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Hardest Single Pitch Trad route on gear?
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Hey everyone. So the discussion in the Sasha/Edu thread got me searching, but I couldn't find a definitive answer: what is the hardest trad pitch that has been done on gear? The Dawn Wall crux (14c/d?) appears to be the hardest trad pitch, but it looks like it was mostly bolt protected on preplaced draws (nothing wrong with that). So what has been the hardest gear route? Some contenders that I could find: 1) Meltdown 14c. Climbed by Beth Rodden, unrepeated. 2) Rhapsody 14c (Macleod, repeated by Sonnie Trotter and Steve McClure) 3) Walk of Life (14c?), James Pearson To further complicate things, these were all set in different grading systems (damn Brits!), but it seems like they all are falling around 14c. Nobody has climbed all of them, and Meltdown hasn't even been repeated despite many attempts, so it's hard to say which is technically harder than the other. Am I missing any? Do you see a clear contender? |
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Blackbeard's Tears is another 14c with only one ascent (Ethan Pringle, Sept 2016). Not sure how often it gets tried though. |
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To my knowledge this is currently considered by many to be the world's hardest single gear protected pitch: http://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/nicolas-favresse-climbing-the-recovery-drink-in-norway.html |
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I think Cobra Crack is 14b and the Bugaboos route is 14- but I could be wrong on those |
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It seems that Meltdown given it's location and stature should have a repeat by now. Once in a while there will be news of some hardman trying it and failing... Maybe (hopefully?) Lonnie will get psyched and do it and confirm it as something |
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BroZone 5.14b in the Gunks should be mentioned. |
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How about Magic Line .14b in Yosemite? FA Ron Kauk in 1996, unrepeated for 20 years until last season when Lonnie (son) ticked the 2nd ascent. |
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Hard trad climbing has to be difficult to grade objectively - there are so many factors, not least of which is finger size. You can build muscle groups for specific hard sport climbs, but it's pretty difficult to make your fingers just the right size. For instance with Meltdown, it's possible that it hasn't seen a repeat because the jams are so tiny...the only person I know who has put in serious attempts is Carlo Traversi https://www.instagram.com/p/_IK30hSP_A/. TC said his fingers didn't fit in the crux holds. I wonder if Ondra gave it a go when he was in the Valley? Seems like it would be up his alley. Another thing that can be hard to quantify on trad climbs is the scare factor...I know of a few 5.12X climbs that probably won't be repeated because they're just too damn terrifying. But that's another thread. Also, I seem to recall Stanhope and Segal saying that if someone were to send the whole crack pitch on Tom Egan from stance to stance that it would be 14+...but I could be making that up. |
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Ondra doesn't seem to be that into hard crack climbing, but then he sent the Dawn Wall so I don't think there's anything he CAN'T do. I doubt his fingers would fit if Tommy's don't, as he's fairly taller. I thought about Cobra crack, but the consensus seems to be on 14b and the number of repeats makes me wonder if it's a tad easier. The Macleod routes are also X, although that hasn't stopped other crazy ass Brits like Steve McClure. I agree that it's really hard to compare different styles...Century Crack (14b) might actually be the toughest; I can't imagine climbing roof Offwidth. Tom and Pete took a stab at Meltdown and said it might even be harder than 14c... |
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Jacopo Larcher also repeated Rhasphody |
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Century crack at 5.14b I believe, wide boyz. |
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How about the hardest sport route? Surely that would be hard to do gear-only. |
Jared Murray wrote: Did Lonnie actually redpoint, i.e. place all the gear on lead? Ron pink-pointed as you can see here:  |
Ted Pinson wrote: Walk of Life isn't E12 7a. Dave McLeod did the second ascent and downgraded it to E9 6C (~5.13- R/X). See here http://davemacleod.blogspot.ca/2009/01/therapy.html. A doc on James Pearson's self-exile from the UK after his three hardest FAs were massively downgraded: https://www.redbull.tv/video/AP-1MQQXU9AH1W11/redemption |
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I'd suggest Cobra Crack... simply for the fact that it's been sent by so many who can confirm the grade... unrepeated routes, I'd suggest are excluded until they've been confirmed. |
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Tom Randall did his "pura pura" project in 2014 and suggested 8C+/14C. Kind of contrived as it links a boulder into a roof crack but it still looks real hard...
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Bernd Zangerl "Into the Sun" Murgtal, Switzerland 8c+ (14c) |
wrote: brings up the question of how many hard ass trad routes are there to do in flatanger with that crazy granite cave |
Dave Holliday wrote: ok so "considered by many" may have been an overstatement and is dependent on one's definition of "many". But some very strong climbers over here in europe (including tom randal and pete whittaker) and norway have tried it and it still does not have an official rating because of its difficulty, so that says something - particularly when nico favresse has the FA. So maybe i should have said, instead of "considered by many to be the worlds hardest...", that "a number of world-class climbers have suggested that it could be the worlds hardest..." To my knowledge, even though it has been attempted, it has yet to be repeated. |
baldclimber wrote: Interesting! That's quite the downgrade. Poor James. :( |
Ted Pinson wrote: Its Meltdown. No doubt about it. There are many styles of trad climbing, so here is my impossible answer to a flawed question. I think many factors point towards Meltdown. The proximity in Yosemite and still unrepeated. Lots of hardo's have reportedly tried. This seems like a good qualifier. I met Tom and Pete outside moab once. We chatted about the Crucifix Project (the only other potential contender) and they said Meltdown is hard. Also Beth Rodden is fierce. The best trad climbers don't want the answer to be meltdown, because they cant do it. (Says I, the 5.11 crack climber) |
