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Josune Bereziartu not to be denied on Na-Nai (8c+).
New angle on the woman thing
On 17 July at Baltzola Cave near Bilbao in the Basque Country of northern Spain, Josune Bereziartu made the third ascent of Na-Nai, given 8c+ (5.14c) and thought by some to be high in the grade. Though perhaps not quite as hard as the notoriously technical Bain de Sang (9a) at Saint Loup, Switzerland, which Bereziartu climbed last year, Na-Nai is completely different in character, a 45-degree-overhanging 30-move power-endurance route. The route begins with a 10-meter 8c section of off-balance dynamic moves on sloping sidepulls to a fair rest, followed by another crux, about V10, that ends with a cut-loose dynamic. “This route is a style very hard for me,” says Bereziartu. “Dynamic, and really more power than endurance.”