Kai Lightner Continues Streak of Hard Sends
His send of Ciudad de Dios 5.14d/15a comes on the back of his recent send of Direct Into Your Fabelita 5.14d
American climber Kai Lightner just sent Ciudad de Dios 5.14d/15a in Santa Linya, Spain. The route is a steep limestone link-up that connects the bottom of Direct Into Your Fabelita 5.14d with the upper hard section of Fabela 5.14c. Lightner sent Fabela last year while visiting Santa Linya. He sent Direct Into Your Fabelita a few days ago. Last year, he was unable to send Ciudad de Dios but he sent the link-up on his first try this trip.
Located in the famous Cova Gran of Santa Linya, Ciudad de Dios has been sent by many of the best sport climbers in the world. Jakob Schubert, Magnus Midtbø, Ashima Shiraishi, Adam Ondra, Seb Bouin, and Jorge Diaz-Rullo are just a few of the big names that have redpointed the route. Climbers typically grade the problem 5.14d/15a or hard 5.14d.
“Didn’t quite see this send coming,” said Lightner on Instagram. With a super rainy and humid week ahead, I figured I’d be climbing in the gym mostly! However, we decided to check out the crag yesterday just to see if any climbing was possible. While the majority of the cave was dripping wet, the one route that I had next on my list to try was completely dry–except one wet hold. Even better, the rock felt crisp and surprisingly sticky. I decided to dry off the wet hold, chalk it up, and give the route a go. A few minutes later, I was clipping the chains!”
Lightner has been on fire the past few months. In November, he repeated Life of Villains 5.14d in the Hurricave in Utah. In February, the 24-year-old made the first ascent of Death of Villains 5.15a, also in the Hurricave. He sent his first-ever 5.14d in 2015 with Era Vella in Margalef, Spain.
Tom Bolger on Ciudad De Dios 5.14d/15a
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