POU BROTHERS AND COLOM SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE “MAREJADA FUERZA 6” ON NARANJO DE BULNES
The North Face athletes, The Pou brothers (Iker AND Eneko) alongside the Majorcan climber Neus Colom, have made history again on the Picu Urriellu – better known as Naranjo de Bulnes- with one of the best climbs of their career.
After spending a very intense summer at the foot of the most famous and international mountain in Asturias, the climbing trio took 12 hours to complete the first free climb of “Marejada Fuerza 6”, in a vertical ascent of 500 m up its Western face.
The route was first aid climed by José Manuel de la Fuente and Manolo González that lasted 9 days back in the summer of 1985, but had to wait a further 31 years to see its first free ascent.
Although the three climbers have gained a wealth of experience in mountain ranges across the globe, this was no easy task. Various factors made this climb a challenge at the highest level both physically and psychologically: its level of danger with potential falls), its exposure due to limited anchors throughout the ascent and many of them in a precarious condition due to their age, and its difficulty including sections where the aid climb was graded as A4 and A3 and the free climb was as much as 8a+.
The most difficult and trying sections were the following:
- 2nd: 7c free with loose rock and only one fixed anchor.
- 3rd: 8a+ free or A3 aid. Only two anchor points.
- 5th: The most dangerous with difficulty 7b+ free or A4 aid. Only two anchor points. It’s the most dangerous section of the route as in a fall close to the anchor the body would strike a large ledge and the accident could be fatal. Given the exposure of this section, the Pou brothers felt that the grade for the aid climb could have been even higher).
- 6th: 7c free or A3 aid. Three anchor points.
“Marejada Fuerza 6” (A4/500 m aid or now 8a+/500 m free) is therefore the sixth renowned route completed by the Pou brothers on Naranjo de Bulnes, following the first free climb in one day of “El Pilar del Cantábrico” 8a+/500 m in 1997 (Originally A3); the first free climb of “Zunbeltz” 8b+/500 m in 2003 (Originally A4. The first free ascent has yet to be repeated. Three days suspended from the wall in hammocks); the first free climb in one day of “Quinto Imperio” 8b/500 m in 2006; the first climb and first free climb in one day of “Lurgorri” 8c+/500 m also in 2006; and the first climb and first free climb in one day of “Orbayu” 8c+/500 m – to this day one of the most famous and popular routes – in 2009.
This signals another landmark in the career of the Pou brothers, who have completed classic routes all over the world but always keep unique limestone mass as a reference point; the mountain they love above all others.
What? They’ve achieved the first free climb of “Marejada Fuerza 6” A4/500 m, 31 years after it was first climbed.
When? June, July, August and September 2016.
How? In a free climb. With hands and feet on the wall, without using any unnatural aids.
Where? The 500 m of the Western face of the Picu Urriellu, also known as Naranjo de Bulnes, in Asturias, Picos de Europa.
Who? The Pou brothers (Eneko and Iker), accompanied by the Majorcan Neus Colom
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