Nina Caprez Onsights The Shadow 5.13 in Squamish
Only Peter Croft and Em Pellerin have onsighted steep dihedral pitch on University Wall
Nina Caprez has become the third climber to onsight The Shadow 5.13 pitch on University Wall in Squamish. Last year, Em Pellerin, who’s also in Squamish for the Arc’teryx Climbing Academy this year, onsighted the steep dihedral. Caprez was teamed up with Lynn Hill.
Peter Croft made the onsight first-free-ascent of The Shadow in 1988 and the grade has been suggested at 5.12d, 5.12d+ and 5.13-. After freeing The Shadow, Croft said, “I craved an odyssey that required my all—and quite possibly more…. I wanted to dive in and draw blood, and it was OK if that blood was my own.”
A number of top climbers have repeated the line, including Sonnie Trotter, Jasmin Caton, Brad Gobright, Brette Harrington, Jesse Huey, Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell and Will Stanhope. Senja Palonen was the first woman to send the stem corner in 2012 and said after, “It’s one of the most beautiful and iconic routes in Squamish.”