Buster Martin has continued his current run of form by climbing his third 9a+—and his second in under a month—with an ascent of The Journey in Margalef, Catalonia. The line was bolted and first climbed by British expat Tom Bolger in 2022, who described it as 'a non-stop power endurance piece.'
In March, Buster repeated Will Bosi's Furia de Jabalí in Siurana (UKC News) after a six-month break from climbing in 2023 and some time spent travelling and living in Bali, Indonesia, with limited climbing and training opportunities.
'Means a lot to come back stronger than last year and finish this off, must be something in the Bintang,' he wrote on Instagram following his ascent of The Journey.
The route became 'a bit more savage' following a hold break between Buster's initial attempts last year and recent redpoint goes.
Buster also ended the day with an 8b+ flash of Víctimas del Presente.
His finger-strength training in Indonesia consisted of the following:
'Classic 20mm pulls and weights as standard then the addition of front 3 half crimps, micros, and high angle work on the fingerboard to work my weaknesses. Whilst I didn't have the time, motivation or mental energy to climb I found that short fingerboard and weights sessions were manageable and knew they'd pay off.'
He also 'filled the board in Bali with grimmest screw-ons [he] could find.'
Buster's first 9a+ was Chris Sharma's First Ley in 2019 (UKC News).
He is one of six British climbers to have redpointed multiple 9a+ routes.
Comments
Blimey, it makes my fingers hurt just looking at that!