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At age 11, Leo Cea Bliedtner has completed the second ascent of Tecnoking (5.14d), in Las Chilcas, Chile. Should the grade stand, Leo is now the youngest person to have sent 5.14d, a record previously held by Théo Blass at the age of 12 in 2022.
Tecnoking was established in January 2024 by local climber Ronny Escobar Ortega. Located an hour and a half from Leo’s hometown, Valaparíso, and just 50 minutes north of Santiago, the 80-foot link-up is a punchy traverse across conglomerate, offering a mix of smooth dishes, slopers, edges, and pinches. It links Me Gusta Cuando Callan (5.13d) and Si los Perros Ladran es porque Cabalgamos (5.14b), with the crux of the climb traversing through Cinco Virtudes (5.14b). Tecnoking moves through the most difficult of features on the south side of the Technobloque sector.
“It is one of the three 9a’s (5.14d’s) that currently exist in Chile,” writes René Cea Valencia, Leo’s father. “It’s a long route that consists of about 70 moves for an adult, and more than 80 for Leo, who’s roughly 4 feet, 6 inches. It’s completely overhanging, running diagonally almost the entire face of the rock.”
Leo was born in 2012 in Oldenburg, Germany, and the family moved to Chile less than a year later. He began climbing at 7 years old, accompanying his father and friends to the crag and enjoying pitches on toprope. Maren Bliedtner, Leo’s mom, and Cea Valencia say that their children—Leo, Paul (14), Inti (8), and even Alma (1)—spend most of their time climbing, whether it’s on trees, rocks, or support beams located around their home. Leo climbed barefoot until, at age 10, he sent his first 5.13b, after which his dad got him a pair of shoes—the La Sportiva Women’s Katana Lace.
Leo continued making his way up through more difficult climbs. He sent Herejia (5.13d), just six months after receiving his shoes. In February, he sent the last third of Tecnoking, Si los Perros Ladran es porque Cabalgamos (5.14b), after which he set his sights on the full line.
The day of Leo’s send, March 20, was unusually cloudy. His first attempt ended with him falling while exiting the crux on a move requiring a long and precise reach with the right hand into a small two-finger pocket. It was a move Leo had spent quite a bit of time perfecting; his coach, Daniel Serman, helped him replicate the move in the gym for practice.
On Leo’s second attempt of the day—his 27th attempt of the route—he styled the initial overhanging section of Me Gusta Cuando Callan and moved cleanly through the crux. “I knew [I would send] when I made it through the part of the crux where I had fallen the time before,” Leo says.
A small crowd had gathered to watch. After clipping the chains, a stunned Leo asked, “Have I sent it yet?” To which everyone replied, “Sí, po!” Unable to contain himself, Leo unclipped and down climbed. “I felt like I needed to keep climbing,” he says. He made it back down to the crux section before falling.
Leo is currently in fifth grade at a Waldorf School in Valparaiso, and his favorite class is movement. When he’s not climbing, he likes to whittle and play games. He spoke with Climbing over a Google Meets video chat while standing at the family’s kitchen table. His curly brown hair hung down over his brown eyes and he smiled widely. Leo speaks loudly and quickly when excited, but he was shy about his achievements; when asked about what it was like to send Tecnoking, his answers became one-word whispers to his parents, who sat nearby.
To prepare for the route, Leo says that his best training was “just to climb.” With the help of Serman, Leo developed a training program that focused on the route and catered sessions in the gym to specific sequences and expanding his repertoire of climbing moves. No weights or campus board training were used, but rather time in the gym coupled with multiple sessions a week outside—and intentional rest days and stretching.
Leo climbs with experience beyond his age. He is powerful yet fluid. It’s clear he knows where and when to rest, and when to give it his all. When he passed the crux of Tecnoking, his demeanor became much more relaxed, though the remaining climbing was still difficult. His joy for climbing is as evident as his expertise; why else would you downclimb for fun after reaching the chains?