Double Send of Tainted Love 5.13d Trad in Squamish

Katha Saurwein and Jorg Verhoeven have repeated Tainted Love 5.13d high above Squamish on The Chief.

“I knew I wanted to try Tainted love before coming here as this stemming corner with an almost closed crack in the corner and blank sidewalls, first ascended by Hazel Findlay looked stunning,” Saurwein is quoted as saying on 8a.nu. “It’s about 15 to 20 metres high and is protected by small offset wires and one cam. At first both Jorg Verhoeven, who also did it, and I had a hard time getting off the ground, we didn’t know how to move, how to position our body. From session to we got a better feeling for the open dihedral and at one point we both had our own beta worked out, which was actually quite different, due to our height difference.”

“On our fourth session our goal was to get used to placing the gear, but as I started climbing it felt great, so I just kept on going. I was so focused on my climbing that I wasn’t really scared, and as I slowly made it higher and higher I found myself up top before realizing what had happened.”

Wohoooooo. Double send! ??? Last week @jorgverhoeven and I both sent 'Tainted Love' 5.13d, our hardest trad climb so far! . At first it felt impossible, I had to learn how to move in that dihedral, how to position my body without loosing balance. On our fourth day on it we decided to try leading it. I didn't plan on giving it an actual go, but I felt really good and everything went better than expected. . So I kept climbing, did move after move and when I reached the top mantle I couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe I just did it and couldn't believe how amazing this line climbs. . Pic by @jonglassberg / @jess_talley, @louderthan11 . @marmot_mountain_europe, @marmot, @lasportivagram, @petzl_official #lt11 #foryourmountain #itsgreatoutthere #accesstheinaccessible #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #climbing_lovers #rockandice #outdoorwomen #climbing #tradclimbing #iloveclimbing #squamish

A post shared by Katharina Saurwein (@katha_saurwein) on Oct 29, 2018 at 8:23am PDT

Findlay made the first ascent of the stem-corner just over a year ago, but it’s already on many climber’s tick list.

Earlier this year, Nalle Hukkataival made no-fall toprope send and then Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll made the second redpoint of the best.

“On a climb where every millimeter counts and where the gear is fiddly and hard to place it makes a big difference,” he told Rock and Ice this summer.

“I climbed flawlessly, executing every move perfectly, making no mistakes. It was one of those magical moments when all the stars align… Before I knew it I was topping out and I let out a big scream. It was like a dream!”

After her first ascent of Tainted Love, Findlay said, “Some people I chatted to suggested I place a bolt or two, ensuring that at least some people would repeat it. I’m not necessarily against bolts on trad routes but the Brit in me could see that this was a better challenge without the bolts. I wanted to leave it as a pure trad challenge and if people wanted just the physical challenge then they could easily top rope it.”