America’s First 5.15a Gets Fifth Ascent
Flex Luthor was first climbed by Tommy Caldwell in 2003. While it wasn't graded at the time, it's now considered the first 5.15a in the U.S.A.
Nicholas Milburn has made the fifth ascent of Tommy Caldwell’s Flex Luthor at The Fortress of Solitude in Colorado. It was the hardest route in America when Caldwell climbed it in 2003, but it wasn’t graded or repeated for nearly 20 years.
In 2021, Matty Hong made the second ascent, giving it a grade of 5.15b. Also that year, Carlo Traversi climbed it, saying, “No real opinion on grade, so going with Matty’s suggestion for now. Definitely not easy.” Then in 2022, Jonathan Siegrist climbed Flex Luthor and gave it a grade of 5.15a. The next 5.15a sport routes climbed in America were Jaws II in 2007 and Jumbo Love in 2008. See a list of 5.15s in the U.S.A. here.
”This one felt hard the whole time,” Milburn said on 8a.nu. “Figuring out the beta took a lot of work. I never watched the video, but a few days into projecting I had a phone call with Matty and we discussed the beta. Going in blind is such a fun way to go work a route. Especially something hard and complicated as Flex. I climbed this with almost the same beta as Matty, but I used the hand jam method for the final boulder. Sometimes routes just flow and feel easy by the time you actually send them. This one did not feel that way. I had to fight hard on the send go and that felt cool.”
It took Milburn 25 sessions before he redpointed Flex Luthor. In the past, Milburn had climbed Dreamcatcher 5.14d, Pnuema 5.14d, Moonshine 5.14d and Algorithm 5.14d. His hardest first ascent to date was The Absence of Color in Tennessee 5.14a.
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