Sonnie Trotter has climbed a new route in Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada to give what he thinks to be one of the hardest trad routes in the world.Sonnie described ´The Path´ as his ´dream project´ and at 45m with 60-80 foot fall potential it´s very runout. On the successful attempt he placed all the gear on lead and although the line is ´safe´ (no ground fall potential) it´s extremely powerful climbing. Trotter is no stranger to hard routes. Last year he climbed the famous Squamish project, Cobra Crack that weighed in at 5.14b/c (f8c) which is roughly equivalent to E10/11. This put it right up there with Dave MacLeod´s Rhapsody as likely the hardest trad route in the world. Trotter actually made the trip over in May with the sole intention of getting on Rhapsody and although he was thwarted by the weather and time he was by all accounts making steady progress. Trotter states on his blog: “After climbing Cobra Crack last year, and trying the E11 route Rhapsody in Scotland in May I can confidently call this new line one of the words hardest and BEST traditional lines. It´s clean, it´s powerful, it´s beautiful. Solid 5.14 and very runout, but not dangerous, no x factor” The Path is 40m long and overhangs 10m in its entirety. The line was actually originally bolted but after toproping it a few times Trotter decided that the route could and should go as a trad line and he removed the bolts before redpointing it.
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| Trotter on his new hard trad line at Lake Louise, Canada. Ph Cory Richards |
You can read more about the new line at Sonnie Trotters blog>> and also at climbing.com Related: Trotter on Rhapsody>> Trotter climbs Cobra Crack>> First Ascent DVD with Trotter on Cobra Crack>>
