Brittany Goris Sends City Park, a Thin 5.13+ Crack

Brittany Goris has sent City Park, a think 5.13+ crack on Lower Town Wall in Index, Washington.

Goris is the first woman to send the hard route and the sixth person overall, but only the third to place all gear on lead.

Last fall @ericvhirst bet me $100 I couldn't solve a Rubik's Cube without cheating and looking up the algorithm. Twenty hours later, late at night and long after everyone else had gone to bed, I twisted the last row of colored squares into alignment and earned my payout. I'm stubborn sometimes to a fault, and that is what also got me to the top of this project last Tuesday. I was ready to work on it for the rest of my life if I had to. Absolutely whatever it took, for as long as it took, until the end of my days, if that was what it took. In a battle of wills, the climb matched my stubbornness move for move, testing me at every turn. This photo was taken on my third lead attempt when it took everything I had to simply summit. That, or maybe I just had chalk in my eye here. City Park ? 13+ Photo by @yippyyipyip who so kindly waited for the longest time at the chains to rappel from a different climb as I kept insisting that I was almost done, almost done, just a bit I'm almost through the hard stuff… @pinnaclesalesnw @lasportivagram @lasportivana #lasportiva #lasportivana #accessyourpassion #laspomoment #deuter #adventureworthy #climblyfe #climbing_is_my_passion #climblikeagirl #womenwhoclimb #girlswhoclimb #climb #climbing #pnw #pnwonderland #nobaddays #saaaaht #maximumeffort #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #climbinglife #tradisrad #climbersunited #unitedwesend #index #indexprovides

A post shared by Brittany Goris (@gorisb) on Jul 19, 2018 at 9:20am PDT

The route goes at 5.13c/d and is the first pitch to four, the upper pitches being easier at 5.10.

The hard line was first climbed in 1966 by Richard Mathies and Roger Johnson as an aid route. Yosemite free climber Todd Skinner freed City Park in 1986, utilizing a series of finger locks, but used some pre-placed gear.

The second ascent was by Hugh Herr, a double-amputee climber who used prosthetic legs that were customized for climbing. He also used some pre-placed gear.

Mikey Schafer sent the crack in 2005 and was the first to place all gear on lead. The next redpoint was in 2016 by Blake Harrington.

“I felt myself slipping out of the last pinky locks but I told myself to weight the foot more and trust that it would stay, the micro beta I had identified on my previous attempt,” wrote Goris on her blog here.

“As I pulled into the final hard section I felt tired, but in complete control. I sang to myself a song I had written about the climb and recited countless times during training over the past several months: Watch those anchor gates, open up for me, for our City Park sending train.

“With each move I became more and more certain that this was it, the moment that City Park had finally deemed me worthy. I placed each hand perfectly, each foot perfectly, and made not a sound until I was standing on the ledge below the final 5.11 section.”

On Tuesday I clipped the chains of the first pitch of City Park, Washington's hardest crack climb; a dream that scared me to even dream. Yesterday I truly finished City Park by sending the two upper 5.10 pitches, with none other than "Snickers," one of the earliest pioneers of the route on the other end of my rope. I'm so honored to be a part of the history of this route as the first female and third person to place all gear on lead for a true redpoint. The full story is on my blog, link in bio. #indexprovides @pinnaclesalesnw #accessyourpassion #adventureworthy #climblyfe #climbing_is_my_passion #climblikeagirl #womenwhoclimb #girlswhoclimb #climb #climbing #pnw #pnwonderland #nobaddays #saaaaht #maximumeffort #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #climbinglife #tradisrad #climbersunited #unitedwesend #index

A post shared by Brittany Goris (@gorisb) on Jul 16, 2018 at 2:07pm PDT