Gripped Magazine
Jules Marchaland Climbing His First 5.15b
On April 22, French climber Jules Marchaland made the first ascent of Le bruit de l’acid 5.15b (9b) in Claret, France. The route was his first of the grade. Le bruit de l’acid is an endurance test. After an 5.13a intro, a poor rest follows before launching into two stacked boulder problems. The first clocks in at around V13, the second around V10, with no rest in between. “You basically can’t chalk for 25 moves,” said Marchaland about the climb. Mellow just released a film about Marchaland’s send, which you can view below.
“Finally done,” wrote Marchaland on Instagram after his send. “When [Lucien Martinez] told me about this project, I immediately wanted to check it out. And, unsurprisingly, I loved it straight away. The crux is a mega cross dyno into a good pinch, exactly what I love. I’d never tried a hard route that suited me as well.”
“After more than 20 falls at the dyno and 4 falls at the last [easy] boulder problem I finally send this route which occupied my mind for some time,” he added. Marchaland had this to say about the grade: “We first thought it would be a hard [5.15a]. But after a lot of struggle on this crux move I started to doubt and it turned out to be way harder than I thought. This route is much more in my style than any routes I’ve ever tried. And for sure harder than the [5.15a’s] I’ve done. This is why I grade it as a [5.15b]. I hope it will motivate people to come and try it.”
Jules Marchaland has really been making a name for himself in 2025. In March, he sent Beyond 5.15a in Pic Saint-Loup on his second go. The Seb Bouin route was his fifth of the grade. He’s also sent six 5.14d routes this year, including the famous Pornographie in Céüse. Since the start of June, he’s onsighted one 5.14b and three 5.14a’s, and flashed two 5.14a’s. On a recent trip to Magic Wood, he flashed one V15 – the second flash of the grade ever – and redpointed four V14s. He also flashed a V13, V12 and two V11s, and redpointed another V13 and two V12s.
Jules Marchland FAing Le bruit de l’acid 5.15b
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