Said Belhaj Gets Lucky 13th on Cobra Crack 5.14

It took Swedish climber Said Belhaj only eight days to sort out Cobra Crack 5.14b in Squamish for the route’s 13th free ascent.

It’s also the third time the hard finger crack has been climbed this summer, the first was Mason Earle and the second was Logan Barber.

I dont like giving anyone, or anything, the Finger. Neither do I like taming animals. But sometimes exceptions have to be made. Back in -05 @sonnietrotter and I hiked up to check Didier work a futuristic, perfect crack in Squamish. It was a "restday" so I did a few easy routes and went up to touch the perfect granite splitter on a top rope. Several years and ascents later I was finally back to try to tame the Cobra myself. Thanks to all the preparations, beta and help I managed to do it. I felt lucky and luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity (Seneca). Now in LA trying to buy a car and fish tacos -should be a bit easier?! ? Nathaniel Vigeant @nvimage @petzl.sverige @petzl_official #petzl #petzlteam #petzlsirocco @lasportiva_sverige @lasportivagram #c2verticalsafety @thule #thulecrew @verve_climbing #verveclimbing @lyofood #lyoteam @kaskofsweden #kaskofsweden @climbskinspain @problemsolver_hangboards @clifbar #clifbarsweden @metabo_germany #hilleberg #cobracrack #squamish #climbing_photos_of_instagram

A post shared by Said Belhaj (@said_belhaj) on Sep 8, 2017 at 1:29pm PDT

Belhaj visited Squamish in 2005 on the Petzl Roc Trip with climbers such as Lynn Hill and Chris Sharma, which you can watch a film about below.

In 2016, Belhaj climbed Papichulo 5.15a in Spain. He wrote in a story after, “I usually prefer hard routes that are beyond the radar and popularity, mostly because I don’t like standing in line to try.

Taking a few days to acclimatize, catching up with old and new friends, touristing and climbing at Cheakamus canyon. This photo by @johnevansphoto is from the -05 Petzl Roctrip when we tore down the place. Also went by the party venue to see if it had fully recovered since then -it hadn't. But now its about time to get busy with the project, time to go crack-o-holic. @petzl_official @petzl.sverige #petzl #petzlteam @lasportivagram @lasportiva_sverige #c2verticalsafety @thule #thulecrew @clifbar #clifbarsweden @kaskofsweden #kaskofsweden #hilleberg @lyofood #lyoteam @climbskinspain @problemsolver_hangboards @verve_climbing #verveclimbing #squamish #cheakamuscanyon #climbing_photos_of_instagram

A post shared by Said Belhaj (@said_belhaj) on Aug 29, 2017 at 9:37am PDT

“But there is a reason why these lines are so popular: the obvious beauty, the rock quality, the moves and rhythm. I think any climber would like to climb on them and I hope as many as possible will.”

Cobra Crack Sends
2006 – Sonnie Trotter (Canada)
2008 – Nicolas Favresse (Belgium)
2008 – Ethan Pringle (USA)
2008 – Matt Segal (USA)
2009 – Will Stanhope (Canada)
2009 – Yuji Hirayama (Japan)
2011 – Alex Honnold (USA)
2013 – Pete Whittaker (UK)
2013 – Tom Randall (UK)
2016 – Ben Harnden (Canada)
2017 – Mason Earle (USA)
2017 – Logan Barber (Australia)
2017 – Said Belhaj (Sweden)