Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold and Kevin Jorgeson have joined forces to establish a new free line on El Capitan. The line initially heads up Passage of Freedom, a free route that was first climbed by Leo Houlding around 18 years ago and then continues up twenty more pitches to the top.
Aiming to keep this journey up El Capitan slightly more low-key than previous outings on the wall, the team have stayed quiet about their objectives on the wall. Caldwell described Leo's Passage of Freedom as 'way ahead of its time and a work of art in itself featuring El Cap's first sideways dyno.' Houlding also bolted the hood badge of an Alfa Romeo to the wall, which he used as a handhold to get past a blank section. Caldwell and Honnold were able to navigate around this oddity.
After weeks of work commitments, Caldwell and Honnold went for a 'Hail Mary' attempt on the wall. Unfortunately, Jorgeson couldn't join them, but Caldwell and Honnold managed to free the route. Cadwell has described the climbing as 'some of the most spectacular I have found.'
For Caldwell, this route is the latest in a long line of first free ascents on El Capitan. Some of the classics he's climbed include West Buttress (5.13c/8a+), Dihedral Wall (5.14a/8b+), Magic Mushroom (5.14a/8b+) and of course, The Dawn Wall (5.14d).
Comments
5.13d?
More details.
https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/interview-tommy-caldwell-talks-his-and-honnolds-new-el-cap-free-route/
Sounds like it may well settle at 14a considering what Tommy said about the crux pitch and the calibre of the team involved in FA. Which if I'm not mistaken would tie it with Magic Mushroom for 2nd hardest free route up El Cap? Not bad for a 3 week job!
Surprised I'd not heard about Leo Houlding bolting on an Alfa Romeo badge as a hold before. There's a bit more about that in the American Alpine Journal here: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Tt0-o0IQopkC&pg=PA172&lpg=PA172&dq=leo+houlding+alfa+romeo&source=bl&ots=GWWcshy-qj&sig=ACfU3U0-3pyp-yc12ozpI03xfgc8hg0MxA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwif4oSj_drlAhWUiVwKHcfuAk84ChDoATAAegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=leo%20houlding%20alfa%20romeo&f=false
I would love to hear the back-story of the Alfa Romeo badge..
So they did an existing (hard) route, then added 20 pitches. Twenty. Still find it hard to get my head round that sort of thing.