Climber Sends His First 5.14d at 42 Years Old
Doug McConnell made it a goal to climb the grade in 2017 and has succeeded
Australian climber Doug McConnell, 42, has just climbed Fabela pa la Enmienda at Spain’s Santa Linya for his first 5.14d. He climbed his first 5.14c in 2022 with La Rubia and has since repeated five more.
Fabela pa la Enmienda is a 50-metre pitch that overhangs 45 degrees which McConnell first tried last year before climbing a route next to it. “I stepped left and did an easier route which has the same ending,” he said. “Having also previously done a route that shares the start there was not a lot of new climbing for me to work out on Fabela.”
In 2015, he made the fifth ascent of Blue Jeans 5.13 on Yamnuska (while wearing blue jeans) and in 2016 he made the 10th ascent of The Path 5.14 at Back of the Lake.
“These big routes don’t happen without a fight,” McConnell said. “I don’t know how long I was on route but it was at least 45 mins. The next morning I woke up to rain – likely to make it unclimbable for a month. It’s been a clear goal since 2017 to climb a 9a [5.14d] route. For sure this is low in the grade but it’s certainly my hardest to date and was very satisfying to complete. I like what the skaters say – ‘two to make it true!’ Onwards.”
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