Michaela Kiersch Sends La Rambla 5.15a
After an impressive 2022 full of big sends, she starts off 2023 with a historic redpoint
American climber Michaela Kiersch just sent La Rambla 5.15a (9a+) in Siurana, Spain. Kiersch’s send is the third female ascent of the historic line. In February 2017, Margo Hayes became the first woman in the world to climb 5.15a with her send of the route. In November 2022, Chaehyun Seo made the second female ascent of the route.
Kiersch’s early 2023 send comes after a wildly successful year and a half of climbing. In Fall 2021, she made the first female ascent of Super Tweak 5.14b, America’s first route of the grade, originally climbed by Boone Speed in 1994. Two weeks later she sent the famous Dreamcatcher 5.14d in Squamish, her hardest redpoint at the time. In Winter 2022, she picked up a string of hard bouldering ascents, including Hailstorm V14 in Ogden, Utah, her first of the grade.
In Spring 2022, Kiersch sent Apex Predator 5.14c in Utah. Shortly after graduating with a PhD in occupational therapy, she took a trip to Switzerland’s Magic Wood, sending 16 problems V10 and higher—two V14’s, three V13’s, five V12’s, four V11’s, and two V10’s.
Below, you can watch Seo’s send of La Rambla 5.15a and Kiersch’s send of Dreamcatcher 5.14d.
Chaehyun Seo on La Rambla 5.15a
Michaela Kiersch on Dreamcatcher 5.14d
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