Lucas Uchida Repeats The Megg V14
It's the second send of the striking Squamish problem this month
On June 24, Lucas Uchida made the third ascent of The Megg V14 in the North Wall boulders of Squamish. Established by Gabe Lawson in January this year, The Megg is a 20-foot bloc that’s quintessential Squamish in style. It features bad feet, lousy slopers, crystal crimping, and technical, balancey body positioning. A few weeks ago on June 4, American climber Andy Lamb made the first repeat of the problem. He discovered new beta, dropping the V16 grade originally proposed by Lawson to V14.
“Such a stunning line to finish off,” Uchida said via Instagram. “Probably one of the best and purest in the forest.” He added his thoughts about the grade: “Speaking to the controversy and questions surrounding the grade, I feel that it is on par with some of the other V14s around. It is just my own opinion though, and should not take away from the fact it is still a hard high quality line.”
To learn a little bit more about his experience with The Megg, I reached out to Uchida with a few questions.
How many days did you spend working the problem? [I spent] probably around 6 sessions or so.
Did you use the same beta as Andy Lamb? [Our beta was] very similar. I used a slightly different foot for the very first move.
What was the crux for you? The crux for me was actually a bump at the third move. It was so wide…and hard to execute after the first three moves.
How were the conditions? I heard they weren’t ideal in the North Walls that day. [It was] kind of humid, but it cooled off and I was able to get a fan going on the sloper for the first move.
The Megg is not Uchida’s first big send of 2023. Like last year, he’s again on a tear through some of Squamish’s hardest boulders. In early May, the 25-year-old Canadian made the first ascent of Seven V14, a low start to Lesson Six V10, first opened by Jason Kehl in 2005. Uchida then went on to pick up repeats of Tim Doyle’s Velco Low V13 and the wild Zazen V15. Originally established by Harry Robertson in 2003 and graded V13, a key hold broke off Zazen shortly after the FA. The problem went 20 years without an ascent until Ethan Salvo solved the puzzle, making the first post-break ascent of the problem in February and proposing a new grade of V15. Uchida’s send was the second since the breakage. He’s topped some ultra-classic V12’s this season too, including The Proposal, Frontside, and The Method.
Uchida also had an incredible Squamish season in 2022. Some highlights include repeats of Room Service V12, The Pool Low V13, Room Service Low V14, Deadlift V14, North-North Ridge V14, The Singularity V14/15, and Dreamcatcher 5.14d, as well as an FA of Offenders of the Faith V13.
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