Vicente Granado climbs his first 8a at 66: «When I started, we climbed in mountain boots»
He started climbing at 20, retired, moved from Madrid to a village in Córdoba and kept improving: a 7c after 60, a 7c+ last year and now his first 8a.
Vicente Granado has climbed his first 8a at 66, just over a month before turning 67. The route is «Namasté», in the Sombra sector of Belmez castle (Córdoba, Spain), and he sent it on 12 October, Desnivel reports.
The route
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Grade | 8a |
| Length | Almost 30 metres |
| Attempts | About 16 |
| Age | 66 years, 10 months and 25 days |
He is the third person to free it. It has a tricky start, good rests and a physical final wall. The face is in the shade all day, and the season is short: nesting birds prevent climbing before September, and humidity limits it further.
Granado bolted it himself last summer, with José de Añora and José María.
A life of climbing
- He started at about 20. “When I started, we climbed in mountain boots,” he recalls.
- He did his first 7c in his thirties.
- After retiring, he moved from Madrid to Espiel (Córdoba), qualified as a route-setter and climbed a 7c again after 60.
- Last year he reached 7c+, and now 8a.
He says he feels “very excited”. Is it a record? It’s not clear: other climbers have done their first 8a at the same age.
At the other end of life, another feat this autumn: Kwon Gaeun climbs 9a+ at just 13.
Sources and references
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