Having repeated the hardest Canada had to offer in terms of sport climbing, and having added some first ascents including Fightclub, 9b, Alex Megos decided to have a play at trad climbing. I can imagine Sonnie urging him on quite a bit here.

Sonnie writes on fb/Instagram:

9 years ago I climbed a pretty sweet face of rock at Lake Louise here in the Canadian Rockies. I called it The Path (path of least resistance:) and graded it 5.14aR. Placing the small but (hopefully) solid gear on a 40 meter pitch certainly adds something to the already challenging moves. I knew then that someday, someone would come along and climb it ground up, and I was stoked for that. With less than 10 overall ascents, I'm quite sure it has never been climbed ground up. 

Well, that day was yesterday afternoon. 

After giving him route beta, watching some footage and handing him the exact rack he needed, @alexandermegos took gear climbing to another level with an all out ground up flash of the route. His endurance and patience were both inspiring and calming, he moved through each sequence with confidence but then allowed ample time to rest and recover. He climbed the route like he had done it 10 times already, (perhaps in his mind). He executed each sequence perfectly. It was AMAZING and was not without a good fight and a decent pump.

I'm not sure, but could this be the first flash ascent of a 5.14a/8b+ trad climb?

So, does this mean Alex will now give up sport climbing?
Haha I'm a trad climber now dude! I hate bolts and I love loose rock and sketchy gear now! 😉

Photo by Sonnie Trotter.