Didier Berthod on New Squamish Roof Crack
The Swiss crack climber opened a burly new problem that crack climbers will be excited to try
Swiss climber Didier Berthod made the first ascent of a 10-metre Squamish roof crack called Gold Rush earlier this year, it’s located just north of town. His ascent is documented in a video that you can watch below.
Earlier this year, Berthod limbed Cobra Crack 5.14 trad in Squamish. He first started to project the now-famous route nearly 20 years ago, before Sonnie Trotter made the first free ascent in 2006. Berthod’s send comes two weeks after he received his permanent residency in Canada. Before ever trying Cobra Crack, Berthod had already made the first free ascent of Green Spit 5.14 in Italy, and Learning to Fly 5.13+ and From Switzerland with Love 5.13+ in Indian Creek. When he arrived in Squamish in 2005, he spent two months trying Cobra Crack in a campaign recorded in the film First Ascent, which you can watch below.
Berthod moved back to Squamish in 2022 after living in Europe for over a decade. In 2023, he made the first ascent of Crack of Destiny, a 5.14 crack on The Chief, which you can read about here. His season was then cut short after breaking his wrist in a bad fall from Cobra Crack.
Feeling mostly recovered, he returned to Cobra Crack this spring. On his first day back, he found another piece of gear that protected the section where he was injured. “I managed to find a 0.3 placement that I could get from the mono,” he said, “which makes the crux much safer.” He climbed it on his fourth day, saying that it took around 20 days between 2005 and this year. “I’ve had climbers from around the world reach out to congratulate me,” he said.
Squamish Roof Crack
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