I've written before about Jonathan Siegrist, the Colorado sport climber who's been establishing hard new routes in the United States while many of his peers have focused their efforts on destinations like Spain. This month, Siegrist was at it again. The 26-year-old traveled to Idaho's Fins, where he put up the state's hardest pitch, the 5.14d Algorithm. Luckily, Keith Ladzinski and Andy Mann of 3 Strings Media were on hand to capture the send. On his , Siegrist describes how it went down:
“I had climbed through the bottom so many times that by now it was essentially auto-pilot. I woke up when I surprisingly stuck the low crux … suddenly … 'Andy, Keith—dudes, get the f*ck out of my way!' I had no intention of sticking this move, but now it was on. I knew that this had to be the send. I needed to do it—the bottom was so unpredictable for me that I honestly wasn't sure that I'd ever get through it.”
“I had one-hung to the top before from the low crux but it wasn't easy, in fact, it was gnarly. I rested well at the mid-way point and launched into the upper crux with fire in my eyes. I could not fall. I think by the end I was screaming at every move—more nervous than tired—but definitely tired. I clipped the chains with swollen forearms and bleeding tips.”
Besides Algorithm, Siegrist established a number of other routes during his trip, most notably The Catalyst (5.14b), Idaho's first 5.14, and a difficult gear- and bolt-protected crack he dubbed Enter the Dragon (5.14a).
—Adam Roy