10 Trad Climbing Highlights of 2023
Here's a collection of just some of the most inspiring and headline-making all-gear ascents this past year
It was a memorable year of big sends in the world of trad climbing, from hard repeats to cutting-edge first ascents. A new 5.14d was climbed, while several other potentially harder projects were started.
Below is a list of 10 ascents that were not only meaningful to the climbers but that have gone on to inspire others.
Trad is back: Climbers have been pushing the limits of trad climbing for years, but we’ve never seen a year when there was so much stoke for gear ascents. Maybe it’s because the presence of the trad climbing gurus on social media, like the Wide Boyz, have influenced others to enter the ring, or maybe it’s because the upper limits of sport climbing have been explored and people are looking for something with bigger falls and more risk.
Connor Herson dominates: When Connor Herson free climbed The Nose on El Capitan at 15 years old, many climbers wondered if he was going to continue with hard trad. And he didn’t only continue with hard trad, he’s completely changed the game. From his epic trip to Squamish where he climbed several 5.14 trad routes, to his repeats of Meltdown 5.14c and Blackbeard’s Tears 5.14b, to his first free ascent of the 13-pitch Hairline 5.13c, Herson has proved that he’s now one of the world’s leading trad climbers.
Crown Royale climbed: We could make a list of top 10 trad climbs of 2023 by just focusing on Pete Whittaker’s headline-making trad first ascents in 2023. But beyond all of his impressive accomplishments this year, his first ascent of Crown Royale takes the cake. He graded the 100-metre crack climb at 5.14d, which makes it one of the hardest trad lines ever climbers. Watch his FA below.
Lor Sabourin on Stranger Than Fiction: In 2015, Mason Earle made the first ascent of Stranger Than Fiction, a 5.14 crack at the Bartlett Wash in Utah. While locals knew about the impressive line, the climb’s ranking among one of the hardest and most aesthetic in America hadn’t trickled into the global community until this year. The Wide Boyz team of Whittaker and Tom Randall travelled to Utah to project the steep crack, only to find American Lor Sabourin making the coveted second ascent.
Black Mamba downgrade: First climbed by Whittaker and Randall in 2019, Black Mamba is a very unique route. It wasn’t repeated until this year by Mary Eden and then by Mari Salvesen, who downgraded it from 5.14b to 5.14a. Salvesen said, “Although comparing it to similar climbs in the area, like the Crackhouse (5.13b), an 8b+ [5.14a] seems fair in comparison. Which would still be the hardest grade I’ve climbed. I think the main thing that makes or breaks on this climb is if you are able to rest in good jams, because then you can recover in between harder sections and the length of the climb (which is what stands out here) does not actually add that much to the difficulty.”
Babsi Zangerl climbs Meltdown: Austrian climber Barbsi Zangerl repeated Meltdown, a 5.14c trad route in Yosemite first climbed by Beth Rodden in 2008. It’s considered one of the world’s hardest crack climbs and it wasn’t repeated until 2018 by Carlo Traversi and then in 2022 by Jacopo Larcher. Shortly after Zangerl’s ascent, Connor Herson made the fifth ascent.
Return of Didier Berthod: Swiss crack climbing legend Didier Berthod returned to Squamish after moving to Europe 15 years ago. After countless sessions, he made the first ascent of Crack of Destiny 5.14b on The Chief.
Amity Warme in Squamish: Amity Warme is one of the world’s best trad climbers, with a growing list of hard trad sends to her name up to 5.14. From Yosemite big walls, to test-piece single-pitch routes, Warme is one of the most inspiring climbers out there. During her visit to Squamish this summer, she repeated hard routes like Tainted Love 5.13dR and Stélmexw 5.13+. Warme also put considerable effort into repeating Cobra Crack, which she’s yet to redpoint, but we enjoyed her insightful reflections about her experience on Instagram.
Human Skewer repeated: Tom Pearce made the second ascent of The Human Skewer Direct, a spicy trad route at Cornwall’s Chair Ladder. The climb gets the grade of E10 6c, which makes it a bold lead on run-out gear. It was the first repeat after 15 years, but what makes this climb so noteworthy is that Pearce is only 17 and has made several impressive trad ascents this year. We’ll be following his progression as he delves deeper into the world of trad.
Big Show on Gear: The Big Show is one of Canada’s most famous hard sport walls, so we found it to be entertaining when the first all-gear ascent of it went down this year. In June, Eli Bucher climbed Freewill 5.13c, foregoing all the perma- and fixed-draws and instead relying solely on cams and nuts for protection. Read more here.
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