An Alex Megos Route is Upgraded to 5.15b
We're used to hearing about downgrades, but it's uncommon to have 5.15 routes upgraded
In 2017, Alex Megos made the first ascent of Clash of the Titans at Gotterwandl in Austria, grading it 5.15a. It came one year after he made the first ascent of Fight Club, Canada’s first 5.15b.
“I feel certain that this route is f9a+ [5.15a],” Megos said about the grade. “The route consists of two distinct sections, the first part is around f8b+ /f8c [5.14-] and leads to a poor rest that was enough for me to take a moment to shake out. This is then followed by the crux. The sequence involved around 10 moves of consistent font 8a+/V12 climbing. The moves are powerful and the holds are small. The crux finishes with a throw from an undercling to hit the top crimp and then there is easy climbing to the top.”
Jakob Schubert, who made the first ascent of Big 5.15d this summer and is known for downgrading hard routes, has said that Clash of the Titans feels like 5.15b to him. Schubert first tried Clash of the Titans five years ago after Megos’s first ascent.
About this upgrade, Schubert said: “Alex rated it 9a+ at the time, but it always felt substantially harder to me. I’ve climbed quite a few 9a+’s and 9b’s, but none of them took as much effort as this route. However, after sending it rather quickly last year, I was no longer sure if it really deserved an upgrade, so I was hesitant to post the ascent and have a clear opinion on the difficulty. After all, the route doesn’t fit my preferred style, which is crimping, but there are quite a few open handholds on this route that gave me a hard time. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to climb the route with Stefano Ghisolfi, who also took a look at the route and gave his opinion. In general, I think we saw some kind of grade inflation in sport climbing over the last years and I feel it’s the responsibility of everyone who is capable of climbing the hardest grades to also give their honest opinion. That’s why I’ve downgraded some routes in the past. For the same reason, I now suggest an upgrade for Clash of the Titans.”
Clash of the Titans
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