Molly Mitchell Sends Fraid Line: Hard Eldorado Trad

Molly Mitchell has repeated Fraid Line, a bold trad route that goes at 5.13a in Eldorado Canyon. First freed in 2002 by Jim Belcer and Topher Donahue, the route climbs an impressive line on the Rincon Wall.

Fraid Line is one of many classics on this wall that all lead to one of the two anchors. The mountainproject.com description is: “Start left of Center Route as for Surf’s Up, then break right underneath a roof with good holds to stem on for the feet. Get some gear, then make a reachy-ish move to a spiky undercling. From here, several more mini-cruxes culminate with an exciting reach for a good hold. Traverse left into the last few feet of Surf’s Up and use the Surf’s Up two piton anchor. A yellow Alien and a large nut (BD #10 or so) back this up well. The cruxes add up to build a big pump before the final 5.12 moves above small gear.”

Mitchell wrote on Instagram, “Not gonna lie I was nervous leading this. I haven’t had to get in the headspace of placing smaller gear and being confident during run outs in a long time. I think this was a good line though to scare me into focus mode, but the gear is still really good, just sparse. The last two pieces I placed while redpointing were a very small nut and a double zero cam, and then it’s run out for a while for the crux and top. I skipped clipping the pecker shown here only because I didn’t bring another.”

On Sunday I redpointed “Fraid Line,” a 5.13a PG13 trad route in Eldorado Canyon. I haven’t lead a trad route in a few years. When I moved to Vegas in 2016, I began to focus a lot on sport climbing. Moving back to Boulder in September, I knew I wanted to keep pushing my sport game, but I also missed the feeling of trying hard above gear. I’m so excited to be getting back into it, and what a rush sending this line was! Not gonna lie I was nervous leading this. I haven’t had to get in the headspace of placing smaller gear and being confident during run outs in a long time. I think this was a good line though to scare me into focus mode, but the gear is still really good, just sparse. The last two pieces I placed while redpointing were a very small nut and a double zero cam, and then it’s run out for a while for the crux and top. I skipped clipping the pecker shown here only because I didn’t bring another draw?‍♀️. Thanks @gsundem, @adam_brink, Matt Reeser, & @codyscarpella for the support! And @allez.ryan.venga for the gear beta! And of course @robkepley_photography for the epic photo ?. Death stare!!! ???

A post shared by Molly Mitchell (@climberchica) on Mar 19, 2019 at 8:16am PDT

Recently, Mitchell joined Sasha DiGiulian on an ascent of Samadhi, a 13-pitch 5.13 in Mexico on the Shaman Wall in El Salto. Mitchell wrote about the climb in a story for Rock and Ice, in which she said: “I was back on belay as Sasha again went for the lead on the second 12d.

“She powered her way up, darting back and forth, testing whether a hold was secure and whether it was the right sequence. Anyone else might have completely lost his or her patience and let go, but not Sasha. She fought. When she reached the anchor, she joked that it felt like either 5.12d or or 5.13b.

“I followed and fell so many times I lost count. Maybe holds had broken off, maybe it was just tough. Either way, Sasha’s impressive onsight was the motivation I had needed to keep trying.” Visit here for the full story.

Watch this short 2018 video featuring Mitchell, who has been quietly ticking some of America’s most difficult trad and sport routes.

Molly Mitchell