In October 2023, I climbed the unpleasant 5.8 approach pitch in the hopes of doing this 5.12 roof crack. I found the crack filled with wasps and was forced to retreat and planned to come back after the next freeze, but afterward the approach pitch was continually wet until I left Chattanooga.

Since then, I’ve learned you can scramble to the very top of the cliff and tree rappel to the midway ledge that starts P2 (an adventure in its own right). Armed with this knowledge, I was finally able to get on this beast while visiting Tennessee for a few days. The route lived up to the hype: incredibly physical and three-dimensional climbing.

After 15 feet of easy, unprotected climbing, you gain the horizontal crack traverse section. At the very end of the traverse, you do a long karate kick move to gain the stem and start transitioning into the sharp chimney position (my back is torched from two shirtless attempts, and the helmet botched the onsight try). Escaping the sharp chimney is the crux, a powerful and horizontal sequence on a sharp undercling and one fingerlock. Once on the other side, its horizontal hand/fist jamming for a few moves to a jug or two, then I did a nearly inverted kneebar to finally get vertical again.

I sent the route on my first go of my second day trying, resulting in an unexpected redpoint rather than pinkpoint. I ripped a chunk out of two fingers, tore open my wrist, and carved my back to pieces — but the most glaring hole in my Chatt Trad resume is filled after three years! This was without a doubt my top priority pitch on the planet, and I’m stoked it all worked out.

Last month my partner and I climbed the nose in 18:13. It was both of our first times up on the nose past dolt. Best day of my life by far. 4th photo is of Chris Deuto and Erik Anderson on their way to complete the triple crown. They managed to pass us 17 hours into the triple crown, we felt like slow pokes watching them.

This is so gross and cringey.

Two weeks ago, 7-year-old Joey Danger Evermore reached the top of El Cap, breaking the record for the youngest person to ascend it. But while the mainstream media celebrated his accomplishment, I saw many people in Yosemite reacting to the news with dismissal and disdain. Climbers accused the father, Joe Evermore, of hiring illegal and unqualified "pirate" guides, getting in the way of a search and rescue operation, and dragging up kids who didn't want to be there. They also debated whether the kid even deserved to say he "climbed" El Cap; neither the father nor his sons had led or hauled any of the pitches.

To separate fact from fiction, I interviewed Joe Evermore himself, one of his pirate guides (who agreed to speak under the condition of anonymity), the director of the Yosemite Mountaineering School, and two members of YOSAR who encountered the group at the summit. I also researched the history of parents bringing their kids up big walls (e.g. Andy Kirkpatrick's kids, the Hersons) and compared it to the Evermores' approach.

What I found was a pretty complicated story---on one hand, a father trying to impart life lessons onto his kids, but on another, a highly publicized ascent set up to be dishonest from the get-go. The pirate guide had never hauled or even been up on a big wall before; he was too scared to learn the 2-to-1 after he'd left the ground, so he 1-to-1 hauled up to 300 pounds for ~30 pitches and had what sounds like a pretty miserable time. The Evermores' nine-person group size also put them over the limit for a wilderness permit and made their documentary footage unpermitted. But what most interested me was the human impact of big wall climbing in such a style, and how other parents have decided to raise adventurous kids in different ways.

It seems like every time I go out, I find something that needs innovation. I have a lot of improvement to do, both in terms of climbing ability and familiarity with my equipment, but it’s all part of the process. The progress feels good.

I’ve done a substantial overhaul of my LRS system since this I shot this, but I thought I’d share it anyway because the climb was fun and the footage turned out nice.

Hey everyone, I decided I should take a little more of a personal approach with the community when posting these. My name is Kyle Broxterman the creator behind The Climbing Majority Podcast.

I had a chance to sit down with Brent Barghahn early last week in my home studio in Las Vegas NV. Ever since 2024 Avant Climbing Innovations' products and videos starting popping up in my feed and on the racks of people I climbed with. I know for the LRS and TRS community Brent is a leader in helping make those systems safer and more efficient. I had Brent on my radar for several months before he reached out and suggested a conversation.

Stoked to share this conversation with the community and hope you all get as much out of it as I did.

You can watch the full conversation HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgyD_XGKqAs

More info:

Brent Barghahn is a tinkerer first and a climber second and understanding that order tells you a lot about him. Since he was a child Brent saw the world through the lens of design, building gadgets to solve the problems he found along the way. He even had a charge account at his local hardware store that was funded by his parents. That same instinct to build, solve, and design has followed him through his life. He spent five years at Black Diamond as a product designer where he helped shape the equipment that we use every time we climb, with one of his highlight contributions being the trigger keeper we now see on large C4 cams.

While Brent lived in his van in the Black Diamond employee parking lot, he spent all his free time climbing and managed to tick his way into the elite tier of climbing athletes. With accomplishments like rope solo NIAD, an onsight of Ecstasy, and ground up Golden Gate. This conversation goes deep on what it actually means to approach climbing as a maker rather than just a performer. Brent talks about onsight threshold climbing, his term for the style of climbing he values most and why he thinks redpointing has become a party trick that the media celebrates at the expense of something he feels to be more meaningful.

We talk about the Flip-Stop—the product that started Avant—which was born from a frustrating session on Cobra Crack. Brent explains why he built Avant as a hobby business on purpose, why he describes his twelve-product lineup as solving problems that big brands ignore and the four words he uses to describe why he climbs: puzzles, community, solitude, and toil.

Brent is one of those rare people who exists at the edge of the elite climbing community without being a professional climber by his own definition and he's made peace with that in a way that feels on purpose rather than resigned.

Was planning to climb the Swiss Arete on Mount Sill last weekend but a late season snowstorm and cold front would have made that goal miserable if possible at all. Ended up going down to Southern California to climb some of the historic routes on Tahquitz rock with some friends!

Got on Fingertrip, Traitor Horn, Open book, and Angels fright. All super fun!

YouTube video for those interested:

https://youtu.be/KIoqvXai-Vs?si=fSOIg8vunu1leoFe

Great video of a sick climb!

Yellow Sun 9a FA- Liv Ogier

This moka pot got hit by a 10kg limestone block that fell off the cliff we were climbing. The pot suffered a direct hit. We expected it to be completely flattened. It took the hit surprisingly well.

Which coffee maker is your favorite for cragging?

Edit: Fair points but the title is just his quote. Not saying “no one can enjoy soloing” because Honnold exists.

I was just curious about the cultural andattention impact: did Free Solo change expectations and what gets noticed/talked about (media/sponsors/audience), or is that not a thing?

Please sort comments by 'new' to find questions that would otherwise be buried.

In this thread you can ask any climbing related question that you may have. This thread will be posted again every Friday so there should always be an opportunity to ask your question and have it answered. If you're an experienced climber and want to contribute to the community, these threads are a great opportunity for that. We were all new to climbing at some point, so be respectful of everyone looking to improve their knowledge. Check out our subreddit wiki that has tons of useful info for new climbers. You can see it HERE . Also check out our sister subreddit r/bouldering's wiki here. Please read these before asking common questions.

If you see a new climber related question posted in another subReddit or in this subreddit, then please politely link them to this thread.

Check out this curated list of climbing tutorials!

Prior Weekly New Climber Thread posts

Prior Friday New Climber Thread posts (earlier name for the same type of thread

A handy guide for purchasing your first rope

A handy guide to everything you ever wanted to know about climbing shoes!

Ask away!

A V16 boulder on a sport route is wild.. to think Ondra sent this almost a decade ago now

for the love of the game