Mike Doyle Climbs New 5.14b Near Vegas

Ephemeral Key is a stout new sport route at a limestone crag called 5G wall in Nevada

Gripped June 16, 2023

Mike Doyle has sent a multi-year project at the 5G wall near Las Vegas that he’s called Ephemeral Key and graded 5.14b. Few Canadians have been climbing 5.14 for as long as Doyle, who’s originally from B.C. but is currently based in Nevada.

Doyle bolted the route in 2020, pieced it together in 2021 and had it down to one hang last year. Due to an injury, Doyle couldn’t fully train for the climb until this past winter. Ephemeral Key is found at the White Wall Sector, where other difficult climbs such as Event Horizon 5.15b and Black Hole Sun 5.15a are located.

Doyle began comp climbing in the mid-1990s, established Skaha’s first 5.13 called No More Foreplay 5.13b in 1997 and was one of Canada’s first climbers to send 5.14. Over the years, he’s climbed some of the world’s most classic hard routes, including Necessary Evil 5.14c at the VRG and Tom et Je Ris 5.14a in Verdon.

In spring 2022, we published a feature on Doyle, which you can read here. Watch two videos of Doyle below, one from 1998 on Pulse 5.14a near Squamish and one showing his projecting of Necessary Evil. Read what he said about Ephemeral Key on Instagram.