Vie in Les Dévers

First 8c in France, climbed by a British!

Originally, this was an artificial route but in 80's, some sport climbers search to realy climb the route, and then it became an extreme project at this time.

Over a number of sessions at the end of 1988 Ben Moon worked out a sequence and in January 1989, managed to redpoint the route which he name Azincourt/Agincourt after a famous battle between the French and English. The route seemed a step up from all the other routes Ben had climbed (he had done all the 8b+ in Buoux) so he graded it 8c - the first route of that grade in France.

The crux is a ferocious 7C boulder problem 5-move sequence on two fingers whith very big morphological moves (necessarily 1,65 metters). But this is preceded by a first boulder problem on tiny - edges.

Azincourt has left its mark in climbing history not only because of the controversial name that recalls the historic French military defeat, but also because back then the South of France in general and Buoux in particular were at the absolute forefront of hard sport climbing.

Repeats didn’t take long, at the hands of Didier Raboutou, Marc le Menestrel, François Dreyfus, Alessandro Lamberti and Stefan Glowacz.

Repeats today are however somewhat rare, Ben attributing this to the "brutal" Buoux style which requires one to get accustomed to.

Video of the ascent by Sébastien Bouin : https://youtu.be/to-JaZjx3GA

First 8c+ in Buoux. Magnificient extension of Azincourt.