Margo Hayes and Paige Claassen have made the first and second female ascents of Kryptonite, a 40-plus-metre route first climbed in 1999 by Tommy Caldwell. They
It’s considered the first of the grade in North America. Hayes, 22, spent six days and Claassen, 30, spent days projecting the steep line separately. Hayes has previously climbed Biographie 5.15a, La Rambla 5.15a and Papichula 5.15a. Claassen has now sent three 5.14 sport routes, with the other two being Algorithm and Shadowboxing.
Caldwell told MountainZone.com back in 1999: “The route also is 100% natural with no chipping or glue. In my mind it is the perfect sport climb with creative movement and interesting holds… Necessary Evil took me about nine days and Kryptonite took me about 20. I am not sure whether it is 5.14d because I have never climbed anything that hard before.”
After Kryptonite, Caldwell sent Flex Luthor at the Fortress of Solitude, but never graded it suggesting it might be 5.15a or harder. It’s never been repeated.
In an interview with Rock & Ice, Claassen said that before she and Hayes and Claassen sent, Arjan (Claassen’s husband) broke a hold at the start of one of the cruxes. Claassen said she believes the route is harder than before.
In the same story, Hayes said that she wasn’t sure if Kryptonite is 5.14c or 5.14d, but said that she really enjoyed the line.
Many climbers have stopped posting about recent sends and travels on social media to give space to the powerful social justice movements, such as Black Lives Matter and Indigenous Lives Matter, that are taking place around the world.