Colin Duffy, 15, Crushes at RRG with First 5.14c

Colin Duffy is a champion 15-year-old Team USA climber who recently spent a few days at Red River Gorge (RRG) where he sent a number of hard routes. Duffy started at a young age and climbed with ABC Kids Climbing in Boulder.

Over four days, Duffy sent his first two 5.14c routes and a number of other test-piece bolted routes. American photographer Chris Weidner, wrote about Duffy’s impressive trip in an article called Indoor champ Colin Duffy’s legendary weekend outdoors.

Weidner noted that on day one to RRG, Duffy sent Silky Smooth 5.13c, Easy Rider 5.13a and Thug Life 5.13d. On his second day, he onsighted Omaha Beach 5.14a and sent Pure Imagination 5.14c before climbed Southern Smoke 5.14c in only two tries. On his final day, he ticked God’s Own Stone 5.14a.

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Just wrapped up my last day here in the Red River Gorge! To say this trip was a dream come true would be an understatement. Since I started climbing, the red has been at the top of my bucket list and I’ve highly anticipated my first trip here. While the whole experience was a blast, the highlight was without a doubt my second day. On day two, I’m proud to have onsighted Omaha Beach (14a/8b+), sent Pure Imagination (14c/8c+), my first of the grade, and followed it up with a send of Southern Smoke, also 14c/8c+. It’s hard to put into words how psyched I am about this trip, so I’ll save my thoughts for future posts, when I’ve fully processed it all. Lastly, humongous thanks to @drumack5 for guiding me these past few days. Without your expertise and knowledge of the Red, none of this could’ve happened! @blackdiamond @evolv_worldwide @frictionlabs @gneissapparel #climbing #sportclimbing #redrivergorge #rockclimbing #pureimagination #southernsmoke #kentucky ?: @krisugarriza on Pure Imagination

A post shared by Colin Duffy (@colinclimbs) on Oct 27, 2019 at 2:28pm PDT

“Duffy’s groundbreaking trip portends what’s to come,” wrote Weidner, “when future indoor elites take to the real rock now and then.”

After his trip, Duffy said, “After a ton of competitions this year, it was extremely refreshing to get to enjoy the outdoors, without the pressure and repetition associated with plastic.”

Duffy on Pure Imagination