Mat Wright Climbs Rhapsody 5.14+ Trad

British climber Mat Wright has climbed Rhapsody, an E11 7a/8c+ (5.14+) trad climb at Dumbarton Rock in Scotland. His ascent is only the seventh known one on record. Rhapsody was first climbed by Dave Macleod in 2006 and was the first route in the world to be given the grade of E11 – which means the climb faces big falls that could lead to injury. Over the past 18 years, several climbers have repeated it, including Sonnie Trotter in 2008, Steve McClure in 2008, James Pearson in 2014, Jacopo Larcher in 2016 and Gérome Pouvreau in 2018.

“I have named the route Rhapsody and graded it E11 7a, the climbing is about F8c [5.14bR] standard with a very long fall and big swing in to hit the rock if you fail. I injured myself badly on some of my failed attempts,” Macleod told Planet Mountain in 2006. “As far as I know there aren’t other traditional routes around with this combination of danger and high difficulty.”

Rhapsody starts on Requiem Crack E8 6b (5.13c/d) and transitions into a V10/11 boulder problem with big whipper potential near the top. MacLeod spent 70 days projecting it over two years. While projecting the E11, Trotter also established Direquiem 5.14aR, an easier and more direct variation to Rhapsody. Shortly after Direquiem, Trotter repeated Rhapsody. “After four-and-a-half hot and sunny weeks, 14 enduring days, 24 50-foot falls, 47 snickers bars, I finally made the second ascent of Rhapsody,” Trotter said.

Wright has been a leading trad climber for the past few yeras. He’s made the first ascent of Magical Thinking E10 7a on Pavey Ark’s East Gully Wall in the Lake District. And in 2022, he repeated Lexicon E11, of which he said, “A daring route, towering and inaccessible on the side of a Lakeland mountain. With difficulties of 8b+ (5.14) and one hell of a run out, this route is one that needs little introduction. Fearsome. Yet captivating.”

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Rhapsody Sends