En décembre 2020, Shawn Raboutou libérait “Big Z”, le premier 8C+ de Tahoe aux États-Unis. Le bloc s’apparente presque à une danse tant les changements de pied sont légion (16 contre 6 pour les mains avant d’attraper l’arête!). Au rendez-vous, tenue de prises verticales et gainage dans un panneau de granit généreusement incliné.
Matt Fultz n’est plus un inconnu, même si son profil est moindre en Europe. Et le bougre n’est pas mauvais, puisque “Big Z” constitue son 8ème 8C+ (ou 7 si on accepte la décote de “Sleepwalker”). C’est en 2020 que l’américain enchainait son premier bloc de cette difficulté, et peu après qu’il commençait le travail de “Big Z”. En tout, trois années lui auront été nécessaires pour venir à bout de ce morceau de rocher.
De l’avis de Fultz, “Big Z” serait le plus dur de ses 8C+.
Photo (pas de “Big Z”) du compte Facebook de Matt Fultz
In December 2020, Shawn Raboutou freed ‘Big Z’, Tahoe’s first 8C+ in the United States. The boulder is almost like a dance as there are so many foot changes (16 versus 6 for the hands before grabbing the arête!). Here, crimping vertical holds and crazy body tension in a generously inclined granite panel is the name of the game.
Matt Fultz is no longer unknown, even if his profile is lower in Europe. And the guy is not bad, since ‘Big Z’ constitutes his 8th 8C+ (or 7 if we accept the downgrade of “Sleepwalker”). It was in 2020 that the American completed his first boulder of this difficulty, and shortly after that he began working on ‘Big Z’. In all, it took him three years to overcome this piece of rock.
Different size, other strengths, Fultz had to adopt a different approach than Raboutou, finding a kneebar at the start (which makes a movement easier, but getting out of the kneebar very hard) as well as right-hand backpedalling before reaching the edge. For him, 7 hand movements compared to 14 foot movements. Geekery over.
In Fultz’s opinion, ‘Big Z’ is the hardest of his 8C+.
Picture (not of ‘Big Z’) from Matt Fultz’s Facebook account
