The World’s Hardest Trad Routes by Fall 2019

The world’s hardest trad climbs are mostly located in the U.S.A., Canada and the U.K. with a few spread around Europe. We have six in Canada: Cobra Crack 5.14b, Family Man 5.14a, Le Zebree 5.14a, Sugar Daddy 5.14a, The Path 5.14a and Tom Egan Memorial Route 5.14a. Below is a list compiled by Willis Kuelthau at 99boulders.

The Dawn Wall’s overall grade is 5.14d, but those pitches are bolted. The most difficult trad pitches are 5.14a/b. Jacopo Larcher has the most hard trad sends. His route Tribe is likely 5.14+ or harder, but he didn’t grade it.

The Path 5.14a at Back of the Lake in the Canadian Rockies is likely the most repeated 5.14 trad route. It was first climbed by Sonnie Trotter and was repeated by some of the world’s best all-round climbers. One of the hardest is Magic Line 5.14c, which was sent this week by Hazel Findlay.

View this post on Instagram

Well I‘m pleased as punch. ☺️Gushing and long post to follow… (but feels appropriate). Today I climbed Magic Line fourth try of the day, on the last day of the trip with the pressure on and an emotional roller coaster of (more) breaking foot holds, a sore finger, numb feet and wind-blown water from Vernal Falls. But I worked hard for this one. I knew as soon as I tried it very briefly in November 2018 that if I was ever going to climb one very hard (for me) single pitch this would be it. Just because it was so beautiful to look at, so fun to move upwards on and in such a magical place. So I trained properly with the help of @davidmason85 all summer and I committed myself to these 35 metres for the whole valley season. It was stressful getting heartbreakingly close twice but in reality doing it on the last day of the trip meant that this route was the perfect challenge for me, testing me right to the end. To give you an idea of how hard this route was for me – the lower boulder crux is the hardest boulder problem I’ve ever done. Of course it’s nice to bask in send-glory but really the process is where I’ll take the value from and there’s no chance this route hasn’t made me a better climber/person. Thanks to the Kauks for inspiring me especially Lonnie (who I think has done the route 4 times now ?) and all the valley friends this year who’ve spectated or participated in this process and supported me along the way especially @madeleine_cope @angus.kille @babsizangerl (lucky belay) @jacopolarcher @sandy.russellc @keenantakahashi ? photo: @eliza_earle @blackdiamond @lasportivagram @seatosummitgear

A post shared by Hazel Findlay (@hazel_findlay) on Nov 25, 2019 at 11:06pm PST

Hard Trad

Blackbeard’s Tears 5.14c (8c+), Redwood Coast, U.S.A. by Ethan Pringle
Brozone 5.14b (8c), Gunks, U.S.A. by Andy Salo, Sam Elias
Century Crack 5.14b (8c), Canyonlands, U.S.A. by Tom Randall, Pete Whittaker, Danny Parker
China Doll 5.14a (8b+), Boulder Canyon, U.S.A. by Mike Patz, Matt Segal, Ethan Pringle, Joe Mills, Heather Weidner, Molly Mitchell
Cobra Crack 5.14b (8c), Squamish, Canada by Sonnie Trotter, Nico Favresse, Ethan Pringle, Matt Segal, Will Stanhope, Yuji Hirayama, Alex Honnold, Pete Whittaker, Tom Randall, Ben Harnden, Mason Earle, Logan Barber, Said Belhaj
Das große Knübbeln 5.14a (8b+), Pfalz, Germany by Felix Lehmann
Dihedron 5.14a (8b+), Joshua Tree, U.S.A. by Randy Leavitt
Direquiem 5.14a (8b+), Dumbarton Rock, United Kingdom by Sonnie Trotter
Dunn-Westbay Direct 5.14a (8b+), The Diamond, U.S.A. by Tommy Caldwell, Joe Mills, Jonathan Siegrist
East Coast Fist Bump 5.14a (8b+), Oak Creek Canyon, U.S.A. by Joel Unema
Echo Wall 5.14b (8c), Ben Nevis, United Kingdom by Dave MacLeod
Enter the Dragon 5.14a (8b+), The Fins, U.S.A. by Jonathan Siegrist
Family Man 5.14b (8c), Skaha, Canada by Sonnie Trotter, Ben Harnden
Father’s Day 5.14a (8b+), Donner Summit, U.S.A. by Alan Moore, Nico Favresse, Urs Moosmuller
Ill Fire 5.14a (8b+), Adirondacks, U.S.A. by Peter Kamitses
Iron Monkey 5.14a (8b+), Eldorado Canyon, U.S.A. by Matt Segal, Ethan Pringle, Brian Kim
La Zébrée 5.14a (8b+), Mont-King, Canada by Jean-Pierre Ouellet, Sylvain Masse
Lapoterapia 5.14b (8c), Osso, Italy by Jacopo Larcher
Leve Leve 5.14a (8b+), Pico, Cão Grande São Tomé and Príncipe by Iker Pou, Enoko Pou
Longhope Direct 5.14a (8b+), St. John’s Head, United Kingdom by Dave MacLeod, James McHaffie, Ben Bransby
Magic Line 5.14b/c (8c/+), Yosemite, U.S.A. by Ron Kauk, Lonnie Kauk, Hazel Findlay
Magic Mushroom 5.14a (8b+), Yosemite, U.S.A. by Tommy Caldwell, Justen Sjong, Babsi Zangerl, Jacopo Larcher
Meltdown 5.14c (8c+), Yosemite, U.S.A. by Beth Rodden, Carlo Traversi
Oppositional Defiance Disorder 5.14a (8b+), Adirondacks, U.S.A. by Peter Kamitses
Ozone 5.14a (8b+), Gunks, U.S.A. by Cody Sims, Peter Kamitses, Andy Salo
Planet Claire 5.14a (8b+), Gunks, U.S.A. by Scott Franklin, Char Fetterolf, Andy Salo
Prinzip Hoffnung 5.14a (8b+), Bürser Platte, Austria by Beat Kammerlander, Jacopo Larcher, Babsi Zangerl, Nadine Wallner, Maddy Cope
Proper Soul 5.14a (8b+), New River Gorge, U.S.A. by Brent Perkins
Psychogramm 5.14a (8b+), Bürser Platte, Austria by Alex Luger, Fabi Buhl, Jacopo Larcher
Pura Pura 5.14c (8c+), Valle dell’Orco, Italy by Tom Randall
Pure Pressure 5.14a (8b+), Escalante Canyon, U.S.A. by Ben Rueck
Recovery Drink 5.14c (8c+), Jossingford, Norway by Nico Favresse, Daniel Jung, Pete Whittaker
Rhapsody 5.14c (8c+), Dumbarton Rock, United Kingdom by Dave MacLeod, Sonnie Trotter, Steve McClure, James Pearson, Jacopo Larcher
Sewer Rat 5.14a (8b+), Sundown Ledge, U.S.A. by Dave Sharratt
Silently Does the Sun Shine 5.14a (8b+), Red River Gorge, U.S.A. by Andrew Gearing
South Face (Washington Column), 5.14a (8b+), Yosemite, U.S.A. by Matt Wilder
Stranger Than Fiction 5.14a (8b+), Moab, U.S.A. by Mason Earle
Sugar Daddy 5.14a (8b+), Squamish, Canada by Sonnie Trotter, Ben Harnden
The Almighty 5.14a/b (8b+/c), Teton Canyon, U.S.A. by Ty Mack, Jonathan Siegrist
The Bull 5.14b (8c), Squamish, U.S.A. by Jeremy Smith, Ben Harnden
The Dawn Wall 5.14b (8c), Yosemite, U.S.A. by Tommy Caldwell, Kevin Jorgeson, Adam Ondra
The Nose 5.14a (8b+), Yosemite, U.S.A. by Lynn Hill, Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden, Jorg Verhoeven, Keita Kurakami, Connor Herson, Seb Berthe, Jacopo Larcher, Babsi Zangerl
The Path 5.14a (8b+), Back of the Lake, Canada by Sonnie Trotter, Ethan Pringle, Miles Adamson, Matt Wilder, Peter Kamitses, Tommy Caldwell, Read Macadam, Tim Emmett, Doug McConnell, Babsi Zangerl, Jonathan Siegrist, Jacopo Larcher, Nathan Hadley
Tom Egan Memorial Route 5.14b (8c), Bugaboos, Canada by Will Stanhope
Tribe 5.14+ (9a)?, Cadarese, Italy by Jacopo Larcher

Tribe