Action Directe (climb)

Action Directe is a famously difficult sport climb in the Frankenjura, Germany.

It has been climbed by ten people.

The first ascent (FA) was by Wolfgang Güllich in 1991, who climbed the route using a 16 move sequence. Simpson and Koyamada used a different sequence with only 11 moves.

The repeat ascents were by:

* Alexander Adler on 9 September 1995.
* Iker Pou on 7 June 2000.
* Dave Graham on 21 May 2001.
* Christian Bindhammer on 14 May 2003.
* Rich Simpson on 13 October 2005.
* Dai Koyamada on 15 October 2005.
* Markus Bock on 22 October 2005.
* Kilian Fischhuber on 25 September 2006.
* Adam Ondra on 19 May 2008.
* Patxi Usobiaga on 24 October 2008.

Despite being generally recognized as the world's first 9a, Güllich actually gave the route a UIAA grade of XI, which corresponds to 8c+/5.14c.

It was the first recognised route of the grade, and is considered by many to be something of a benchmark for the grade. It is also famous for its style, involving long dynamic moves off single-finger pockets. Wolfgang Güllich invented the campus board to train the very specific technique needed for this route.