"Tecnoking"9a, Tecnobloque, Las Chilcas, Chile. FOTO/ Pablo Tomasello Rayo
Leo Cea Bliedtner
11 years old
In his world, climbing, playing, and growing up are synonyms.
- "What must be done to climb routes as difficult as the ones you have achieved?" - asks the journalist.
- “Just climb” - Leo answers.
With a short but dizzying career as a climbing athlete, Leo has become one of the strongest child climbers in the world. The recent milestone of becoming the youngest person sending a 9a route (5.14d), and a month and a half later to have repeated the feat by sending his second proposed route of the same grade, situates him as one of the young promises of climbing with the greatest trajectory on an international scale.
Achieving Dreams
- "What do you imagine yourself doing when you are 20?" - a journalist asks him.
- "I imagine myself climbing a 5.16a (9c+)" - answers Leo.
He knows that the grade of difficulty he aspires to does not even exist yet, but he thinks and explains that it is possible that soon someone will achieve it and that he feels very capable of climbing that grade in a few more years.
Current Dreams
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"LA NUEVA YERA" 9a/5.14d, Las Chilcas, Llay-llay, Chile.
Project accomplished! SENT ON APRIL 30, 2024. One month and 10 days after sending his first 9a, Leo completed the second ascent of this route that was first sent in 2023 by Japanese climber and former Japanese national team member, Sakae Nakahara. Read the article published in Desnivel magazine here.
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"MARACANAZO" 9a/5.14d, Valle Encantado, Bariloche, Argentina.
Route recently climbed by Shawn Raboutou and Felipe Camargo. Leo dreams of being able to climb this Patagonian ninth-grade route in spring 2024.
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"ERA VELLA" 9a/5.14d, Margalef, Cataluña, España.
Probably Leo's most genuine current dream. Drawings of Margalef hang around his house, and he spends hours dreaming about the routes he is getting to know through the latest edition of Margalef's climbing guide he received as a gift. His eyes sparkle with excitement at the greeting he received by Whastapp from Cris Sharma after sending "Tecnoking". He hopes to definitively establish himself in the ninth grade with a route in Margalef at the end of this year.
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"ACCORDEON SESSION" 5.14¿? (project), Chabela, Villa Cerro Castillo, Aysen, Chile.
Leo hopes to be able to give the first ascent to this beautiful route in Chilean Patagonia, which he already visited in January 2024 and which he almost sent. He thinks that the route could be an 8c+ or maybe the first 9a for Chilean Patagonia! Project for December/January 2025.
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Participating this year in a competition with children his own age in his birthplace, Germany, is something he constantly talks about.
SUPPORT LEO IN ACHIEVING HIS GOALS
"La Sensación del Bloque"9a, Valle de Los Cóndores. Chile.FOTO/ René Cea