| From: | France 🇫🇷 |
| Date of birth: | 10th September 1997 |
| Age: | 27 years old |
| Gender: | Male |
| Hardest Boulder (Worked): | 9A |
Charles Albert is one of the worlds best and most unique boulderers. Charles ability is hard to define on paper due to his unique choice in style: he typically climbs without the use of chalk, climbing shoes, and kneepads. In this style Charles is undoubtedly a master with no one repeating any of his boulders in the the same style as he climbed them.
Charles is notable for his hard first ascents, for example La Révolutionnaire Assis 8C+/V16 and Hypothèse Assis 8C+/V16. In 2018 Charles did the first ascent of No Kpote Only in which he proposed the grade of 9A/V17, however this was downgraded by both Ryohei Kameyama and Nico Pelorson. Though these ascentionists did use shoes despite the translated name being "Bareback Only".
In 2023 Charles did the first ascent of L’Ombre du Voyageur for which he proposed 9A/V17 after spending 60 sessions to complete the problem. He commented that he thought it would be 9A+/V18 for the style he did it in, without shoes or knee pads, but suggested the lower grade for an ascent in a more typical style.
In Font, many times I saw Charles Albert do things so out of this world I would have called them impossible without having been a witness. Like flash FAs or in a handful of runs of 8A on a move that no one else can get anywhere near, or 7B slabs in trainers by simply annihilating miserable grains of sand with his nails… [1]
[2] Reel Rock 16: Barefoot Charles https://www.redbull.com/int-en/episodes/reel-rock-s8-e2
27 recorded ascents.
| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratstaman Vibrations | 9b | Lead | did not finish | 2020 | |
References |
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| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L’Ombre du Voyageur | 9A | Boulder | worked | 18th Oct 2023 | 9A |
|
First ascent. Over 60 sessions.
Charles struggled to grade the problem due to it's length (being more like a route) and because he climbed it barefoot and without kneepads, as is his preferred style. He suggested that for him it was maybe approaching 9A+, but that shoes and knee pads would almost certainly make it substantially easier. Even so, he felt 8C+ would be too harsh and so settled on 9A. [1, via google translate]. References[1] https://www.grimper.com/news-charles-albert-libere-9a-bloc-saleve [2] Video from a previous attempt https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsWcuwBgFwg/ [3] https://www.climbing.com/news/charles-albert-climbs-new-v17-boulder/ [4] https://watch.reelrocktour.com/featured/videos/charles-at-large [5] https://www.grimper.com/news-ombre-voyageur-charles-albert-conquete-absurde |
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| Charlatan | 9A (approx) | Boulder | did not finish | ||
|
First ascent.
References[1] https://www.redbull.com/int-en/episodes/reel-rock-s8-e2 [2] [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ddM0YDlUz2cC0MaOWkuo9? |
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| Le Barbier | 9A (approx) | Boulder | did not finish | ||
| La RĂ©volutionnaire Assis | 8C+ | Boulder | worked | Nov 2017 | |
| Hypothèse Assis | 8C+ | Boulder | worked | Dec 2018 | |
|
First ascent.
References |
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| No Kpote Only | 8C+ | Boulder | worked | Dec 2018 | 9A |
|
First ascent.
References[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQblHth3Eas [2] Some earlier sessions on the line https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVSC9vIb-PU |
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| Terranova | 8C+ | Boulder | did not finish | ||
|
Charles came pretty close using a very unconventional sequence. References |
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| Off the Wagon Low | 8C+ | Boulder | did not finish | ||
|
Charles got extremely close using a new sequence for the upper part but ultimately didn't complete the problem. References[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CwLn2Ywtu5a/ [2] Reel Rock 16, 2022 https://www.redbull.com/int-en/episodes/reel-rock-s8-e2 |
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| La RĂ©volutionnaire | 8C | Boulder | worked | Dec 2016 | |
|
First ascent.
References[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2016/12/la_revolutionnaire_8c_first_ascent_by_charles_albert-70844 |
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| DĂ©lire Onirique Assis | 8C | Boulder | worked | 8th Jan 2017 | |
| Monkey Wedding | 8C | Boulder | worked | Jun 2017 | |
References |
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| La Source | 8C | Boulder | worked | 2021 | |
|
First ascent.
References |
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| Le Jeté | 8C | Boulder | did not finish | ||
References |
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| La Valse aux Adieux (Prolongé) | 8C | Boulder | worked | ||
| Le Pied Ă Coulisse (Direct) | 8B+ | Boulder | worked | 15th Feb 2016 | |
|
First ascent.
References[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2016/02/le_pied_a_coulisse_8c+_repeated_twice-70263 |
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| BĂ©lial | 8B+ | Boulder | worked | Before 18th Jan 2019 | 8C |
|
First ascent.
|
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| Gecko Assis | 8B+ | Boulder | worked | ||
| Ôte-moi d'un Doigt | 8B+ | Boulder | worked | ||
|
First ascent.
|
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| L'Alchemiste | 8B+ | Boulder | worked | ||
References |
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| Midnight Express | 8B+ | Boulder | worked | ||
| The Wagon Wheel | 8B+ | Boulder | worked | ||
|
First ascent.
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| Le Voyageur Face a la Mer de Nuage | 8B | Boulder | worked | 2019 | |
|
First ascent.
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| PĂ©troglyphe | 8B | Boulder | worked | Sep 2023 | |
|
First ascent.
References |
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| Bloody Sunday | 8B | Boulder | worked | ||
|
First ascent.
References |
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| Karma | 8A+ | Boulder | worked | ||
References |
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| El Corazon | 8A+ | Boulder | worked | ||
References |
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| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
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| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
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