New 13-Pitch 5.13+ on Mount Whitney
With a 55-metre pitch of 5.13+ laybacking, Hairline is now one of California's hardest alpine free routes
Connor Herson and Fan Yang have made the first free ascent of Hairline, a 13-pitch alpine trad route on the east face of Mount Whitney. The mountain is the highest peak in the contiguous United States at 4,421 metres. It was first climbed in 1987 by Bruce Bindner and Alex Schmauss.
Herson and Yang noted that there were three crux pitches, a 55-metre 5.13d, a 5.12 slab and a powerful 5.13-. Herson said it’s a cool route up a striking line. Yang wrote an excellent trip report about their ascent here, saying, “We wanted to do the entire route in order, and placing all gear on the go. I honestly did not care for stripping the gear after each attempt, but Connor insisted on this style, so I went along with it. We also did not stash any food or water or gear, and hauled everything we needed with us from leaving the ground on Pitch 1.”
You can also read a story about the first ascent by Bindner here, where he says, “Alex bypasses the roof by nailing a thin, expanding crack out on the very edge of the east Arete. This brings him within arm’s reach of the wide crack, with the roof below. He leapfrogs the single #5 Friend up the crack (how can you leapfrog with only one piece?) some 50 feet or so until it narrows to the comfortable width of four inches.”
Herson has had one of the most noteworthy rock seasons of the past few years, repeating routes like Cobra Crack 5.14b trad, Crack of Destiny 5.14b trad, Spirit Quest 5.14d sport, Blackbeard’s Tears 5.14 trad, Air Swedin 5.13R and more. Yang has repeated several test-piece routes, including East Coast First Bump 5.14 trad and the 10-pitch Dream Team 5.13 trad in Yosemite.
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