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Tim Emmett and Read Macadam Send The Path 5.14R in Rockies

Tim Emmett and Read Macadam have sent The Path 5.14R at Back of the Lake next to Lake Louise in the Rockies. The duo had been working on the test-piece over the past few weeks.

The Path was first climbed Sonnie Trotter in 2007 and had been repeated by Ethan Pringle, Matt Wilder, Peter Kamitses, Miles Adamson and Tommy Caldwell.

Macadam sent the route on his birthday and noted the route was his hardest trad send over 5.12a.

The Path starts up Wicked Gravity, a 20-metre 5.11a, before heading into a steep wall with run-out gear in solid quartzite.

Originally bolted during the Peter Arbic-era of development at the Lake, the route had been worked by top climbers, such as Ben Firth, before the bolts were chopped.

Trotter sent The Path after about 10 days of work over five weeks. After Caldwell sent the route, he said, “Definitely one of the best single pitch trad routes on the world.”

Check out a collection of their Instagram posts below, click on the first to watch a clip.

So psyched to climb #ThePath yesterday with @readmacadam. It took 8 visits and 6 attempts on lead placing all the gear each time. What an incredible and exciting adventure in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The climbing is so fun with immaculate rock and the gear is good but spaced. It's given 5.14aR (F8b+) which means if you make a mistake you might take a big fall but you're not going to die 😉 I've wanted to do this route for years ever since I saw @sonnietrotter 's video of the FA in 2007. Sonnie first came onto my radar when he repeated Dave MacLeods #Rhapsody (5.14bR) in #Scotland probably the first E11 in the world. Sonnies trait was to climb hard routes protected by traditional gear rather than bolts. Being British, it's something I have aspired to do aswell so the Path was the perfect climb to try. I'm going to miss the daily commute to the back of the lake, such a special place, sometimes on quiet days you might see a grizzly bear down by the water, and to top it all off Katie and I got married there too, so to have a team ascent with Read on his birthday felt really cool. We had a great time and definitely the highlight of my traditional climbing career ?? Thanks for the photo @skupinski #liveclimbrepeat @mountainhardwear @blackdiamond @scarpa_uk @adidaseyewearuk #team_elevate #eatcleanclimbharder

A photo posted by Tim Emmett (@timemmett) on

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