Anna Hazelnutt Adds 5.14 Extension to Peace on Medlicott Dome in Tuolumne
“I had no doubts that I could do it. It was just a matter of when.”
Photo by: Jake Squier
On September 1, professional climber and YouTube content creator Anna Hazelnutt completed her extension to Ron Kauk’s classic two-pitch 5.13d “Peace,” connecting it with the finish of the neighboring 5.11c X “Bachar-Yerian” on the 600-foot west face of Medlicott Dome in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite, California. She calls the extension “Love.”
Peace includes a 5.11d (30m), 5.13d (45m), and “Love” includes 5.14a (30m), 5.8/5.9 crack (15m), and a final 70m solo graded 5.8/5.9. Hazelnutt, a Southern California native who lives out of her car full time and climbs worldwide, is enjoying her first season in the Yosemite High Country. “Tuolumne is like a magic land of amazing climbs,” she says.
To make it work she feeds her stories to YouTube and other social media sites. She has 165,000 YouTube followers and regularly posts on Instagram and Patreon. Regarding her social media work: “I like having that creative control and just putting whatever I want online. It’s my job now, which is extra exciting.”
“I’m videotaped a lot, so whatever I’m feeling, I just communicate that. It’s who I am and comes across in my videos,” she adds. “Even in this conversation, you can probably tell I just talk and don’t really stop.” Her sponsors include Rab Equipment, Evolv, Wild Country, and My Tendon.
Peace
Yosemite climbing legend and Stone Master Ron Kauk established “Peace” in 1995, and it remains a test piece. Despite its popularity, the climb is extremely difficult.
Peace was initially attempted “ground-up by John Bachar, who had climbed the first pitch and some of the second and had named his project Die Hard. Kauk rap-bolted the remaining route and sent it with Chris Falkenstein in 1995,” says this Gripped article.
The 75-meter route features a crux second pitch with gold and black granite, considered one of Tuolumne’s finest. After redpointing it on July 21, Anna noticed a blank wall above and envisioned continuing the line, eventually connecting with the “Bachar-Yerian.” With Kauk’s support, she added three new pitches up to 5.14a, merging the sport-bolted “Peace” with the sparsely protected B/Y to top out.
5.14s are rare in Tuolumne, the sub-alpine meadow above Yosemite Valley at 8,500 feet, includes “Top Gun” (5.14a), “Broken Arrow” (5.14a), “Raging Waters” (5.14), and “Kilogram” (5.14-), among others. Other hard routes include “Sacred Fire” (5.13a) on North Wizz Dome and the overhanging “Love Supreme” (5.13b) crack on the Love Supreme Boulder. But, in general, the area is famous for its long, runout slabs and continuous cracks.
Hazelnutt describes “Peace” as a “really beautiful, distinctive black streak… undulating the wall with beautiful curves between overhung and slabby sections,” making it feel like “an endless sea of knobs.”
But it didn’t continue as she initially thought. Instead, it stopped midway up the wall. Once Anna reached the final anchor, she felt compelled to keep going.
“I started asking around because it made so much sense that this beautiful black streak would continue… I asked Ron about it, too, and he was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I played around on it.’”
She returned to attempt the extension from the top. “I had to set up a couple of anchors on top of the wall… it was kind of scary. You’d swing around these knobs… sometimes your rope catches over a knob and drops down, and you’re plunging 15 feet unexpectedly.”
Anna continued, “Oh, my God, I hope my anchor works. I know it was bomb, but I was like, oh, shoot… Luckily, I had support from friends Squier and Drew Megura with some Rocky-Talkie action talking to me from the top of the wall.
“So I just went to the anchors on top, dropped the line down to the start of ‘Peace,’ and started TR soloing it all day, every day, for about three days in a row.
“I climbed it multiple times to adjust where I wanted the bolts. I decided to bolt it well at the beginning because that’s where all the hard climbing is, and then let it become more runout as it reaches the space of the B/Y.”
Bachar-Yerian
The west face of Medlicott Dome is steeped in history, with X-rated routes like 5.10c “You Asked For It” and 5.11c “Bachar-Yerian,” alongside sport and mixed routes including 5.12c “Pretty in Pinkpoint,” 5.13d “Peace,” and 5.12a “Shipoopi.”
While the John Bachar line “You Asked For It” is arguably more dangerous (though slightly easier, but a different style), than his nearby line B/Y, the latter is legendary for its difficulty, long runouts, and reputation for big falls.
“The last thing I wanted to do is bolt near the B/Y in any way, you know?” Hazelnutt says.
Accustomed to runouts all over the world, with multiple E9/E10s like “Once Upon A Time in the Southwest” and “Walk of Life” in Dyer’s Lookout, England, and the committing trad slab Prinzip Hoffnung E10/8b+ in Bürs Austria, under her belt, Anna knows what it’s like to be way out above her gear on cutting edge terrain. She’s also ticked multiple sport lines in the 5.14 range, including the scary Spank the Monkey (5.13d R), and the 5.14a’s To Bolt or Not to Be, The Veteran and Mr. Yuk at Smith Rock, Oregon, and ticked the 5.14a Galactic Emperor in Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming.
Hazelnutt embraced the challenge of “Love,” which is part well-bolted sport route and one part heady runout face. “I just have this quest to take it to the top… about to do some choss and a 70m runout slab to get there,” she laughed.
“It’s like a little nod. You could fall at the top of the first runout and be totally fine, you know.”
I ask if she means you could fall up to 100 feet on her “Love” extension to reach the B/Y.
“No, no, it’s maybe like 50 ft, 40 ft. I don’t know. It’s not so crazy.”
In the heart of the B/Y, I know from experience that the knobs can be loose, and it’s hard to see your feet since your body is so close to the wall. As you climb past the crystals with your hands and try to remember where they were so you can step on them, the protection fades out of sight below.
It’s just you, a dangling rope, and a sea of knobs ahead.
In my story “King Air: A Belayer’s Day on the Bachar-Yerian” (Climbing Magazine, May 2010), I wrote, “Medlicott Dome’s infamous Bachar-Yerian: stout 5.11c, with 13 bolts — including belays — in 600 feet [is] known for its brittle knobs and epic screamers.”
I included the experience of my partner’s fall from my second time on the route before we bailed: “It happens fast. One tie-off rips, and then the next. Alan shoots past me. I dodge right, locking off the ropes instinctively. I look down — way down, like 20-plus feet.”
Also noted was Bachar’s repeat of the line: “1984: Jerry Moffatt and John Bachar. P4, Moffatt whips 45 feet when a foothold snaps. He quickly finishes the pitch in fading light. Bachar heads up the final cracks in darkness and is unable to build an anchor — he sits down and simply braces himself as Moffatt follows, making the fifth ascent.”
Love
Anna wrote on Instagram:
At first the line seemed entirely improbable, with thin holds and a wall angle that demands precise and sequential footwork. The movement slowly came together and I started to find a flow. It dances delicately up difficult, balancey, and at times desperate climbing to a final, distinctive crux that feels impossible until you dare to believe it will work. I think I used 10 (really) high steps in my final beta sequence.
As the climb that unites Peace and the Bachar-Yerian, I chose to place the first 8 bolts exceptionally well— exactly where one would want them for the toughest movements— but then the last three bolts become more and more runout as the climb eases significantly. The final six or so meters I’ve left alone completely; an homage of sorts to the old school BY ethic. You can bring up some gear to place (.3 or .4 for the crack and a sling or two for knobs if you’d like), or you can run it out to the BY anchor. Both are deliciously spicy choices— but again, it is ~5.8 at this point so I felt it entirely appropriate and respectful to Tuolumne history.
Anna worked on the line for two weeks, recruiting help from Jake Squier: “He helped put in half the bolts and was a big partner in that. I couldn’t have done it as fast without his help and support.”
“We drank whiskey and bolted for a few days. It was more about having fun, connecting, and spreading the love and joy of climbing.”
For the crux 5.14 pitch, she describes the sequence: “A double Gaston… locking off with both hands on bad holds, tiptoeing on tiny footholds, and reaching for a not-so-great hold.”
“It has a V9 crux after, like, really consistent, hard climbing for seven bolts. After that it gets easy.
“Then you’re doing a full Gaston with your left foot flagged out like a starfish. Your right hand reaches up to a hold that’s not great, either, so you have to stick it together for a few more moves. Then, you have to teeter into the next hold. It’s very balanced and focused climbing. If you’re taller, you might reach, but I couldn’t, so I just let my feet help, standing and tilting.
“After I climbed it, I wasn’t sure if it was 5.14a; it’s a big grade. So, I went down and got back on ‘Peace,’ and in comparison, the holds felt big, and that was reaffirming. I thought, okay, this is definitely harder than ‘Peace,’ probably hard enough to make it to that next level.
“I got confirmation that Love is 5.14 from Jacob Cook who has attempted it.”
On Mental Preparation
“I think I’m at my best when I’m head pointing, whether that’s trad or sport. I love to perform. I like the pressure of a big objective like a full multi-pitch. I’m so excited to push my body and see what it can do.”
I asked Anna, “Did you learn that from a mentor, a book, philosophy, coaching, friends, or just personal experience?”
“Like, all of the above. I also have to give a shoutout to Hazel Findlay. We lived together for two weeks in Catalunya when she was working on Escalatemasters (9a). She introduced me to her mindfulness and fear-falling course. I was inspired by her approach—finding your comfort zone and pushing it, but not too far. That helped me move away from the old mentality of just getting scared and taking big falls, which wasn’t good for me. Now, I’m better at understanding my mental space.
“I did cry after I sent it—not because I had doubts, but because of the effort and the emotional release. I knew I could do it; it was just a matter of when.
“I couldn’t believe I had bolted this thing, and it wasn’t like sobbing tears. It was like a single cinematic tear. And the view was so beautiful. I just couldn’t believe that I got to put up such a perfect climb… Call it ‘Love.’
“It was just, yeah, amazing.
“Right now, I’m excited about hard, short multi-pitches and wondering, ‘How many 5.14 pitches can I do in a row?’”
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