Cameron Hörst Opens Martial Law 5.15a

On June 10, Cameron Hörst made the first ascent of Martial Law 5.15a at Robber’s Roost on Mount Charleston, thirty minutes outside of Las Vegas. A newly released film by Mellow details the story behind his send and this new 5.15 American sport climb.

Martial Law is a direct start to Arrested Development 5.14+, a line first climbed by Ethan Pringle back in 2012. After Pringle’s first ascent, Andy Raether had the idea of adding a more difficult start by beginning the climb at the very back of the steepest part of the cave. Raether bolted the direct start and Joe Kinder put in work to prep the line. Raether and Kinder then opened the project to the broader community, with Kinder introducing Hörst to the climb.

Starting from the depths of the cave, Martial Law adds a steep intro of 5.14a/b climbing directly into the crux of Arrested Development. This two-move V9 crux is then followed by more pumpy climbing up the 5.14b headwall. The original start of Arrested Development clocks in at around 5.12 before the boulder problem crux, making Martial Law a significantly tougher challenge.

“[Sending Martial Law] is a milestone in my climbing life/career and likely my biggest climbing achievement yet,” said Hörst via Instagram after his FA. “As a climbing community, we should be thankful and inspired to have people like Joe and Andy as pioneers of high end sport climbing vision in the states.”

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Hörst is pro climber and climbing trainer and performance coach. He was a climbing prodigy, sending 5.13 at age nine and 5.14 at age 11. Before Martial Law, his hardest redpoint to date was Bone Tomahawk 5.15a in Utah, which he sent in 2021. In addition to these two 5.15a’s, Hörst has climbed eight 5.14d’s and 15 5.14c’s according to his 8a.nu profile. He is the son of Eric Hörst, acclaimed climbing coach and author How to Climb 5.12 and Training for Climbing.

Cameron Hörst’s Martial Law 5.15a First Ascent