With news swirling in the vertical blogosphere that Americans have fallen behind Europeans in the sportclimbing sick-o-drome, it was nice to see someone from these here parts (someone whose name doesn’t rhyme with “wham” or “schwarma,” at any rate) making 5.14 look really, weirdly easy. Enter Jonathan Siegrist, a 24-year-old Boulder, Colorado, climber who’s long been crushing on the local scene but has recently broken new ground, especially with his onsighting/fl ashing efforts.

This October, Siegrist made a long drive to that steep sandstone sanctuary in rural Kentucky, the Red River Gorge (“Kansas is just too damn beautiful to pass up,” he explains). There, in just over two weeks, he dispatched 30 routes 5.13 or harder, eight of which were 5.14a and up, three of which were 5.14a flashes, and three of which were 5.14c’s (each dispatched in two days or less of effort).

“The style of climbing at the Red is far more varied than anyone gives it credit for,” says Siegrist, addressing the area’s rep for overhanging jug hauls. Still, you’d have thought Siegrist climbed the Red out on his recent trip (the only hard 5.14 he didn’t try/send was The Golden Ticket, a 5.14c bolted by the Ohio native Kenny Barker and FA’d by Adam Taylor on October 18). But no, Siegrist plans to return for an extended period of time . . . with a bolting kit and an eye for new lines. “I’m quite convinced that the Red is the United States’ greatest resource for hard sport climbing,” he says.

RRG OMG Siegrist’s 5.13-and-up ticklist, which he compiled in a mere two weeks of climbing and on his first and only trip to the Red:

• Lucifer (5.14c)
• 50 Words For Pump (5.14c)
• Southern Smoke (5.14c)
• Thanatopsis (5.14b)
• Transworld Depravity (5.14a flash)
• Omaha Beach (5.14a flash)
• God’s Own Stone (5.14a flash)
• Cherry Red (5.14a)
• Nagypapa (5.13d — Siegrist’s favorite)
• Swingline (5.13d)
• True Love (5.13d)
• Ultra Perm (5.13d)
• Black Gold (5.13c onsight)
• Pushing Up Daisies (5.13c onsight)
• The Madness (5.13c onsight)
• Golden Boy (5.13b onsight)
• Cut Throat (5.13b flash)
• The Return of Darth Maul (5.13b onsight)
• Paradise Lost (5.13b onsight)
• The Castle Has Fallen (5.13b)
• Dracula (5.13b onsight)
• BOHICA (5.13b onsight)
• The Legend (5.13b flash)
• Elephant Man (5.13b)
• Triple Sec (5.13a onsight)
• Snooker (5.13a onsight)
• Convicted (5.13a onsight)
• Skin Boat (5.13a onsight)
• The Force (5.13a onsight)
• 40 Ounces of Justice (5.13a onsight)

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STATE & ZIP
EMAIL (req)