Magic Mushroom Freed!!!!!!

Post by **sendit** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:30 pm

Utterly amazing! Eleven pitches of 5.13 to 5.14 climbing and nine 5.12 to 5.12+ pitches. Longest hardest, big wall free climb in the world!!!
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web08s/news ... om-details
After working the route for five weeks, Caldwell and Sjong began their free ascent on May 12 at 5 a.m. Climbing ground up in a push, they each freed every pitch, swinging leads. The route is reported as very high quality, and very steep: the top twelve pitches overhang the entire way. Though the 5.14a crux of the Dihedral Wall (VI 5.8 A3, Baldwin-Cooper-Denny, 1962), which Caldwell freed at 5.14a in 2005, is perhaps more difficult than any single move on Magic Mushroom, Magic Mushroom is far more sustained, with eleven 5.13 or 5.14 pitches and nine 5.12 to 5.12+ pitches.

Post by **heidiramma** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:50 pm

oh, it's a "route". Darn mind games!

Post by **heidiramma** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:50 pm

Post by **Crankmas** » Wed May 21, 2008 2:10 pm

wow- the photo of Sutton and Burton chilling in the ditch after the FA of Magic Mushroom is a classic, these two and Charlie Porter were some of my first heroes-

Post by **Saxman** » Wed May 21, 2008 2:17 pm

"The route featured technical chimney climbing that maxed out the rubber on their shoes and wore away the skin on their backs. Sjong was reported to have had gaping wounds on his back from rubbing up "miles" of flared climbing."