Canadian Sonnie Trotter has redpointed The Path (5.14 R) at the Back of the Lake area in Lake Louise, Alberta. The 130-foot pitch overhangs about 30 feet, following crimps and seams up a quartzite face. After a 5.11 warm-up section, the climb passes four 5.13 cruxes, separated by decent shakeout holds. The last of these cruxes is a V10 boulder problem—a huge sideways throw to an edge—over marginal gear. Then there’s a 30-foot runout to the top. Trotter said the climb was “safe” despite 60- to 70-foot fall potential. 

The climb was an old project that was partially bolted about two decades ago, with the intent of leading it as a mixed gear and bolt route, and then later was fully bolted. After toproping the line a few times, Trotter decided the route could and should go as a trad climb, and he removed the bolts. Before the send, he worked on the climb for about 10 days spread over five weeks. He placed all the gear on the lead during his attempts and redpointed the route the first time he stuck the crux dyno on the lead. 

“After climbing Cobra Crack [a 5.14 finger crack at Squamish] last summer, and then making fast progress but not redpointing Rhapsody [an E11 in Scotland], the world’s other hardest trad climb, in May, I feel that it’s safe
to say that this climb ranks among the world’s most difficult,” Trotter said. “I can’t compare the three as they all climb so differently, but I feel that it’s solid 5.14 trad, and I am stoked that climbs of this nature are becoming more and more feasible.” 

This isn’t the first hard climb that Trotter has retro-tradded. In 2004, he led the East Face of the Monkey Face (5.13d) at Smith Rock in Oregon, placing gear on the lead and not clipping any of the bolts on the route. He is also the only person to make a serious attempt at repeating Dave MacLeod’s Rhapsody; Trotter made two visits to Scotland last spring and came close to linking the route on toprope, despite extensive rain that limited his attempts. He plans to return. Rhapsody is 5.14c with a very serious, 60- to 70-foot fall—there’s potential for hitting a ledge—and was given the British grade of E11, the only one in the world. If The Path is just as hard but safer, it likely would be graded E10 on the British scale. 

Date of Ascent: August 20, 2007 

Source: Sonnie Trotter

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