Watch Jonathan Siegrist on Full Metal Brisket, New 5.15a
The top American climber spent a handful of days piecing together the crux sequence
Jon Siegrist just did the first ascent New River Gorge’s old project Full Metal Brisket 5.15a. After a 5.14c intro, the end of the route rocks a powerful crux.
“I heard about this wild project in the Coliseum on my first trip to West Virginia seven years ago,” said Siegrist. “The rumor was that the moves had maybe all been done but linking them would be crazy.”
Within the 63,000 acres of New River Gorge National River are over 1,400 established rock climbs. “The New” has become one of the most popular climbing areas in the country. The cliffs at New River Gorge are made up of a very hard sandstone, and range from 10 to 40 metres. The rock is very featured, and an abundance of crack and face routes are available.
“I wandered up the thing early in our trip here to find a route that, uniquely, seemed characterized by how bad the holds were and not so much by how far apart they were,” said Siegrist. “A rarity in The New. It took him a number of sessions an “nearly exploding my knee to sort out the hyper cryptic crux.”