Brad Gobright Climbs The Muir Wall 5.13c on El Cap

Brad Gobright is one of the leading climbers in Yosemite these days with a number of big climbs to his name, including El Corazon 5.13b, 30 pitches, and a speed record on The Nose with Jim Reynolds.

Gobright’s most recent project was The Muir Wall via the Shaft variation at 5.13c. “I just free climbed the Muir Wall yesterday,” he said on social media. “I sent via The Shaft in a 17.5 hour battle. I’ve never fought so hard for anything in my life and I can say it’s maybe my proudest send yet. I ended up doing the final 5.13c pitch on top rope. By that point the headlamps had come out and I was to drained to deal with the fear of whipping on small RPs.”

The first free ascent of the 33 pitch Muir Wall was in 2001 by Nick Sagar and Tommy Caldwell. In 2015, Canadian Marc-Andre Leclerc sent The Muir Wall 5.13c with Brette Harrington and Alan Carne. Last year, Gobright made a rare repeat of Carbondale Shortbus 5.14R in Indian Creek, see here for more on that climb.

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I’ve been in the Valley for four days now and I’ve been keeping busy. Here’s a picture by @tradisplaid of me climbing pitch 14 of the Muir Wall. It was a little scary and super soaked. Some C1 action was necessary! The Valley is beautiful right now. There’s waterfalls everywhere you look! @gramicci_climb @evolv_worldwide @frictionlabs

A post shared by Brad Gobright (@bradgobright) on Apr 30, 2019 at 12:50pm PDT

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I just free climbed the Muir Wall yesterday! I sent via The Shaft in a 17.5 hour battle. I’ve never fought so hard for anything in my life and I can say it’s maybe my proudest send yet. I ended up doing the final 13c pitch on top rope. By that point the headlamps had come out and I was to drained to deal with the fear of whipping on small RPs. A huge thanks to @maison.deschamps for the support. The guy was efficient and psyched through the entire ascent. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. I don’t think I’ve been this psyched on sending something since getting the Nose Speed record in 2017. First pic by @owensilitch @gramicci_climb @evolv_worldwide @frictionlabs

A post shared by Brad Gobright (@bradgobright) on May 9, 2019 at 8:08am PDT