{"id":5936,"date":"2024-03-23T00:11:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T23:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/?post_type=relatos&p=5936"},"modified":"2025-12-16T00:15:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:15:18","slug":"tanguy-merard-biographie-ceuse-france","status":"publish","type":"relatos","link":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/relatos\/tanguy-merard-biographie-ceuse-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Redpointing Biographie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At 16 years old, Tanguy Merard<\/strong><\/a> left his hometown of N\u00eemes in the south of France for the climbing hub of Brian\u00e7on in the Alps. \u201cI made this decision,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause I was training alone in my garage and I wanted to climb with other strong, young climbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new community and access to top training facilities gave him the support and the motivation to develop his potential as a climber, and he soon set his sights on harder projects. The idea of trying Biographie<\/em> came in 2020, during the pandemic lockdown. The young French climber had already sent two other 9a+ routes\u2014Les Yeux plus gros que les Roubignoles<\/strong><\/em><\/a> <\/em>in Russan and Supercrackinette<\/strong><\/em><\/a> in Saint L\u00e9ger\u2014but facing this iconic climb was his most ambitious goal yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bolted in 1989 by Jean-Cristophe Lafaille, Biographie <\/em>(9a+) at C\u00e9\u00fcse, France is one of the most emblematic and prestigious sport routes in the world. When Chris Sharma<\/strong><\/a> made the first ascent in 2001, it set the benchmark for the grade and opened a new era. To date, only a small number of climbers have redpointed Biographie<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, an imposing 40-meter overhanging wall, divided into two main sections, with a boulder crux at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The iconic limestone crag of C\u00e9\u00fcse, France, home to\u00a0<\/em>Biographie\u00a0(9a+). Photo: Ben Semiond.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the early days of the pandemic lockdown, together with a friend, Tanguy decided to go for it. \u201cI told myself that if I wanted to try it, I had to train,\u201d he says, adding that he trained specifically for the route, for two months straight. \u201cI\u2019d never trained so hard, and I came out of it in the best shape I\u2019ve ever been in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, attempting an iconic route alongside some of the best climbers in the world still felt strange, he says, and despite the training, his lack of experience began to show. \u201cIt was the first time I\u2019d tackled such a hard route,\u201d he explains, \u201cand I was so impatient to try it that I didn\u2019t try to find the best beta, I just tried it from the bottom.\u201d As the days went on, Tanguy began to figure out the techniques for projecting at his limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slowly but surely, he made progress. Tanguy worked through the first section, marked by a fairly hard 7C boulder, he describes, which leads into another section of hard climbing with alternating rests, until the final heart-breaker crux near the top. Tanguy started linking sequences up until that final boulder, where he fell over and over again. The upper crux became a mental game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach day and each try I kept believing it was going to be the one,\u201d he says. Tanguy lost count after 50 or 60 days, spread across three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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French climber Tanguy Merard boots up with the Tenaya Indalo climbing shoes for\u00a0<\/em>Biographie\u00a0(9a+), C\u00e9\u00fcse, France. Photo: Ben Semiond.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then in the spring of 2023, after a huge battle, he finally clipped the chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy far, it\u2019s the route that required the most investment, but it enabled me to understand how my body and mind work,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of low points, but I\u2019ve always stuck with it and that\u2019s why it\u2019s the best experience I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned to be patient, to give 100 percent on each attempt, and to persevere even if I\u2019m not making progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biographie<\/em> marks a milestone in both Tanguy\u2019s personal life and climbing career. That summer alone his ticklist of hard ascents in France expanded exponentially:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Beyond<\/em>\u00a0(9a+), Pic St. Loup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Punt\u2019x<\/em>\u00a0(9a+), Gorges du Loup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Just Two Fix<\/em>\u00a0(9a\/+), Gorges du Loup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Crotte de Geek<\/em>\u00a0(9a), Ailefroide<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A Muerte Bilou<\/em>\u00a0(9a), Ramirole<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Trip Tik Tonic<\/em>\u00a0(9a), Gorges du Loup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Kinematix<\/em>\u00a0(9a), Gorges du Loup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Inga<\/em>\u00a0(9a), Gorges du Loup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Kick Ass<\/em>\u00a0(9a), Gorges du Loup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Combi de Choc<\/em>\u00a0(8c+), Entraygues<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • To Do List\u00a0<\/em>(8c+), La Balme<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Biographie<\/em> opened his eyes to what\u2019s possible, which in turn motivated him to discover new projects and new places. He leaves us with a final lesson: \u201cBe optimistic, be ambitious, believe in your abilities and, above all, do what you love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Nineteen year old Tanguy Merard on\u00a0<\/em>Biographie\u00a0(9a+), C\u00e9\u00fcse, France. He sent the benchmark climb after approximately 60 days of effort spread across three years. Photo: Ben Semiond.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5938,"template":"","class_list":["post-5936","relatos","type-relatos","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/relatos\/5936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/relatos"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/relatos"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/relatos\/5936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrlandon.com\/tenaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}