to share the day of the send with her parents.
With some irony, she remarked that spending more than ten days on a three-metre boulder while people next to you climb 4,000-metre peaks in less than two days is the beauty of the irony of bouldering. That line made me smile.
Méithra was opened in November 2018 by the Swiss climber Théo Chappex, and the first repeat came three years later from the Frenchman Benjamin Nicolas. American Sam Weir repeated it at the end of last month. It is Thévenet's second 8C, after Juneru in Albarracín in October 2024.
The grade is a bit debated: Chappex proposed 8C, but other repeaters have settled on 8B+. Whatever the number, the story of persistence is what I like most.
Source: Desnivel
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