BURSTSamuel Richard recently sent Chris Sharma’s legendary Es Pontas 5.15a (9a+) deep water solo in Mallorca, Spain. Sharma FA’d the route back in 2006. It was the first of the grade in the discipline of deep water soloing. A handful of climbers have since topped the feature, including Jernej Kruder, who got the second ascent, Jan Hojer, Jacob Schubert, Léo Favot, Hannes Van Duysen, and Mejdi Schalck.
Es Pontas means “the big bridge” in Catalan, the language of the Catalunya region in northeastern Spain. The picturesque limestone arch, which stands approximately 20 meters high, is only accessible by boat or swimming. The deep water solo features a seven-foot dyno at the crux. It took Sharma around 50 attempts at that crux before he stuck it. He then then fell many more times at the even harder upper crux on the lip of the arch.
“Just sent the craziest line of my life,” said Richard on Instagram. “Can’t express how good it feels. [Two] trips, 12 sessions, too many attempts, and [six] times sticking the jump. That was a mental battle from the first day, but today I was in the flow, I gave my all and it finally went down. I wasn’t born when [Chris Sharma] did the FA, then ten years ago he signed me a chalk bag, and the last dry chalk bag I had before the send was this one. Thank you for the inspiration you have been for me.”
Richard is an active comp climber. In June this year, Richard podiumed with Sorrato Anraku and Schalck, achieving bronze at the Boulder World Cup in Prague. At 15 years old, he sent The Big Island V15 in Fontainebleau, his first of the grade. Last year, he got the second ascent of The Power of Now Direct V15 in Magic Wood after only three sessions.
Chris Sharma’s First Ascent of Es Pontas 5.15a
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