Today is 5.14 Day, Landmark Ascents
From the world's very first 5.14 to the most challenging traditional climbing the world has seen
May 14 is 5.14 day, which means you are either scanning guidebooks for the route of your dreams, searching for a season-long project or watching the pros take down some of the coolest lines ever established.
The first 5.14, Punks in the Gym, was climbed in 1985 by German Climber Wolfgang Güllich in Mt. Arapiles, Australia. Güllich was the pioneer of hard sport climbing. Two years later, Güllich would climb Wallstreet in the Frankenjura, establishing the world’s first 5.14b.
By 1990, Ben Moon had climbed Hubble on Raven Tor, grading it 5.14c. This ascent marked a new level in difficulty, but also opened doors to truly difficult rock climbing. One year later, Güllich returned to the Frankenjura to establish Action Directe, the world’s first 9a (5.14d). To this day, an ascent of this finger-bludgeoning test-piece makes headlines.
Though these strong men led the way for hard sport climbing, it would take Lynn Hill to bring the world into hard traditional climbing with her ascent of The Nose on Yosemite’s El Capitan. The most challenging pitch, Changing Corners, she rated 5.13b/c. The line did not see a second ascent for ten years, and was later upgraded, by consensus, to 5.14a/b.
In 1996, Ron Kauk would establish Magic Line, the world’s first 5.14b on gear. It would then take another ten years to put up the first gear-protected 5.14c Rhapsody, cementing Yosemite as the heart of difficult traditional climbing.
Scott Franklin’s 1987 ascent of Planet Claire in the Gunks was also considered the world’s first 5.14a traditional climb, but due to the semi-bolted crux, that title is in contention. The ascent is noteworthy nonetheless.
In March of 2019 Jacopo Larcher made the ascent of Tribe in Cadarese. With ascents such as La Rambla 5.15a under his belt, it is possible that this climb could be the world’s first 5.14d traditional climb. It has not been repeated. Top Climber Stefano Ghisolfi said, “Jacopo Larcher just sent his trad project in Cadarese, he worked it for three years and finally sent it. He didn’t say anything about the grade, but I’m pretty sure this is the hardest trad route in the world, maybe the first trad 9th grade [5.14d]?”
5.14 in Canada
In Canada, there exist a number of world class 5.14 climbs. Crags around Squamish, Canmore, and Lion’s Head make up a great number of these climbs.
The Pulse was Canada’s first 5.14. The famous route was established in 1995 by Jim Sandford in Cheakamus Canyon and saw the beginning of hard sport climbing in Canada. In 2017, Canadian Olympian Alannah Yip established the first female ascent of the route. Yip said, “For all intents and purposes it shouldn’t have gone – it was my fourth try of the day so I was exhausted, and I was so scatterbrained that I forgot my harness at home. Luckily I could borrow one and kept it together for the send!”
Since 1995, Canada saw a cascade of world class rock climbs. 2004 saw Sonnie Trotter’s ascent of Forever Expired 5.14d in Lion’s Head, Ontario. This rarely repeated line acted as a reference point for Joe Skopec’s Home Away From Home grading it 5.14+.
2005 saw Chris Sharma’s first ascent of Dreamcatcher underneath the Stawamus Chief. The line was originally bolted by Sharma and Trotter on the Cacodemon Boulder and is known for its technical difficulty and powerful style. Originally graded 5.14c or harder, it would take Olympian Sean McColl to cement the grade at 5.14d.
In recent years, 5.14 has become more regular as Canadians grow stronger. In 2014 Julien Bourassa-Moreau would make the first ascent of Metelkova 5.14b at Baldy in Quebec. Four years later, Elan Jonas McRae would climb The Remnant in Skaha, a project bolted by Trotter back in 2018. McRae would grade it 5.14c.
Though Canadian sport climbing is unquestionably difficult, some of the hardest Canadian 5.14s exist on gear. Trotter’s Cobra Crack was the hardest pure crack climb in the world, at the time of it’s first ascent in 2006. The route is unique in trad climbing, and features a mono undercling that climbs into bouldery crux.
Canadian Will Stanhope would go on to repeat this route, before establishing the Tom Egan Memorial Route in 2015. The route was established on Snowpatch Spire in the Bugaboos and follows a nearly blank 5.14 face pitch before reaching the “infamous splitter.” The thin pitch, Blood on the Crack, goes at 5.14-. These two pitches of 5.14 make this the most challenging alpine free climb in the world.
Dreamcatcher 5.14d
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