Justin Edl

Justin Edl, 28, has been wedging himself into big cracks for the last 10 years, putting up a bunch of hard first ascents, most notably in Vedauwoo, Wyoming. In August 2009, the Laramie, Wyoming, native established Home on the Range (5.14-), a 50-foot, rightslanting crack rumored to be one of the hardest trad lines in America. Other FAs include The Vedajuicer (5.13+), The Red Snapper (5.13), and Monsters Incorporated (5.13). “The crack climbing there is so unique,” Edl says about the ‘Woo. “The cracks are steep, technical, and powerful, so they make for some very interesting climbing.” He also boulders, and has cranked many of the Vedauwoo’s hardest problems.

Sponsors: Red Chili and Wild Country

You’re into big cracks, right? What’s it take to climb them?
Creativity, patience, and a willingness to suffer, though that last part is way over-hyped. Even so, most people can’t or won’t get past the suffering bit. I find the best analogy to be things like the cold involved in winter sports — it’s there, and at first it is unpleasant, but it doesn’t hold you back.

What’s your favorite piece of crack gear?
It depends. If the crack is flared or uneven on the inside, I prefer cams or whatever may be available in incipient fractures around the crack. I also use Big Bros, but I really only like them for parallel cracks.

You’re also into bouldering, no?
I like to boulder mostly in Vedauwoo, though I also like northern Colorado. The crack bouldering around Vedauwoo is what got me strong enough to do Home on the Range.

Any times a piece of gear really saved your bacon?
I have probably taken more falls onto a Wild Country blue Zero Cam than any other piece of gear. Zeros are by far my favorite small cams ever, regardless of affiliation.

How does the rock at Woo treat you and your gear?
The rock at Vedauwoo is especially coarse, so pretty much anyone who climbs there regularly goes for the thickest, burliest rope they can find. I have to recycle my old jeans into climbing pants; that’s the only way I can afford to keep pants on my legs there. Sometimes, if it saves skin, I’ll wear an elastic fabric kneepad to help reduce abrasions, but I don’t like the way they squirm around.