Throughout the first week of September, Anna Hazelnutt added an extension to the 5.13d route Peace on the west face of Medlicott Dome in Tuolumne Meadows, which she named Love and graded at 5.14a. She redpointed Peace on July 2 after which did the identical with the extension Love on September 1. From there, she related to Bachar-Yerian for 2 further pitches, which, although simpler at grades of 5.8/5.9 and 5.8/5.9, are very runout. Though she despatched all of the pitches individually, she had not but climbed them back-to-back, so the route awaited a steady ascent.
Final week, on September 13, Anna Hazelnutt despatched your complete route in a day, calling the entire climb Inside Peace. Initially planning for a “working day,” she did the crux pitches twice. Although it’s solely 5 pitches in complete (5.11d, 5.13d, 5.14a, 5.8/9, 5.8/9), since she did the cruxes twice that day, for her, that meant one pitch of 5.11d, two of 5.13d, two of 5.14a, and two runout pitches graded 5.8/5.9 and 5.8/5.9 (on the Bachar-Yerian) to succeed in the highest.
After rehearsing the cruxes one after one other, Hazelnutt led your complete route in a single push, along with her climbing accomplice, Jake Squier (who despatched “Peace” earlier this season), jugging with a pack and offering help. She led the primary pitch (5.11d), then tackled the crux of “Peace” (5.13d) first utilizing a Mini Traxion, after which efficiently despatched it clear on lead. She repeated the method on the third pitch, “Love” (5.14a), the place she labored the strikes through top-rope solo, then lowered and despatched it clear.
“Climbing Peace after which Love again to again was actually intense, particularly since you’re racing in opposition to the solar,” Hazelnutt advised me earlier as we speak. “You already know, you don’t have a lot time to do each earlier than the wall heats up and the holds grow to be too greasy to grip.”
She continued, “I didn’t get a lot relaxation, and it felt like loads. It took all day, and I felt exhausted on the high. I used to be completely beat mountain climbing again down. I bear in mind pondering, ‘Left foot, proper foot, left. Don’t roll an ankle or journey.’ I used to be so drained.”
On Instagram, she wrote: “I awoke at 1 am ravenous as a result of apparently one huge dinner was not sufficient.”
Reflecting on the expertise, she added, “I feel it was the toughest day of climbing of my life. And I’ll most likely have tougher days to return.”
Mountain Challenge describes the west face of Medlicott Dome as “maybe the perfect crag in Tuolumne” and refers to “Peace” (first climbed by Ron Kauk in 1995) as “one of many best face climbs in Yosemite. Perhaps the best.” The unique route ended halfway up the wall till Anna Hazelnutt added her “Love” extension on September 1. Nonetheless, a full in-a-day redpoint of the mixed route was nonetheless pending, which she accomplished on September 13.
I spoke with Yosemite climbing legend Mike Graham (founding father of the out of doors delicate items model Gramicci and Stone Grasp Press), who praised Anna’s fashion of ascent. Hazelnutt additionally contacted first-ascensionist Ron Kauk, who “was so excited,” she says.
After sending the well-protected 5.14 pitch Love, she stored the climb spicy because it neared and finally joined the close by 5.11c X-rated route “Bachar-Yerian” (B/Y) on the high of the five-pitch wall. The fourth pitch ended close to an previous quarter-inch bolt that she selected to not clip, as an alternative utilizing a close-by crack, which she protected with cams to construct an anchor. The ultimate pitch of Bachar-Yerian/Inside Peace (5.9) has just one previous, fastened piton for cover and no different gear choices as you ascend the knobby face.
“I assume the one setback was I didn’t count on to do it that day,” Anna Hazelnutt explains, so she rehearsed the crux pitches earlier than main them clear. “I top-roped Peace after which thought, properly, I ought to go and ship that. Then I did the identical on ‘Love’ and despatched ‘Love.’ So, I assume I did each pitches twice, which most likely is why it felt so onerous.”
After the crux of Love, the terrain eased off significantly however with extreme penalties. Hazelnutt remembered how runout the terrain was arising — now within the solar — and did her finest to include her pleasure to ship the entire route in a day lastly. She needed to steadiness that thrill with calming her nerves in preparation for the difficult terrain forward.
By the point she topped out, the winds had picked up, and the temperatures had dropped to a cold degree. Now following free as an alternative of jugging, Jake Squier confronted a sweeping and unprotected traverse.
Hazelnutt remarked that it was simply as harmful on high rope as on lead, maybe much more so. Jake managed this whereas laden with a heavy pack of water and kit.
“I used to be like, ‘You bought the worst little bit of the deal,’” she recollects, pondering of her accomplice’s scenario under her.
Jake wrote on Instagram, “It was so enjoyable to be a part of the method. Such a cool addition to Tuolumne.”
Hazelnutt additionally posted on Instagram, saying, “I couldn’t have completed it with out the top-tier help and finest belays from Jake. I’m so psyched and drained.”
Her ascent considerably contributes to Yosemite’s Excessive Nation, establishing one of many space’s most constantly difficult routes (if not the toughest). “It nonetheless hasn’t actually sunk in but, you realize,” she says. “I don’t know what its impression is. It connects two very well-known routes, like the primary two pitches of Peace into the final two of the B/Y. It simply feels so particular to be the primary to do it.”
