Michaela Kiersch Climbs Era Vella 5.14d
It's considered one of the world's most popular 5.14d sport routes and was first climbed in 2010 by Chris Sharma
Michaela Kiersch has climbed the 45-metre Era Vella 5.14d at Margalef, Spain. It took her less than 10 sessions to piece it together. Chris Sharma made the first ascent in 2010 and graded it 5.14d.
It became one of the most-climbed routes at the grade ever before a downgrade in 2015 when Jonathan Siegrist (who climbed it in three tries) said, “I could comment on how I feel that Era is easy and make a list of routes graded 8c [5.14b] that are much harder and blah blah blah, but what I’m after is not a grade, it is an experience. So never mind all that.” However, due to holds breaking, the grade is now considered 5.14d once again.
Kirsch started competing in 2010, but quickly transitioned to hard outdoor climbing. Some of her other hard sends include, La Rambla 5.15a earlier this year, Dreamcatcher 5.14d, and several V14 boulders including New Base Line.
About Era Vella, she said on 8a.nu, “First few tries felt really impossible to link the sections, a friend told me ‘it’s all jugs’ so you can imagine my surprise when I was fighting for my life on two finger pockets. I didn’t only climb on this route, I’ve also been climbing lots of 8a to 8b+ [5.13b to 5.14a] so I think this approach helped me stay relaxed and have fun.” At the time of writing this, Kiersch hadn’t shared the news on social media yet, but follow her below for updates.
