A new 9c – Touching DNA
Finally, a new 9c. After Adam Ondra bolted and got the FA of Silence in 2017, I thought it would open the floodgate for more 9c routes. However, since Silence was sent and graded by Adam Ondra there has been an ongoing trend of climbers going around downgrading routes. The second 9c after Silence was DNA sent by Sein Bouin in 2021. Both routes had yet to see a second ascend.
Many elite climbers are wary of establishing a grade that might get downgraded by another climber. It is very likely Jakob Schubert sandbagged the grade for “Touching DNA” 9c because it’ll look better if other climbers bump up the grade than down. It’ll be amazing to see who is going to get the FA for Touching DNA and if the grade is going to be higher than 9c. Maybe we might witness the world’s first 9c+ or a 10a 🤞.
