Joe Skopec Gets Second Ascent of Metelkova, a Quebec 5.14 Climbed in 2014
The powerful Baldy route was first climbed by Julien Bourassa-Moreau and includes a number of hard boulder moves
Back in 2014, Julien Bourassa-Moreau made the first ascent of Metelkova 5.14b at Baldy in Quebec. Today, Ontario crusher Joe Skopec made the first repeat. Bourassa-Moreau has long been a top Canadian climber, who’d opened a number of hard routes at the steep crag south of Montreal, including Cassiopee 5.14a in 2008.
The technical and powerful route is one of the most difficult in the province. It has a low crux consisting of a tricky bouldering problem with hard-to-find feet. It leads to an undercling match then a tiny left hand from which a big lock off, hand-foot match and hard heel-hook can be found.
When asked about the grade, Skopec said, “They say 5.14b. A few holds broke is what the locals told me, but 5.14b seems fair.” Skopec tried it twice last week and was able to climb it right away today. We recently touched base with Skopec about Road to Courage, a new 5.14 that he climbed in Ontario here.
He’s one of Canada’s most accomplished sport climbers, having climbed nearly all bolted routes in southern Ontario up to 5.14+.
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