Mari Salvesen’s Bouldery 5.13d Trad First Ascent

In December 2022, Norwegian climber Mari Salvesen made the first ascent of her four-year-long project, Tazlov 5.13d (8b), an extremely bouldery roof crack near Bergen, Norway. The crux of the route is pulling out of the large roof, which goes at around V10 and requires powerful yet funky moves. A variety of techniques are required including feet-first jamming, bad sloping holds, and crimping on tiny edges. A new film detailing her projecting process and first ascent was released today.

Salvesen battled with poor conditions on the route throughout 2022. The crack is often wet in Spring, too hot in Summer, and seepy in Autumn. She was patient and waited for the perfect opportunity, which turned out to be an odd December weather window. Her partner, Pete Whittaker, made the second ascent of the route.

Salvesen has an impressive list of hard trad ticks. In October, she sent El Horror 5.13b, an offwidth roof crack in Spain. On a trip to Indian Creek earlier this year, she sent five 5.13 cracks including an onsight of Wapiti and a flash of the notorious Belly Full of Bad Berries. In 2019, she made the first female ascent of Ray’s Roof E7 6c at Baldstones in Staffordshire. The horizontal offwidth crack remains a gritstone test-piece and is one of the hardest of its kind in the U.K.

Some of Salvesen’s other impressive climbs include The Shield C4/A3 on El Cap, Master’s Edge E7 6b in the Peak District, Misanthropie V11 in Fontainebleau, and Byrkjedalsfossen WI5+ 350m in Rogaland, Norway.

Mari Salvesen on Tazlov 5.13d