Fred Rouhling

Akira controversy Home again in 1995 as his wife was recovering from back surgery, Rouhling began work on a new route he called in the Vilhonneur quarry. Akira was a 65-foot long low horizontal roof (only circa 12 feet off the ground), that he estimated had an bouldering problem, with a final 20-foot vertical section beyond the lip (the only part for which he used a rope); such a route was unprecedented as a sport climb at the time. (Long horizontal roofs were becoming more common as extreme bouldering problems, which Rouhling had the experience of doing at locations like Fontainebleau.) which Koyamada climbed in 2002. to interview Rouhling over several days, and see him on his routes.

In 2020, Seb Bouin climbed three of Rouhling's routes in his local crags and found two of their grades accurate at 9a (Hugh and L'autre côté du Ciel), however, he felt Akira was also a "hard 9a", and that the roof was at . In 2022, climbing author Sam Anderson attributed some of the vilification of Rouhling to the fact that at the time, he was not considered "the world's best climber", and thus would not be accepted as the person who climbed "the world's hardest route". In 2002 and 2003, Rouhling visited Switzerland's leading bouldering areas, repeating several of Fred Nicole's most notable problems, including several up to (e.g. Eau Profonde), and one at , with E la nave va.

In 2009, one of the main online databases for extreme rock climbers, 8a.nu, asked the question "Is Fred Rouhling the best ever FA [first ascent] climber in the world?", noting that Rouhling's combination of first ascents for the hardest sport climbs and hard bouldering routes ranked him #3 in their All-Time High Combined rankings.

In a 2021 interview, Rouhling said that he then only climbed a few times a year and that, while as a climber, he was very disappointed with the reception to his 9a routes. As an artist (he sculpts in his spare time),

Notable ascents

Redpointed routes Salamandre – Double Cache crag, Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny (FRA) – 2007. First ascent (natural route, no chipping). First repeat by Baptiste Dherbilly in 2017. Mandallaz Drive – Allonzier-la-Caille, (FRA) – 2004. First ascent (natural route, no chipping). First repeat by Baptiste Dherbilly in 2021.

– Saint Loup, (CHF) – 2001. Third ascent of Fred Nicole's 1993 route; at the time of Rouhling's ascent, there were only four known 9a routes in the world.

L'autre côté du Ciel – Les Eaux-Claires (Charente), (FRA) – 1997. First ascent. Rouhling almost entirely manufactured the route by chipping out the holds (a practice at the time but since shunned). but felt that a kneepad (which he did not use) could make it easier.

– Vilhonneur (Charente), (FRA) – 1995. First ascent. Rouhling used some chipping and hold filling to create the route.

Hugh – Les Eaux-Claires (Charente), (FRA) – 1993. First ascent. First-ever French 9a-graded sport route and fourth 9a in the world. Rouhling chipped out some new holds and filled in others to create the route. with many others including Dai Koyamada in 2002, and Seb Bouin in 2020 who also confirmed the grade of 9a. Empreinte – Double Cache crag, Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny (FRA) – 2008. First ascent (natural route, no chipping). Rouhling proposed 9a+; first repeat by Baptiste Dherbilly in 2021 said 8c+. Non à la Bombe – Saint Loup, (CHF) – 2001. Repeat of Fred Nicole's 1995 route. Archipel – Les Eaux-Claires (Charente), (FRA) – 1997. First ascent. First repeat by Dai Koyamada and Yuji Hirayama in 2000 (and first repeat of any Rouhling route above 8c+) who confirmed grade. Kami – Les Eaux-Claires (Charente), (FRA) – 1994. First ascent. First repeat by Pierre Bollinger in 2001. La voie du Charpentier – Allonzier-la-Caille (FRA) – 2005. First ascent. Les Spécialistes Direct – Verdon Gorge (FRA) – 1994. First ascent, and first 8c in the Verdun Gorge. UFO – Massif des Calanques (FRA) – 1993. First ascent. Route was subsequently destroyed, along with Romain Desgranges's classic, Kaiser Sauzé 8C+. Eau Profonde – Kesslerloch, Schaffhausen, (SUI) – 2003(e). First repeat of Fred Nicole's 1997 boulder problem. Va piu via (Traverse) – Lindental, (SUI) – 2003. Repeat. Joyeux Leon (Traverse) – La Balmaz, (SUI) – 2003. Repeat of Fred Nicole's 1992 boulder traverse problem. Le voyage du Crabe (Traverse) – Saint-George, (SUI) – 2003. Repeat. Prophécie – Saint-George, (SUI) – 2003. Repeat.