BURSTOn April 21, Oriane Bertone topped Gecko Assis V14 and Khéops V13 in Île-de-France – it was the first female ascent for both. At 12 years old (which was not so long ago, in 2018), she was the youngest climber ever to top a V14 boulder. Since then, her climbing career has skyrocketed, but her focus has predominantly been on comp climbing. She is a two-time World Cup gold medallist and placed eighth overall in the bouldering and lead combined event in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Over the last couple of months, she has been getting outside and absolutely crushing, seemingly effortlessly.
“This morning, I matched my all-time best in bouldering. A grade that brings me back to when I was younger, climbing almost exclusively outdoors, and it feels so freaking good to reach that level again. Long seen as a quite morpho and masculine boulder (quite true to be completely honest), I first tried Gecko a few weeks ago for training purposes, and ended up surprising myself, which makes sending it now even more meaningful.
“I’m feeling strong, in a good place mentally and physically, and I’m so proud of all the work that’s gone into getting here.
Only a week to go before we leave for China, and the season is already looking exciting…Feeling happy and ready for what’s next.”
For Bertone, it looks like the World Climbing Series in Keqiao, China will be next – the event will take place from May 1 to 3. Bertone is an incredibly accomplished comp climber. In 2025, she won her first-ever overall Boulder World Cup season title. In 2025, she made the Boulder podium in four out of the six events, winning gold in Prague and silver in Keqiao, Curitiba, and Innsbruck. In 2023, she won her first Boulder World Cup gold at the event in Prague. She has won silver nine times in Boulder events. At the World Championships, she won silver in Bern in 2023 and Seoul in 2025.
In addition to her stellar comp resume, Bertone also has some hard rock sends to her name. In 2018, she climbed Golden Shadow V14 in Rocklands, South Africa – she was only 12 years old at the time. In 2021, she climbed Super Tanker V14 in Fontainebleau, taking it down in only three sessions. In 2020, she made the first post-break ascent of Satan i Helvete (Bas) and proposed a grade of V15. Subsequent ascensionists have downgraded the problem to V14, which Bertone agreed with. On March 25, she made the first female ascent of Lazarus V13 and a few days later, topped L’Insoutenable Légèreté de l’être V13 – both in Fontainebleau.
Oriane Bertone Climbing Khéops V13 and Gecko Assis V14
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