Last week, Mike Doyle, a Canadian rock climber from the Lower Mainland who now lives in Las Vegas, NV, completed one of his most difficult projects to date. The route, Necessary Evil (5.14c), was first climbed by Chris Sharma in 1997, launching him into stardom. Located in the Virgin River Gorge, the route itself is considered a test-piece of the area and has destroyed the dreams of many hard climbers.
Mike Doyle is no stranger to hard climbing, with a number of 5.14b ascents including Southern Smoke (5.14b), Fifty Words for Pump (5.14a), and the first ascent of Lucifer (5.14c), as well as the first ascent of A.D.A.T.O (5.14b) on Vancouver Island. Squamish Climbing Magazine had the opportunity to catch up with Mike and here is what he had to say.
Mike on Necessary Evil. Photo courtesy of Rich Wheater ©
So Necessary Evil is complete. How does it feel?
Amazing! Honestly it was a huge relief to get it done. The weather has been crazy this year and conditions were not looking good for the next little bit. In addition, work has really gotten busy and all of February I haven’t been sleeping much between work, climbing and training. I really didn’t want to have to wait until next season to redpoint it.
Take us back to the beginning. Why did you pick this route?
I think Necessary Evil has always intrigued me. In 2009, I did ‘Route of all Evil’ which is a savagely hard 14a, now pretty much consensus 14b. ‘Necessary Evi’l is a direct start into ‘Route of all Evil’ and adds two very hard boulder problems. After redpointing Route of all Evil I tried the moves of Necessary Evil and couldn’t even fathom how to do them. Over the years, I would continue climbing in the Virgin River Gorge and every so often I would try the bottom and get shut down. I was still climbing around Vegas and trying easier routes and having some success but in the fall of 2013 I was trying to think about what I wanted to do for a winter project. I had done most of the routes around that I could do as weekend projects and realized that if I wanted to do something harder I would need to find a route that I could get to in the middle of the week and keep the moves fresh. Necessary Evil and the VRG allowed that. I rented an apartment in Mesquite with a few friends and was able to work in the morning, go out climbing and come back and work in the evening. That’s pretty much why I picked Necessary Evil. The route does not suite me at all! It really is everything I am bad at.
Did you expect it to be such a battle?
Yes. When I first started climbing on it I couldn’t even do some of the moves. I honestly didn’t even know if I was going to be able to redpoint it. So I knew it would be a battle but I was worried that if I didn’t do it in one season, what were the chances I would do it the next? I actually thought I would join the long list of people who have tried the route and didn’t redpoint.
Attempting a route over a long period of time must have its ups and downs? What was the process like for you?
I tried to stay positive about it. The hardest times were late last season when I was close but knew I’d have to walk away and earlier this season when I got really close and the weather became the an. Most of the days though I approached it with a pretty relaxed mindset and was happy just to be out climbing on it. I really love the climbing at the VRG and tried to enjoy not only Necessary Evil but the warmups and cool downs as well. I definitely had a routine and everyone climbing with me knew it :).
Did you change anything this winter as opposed to last winter that you attribute to success?
There were definitely a few things. Last year I was just coming off a finger injury and couldn’t even do the crux moves for a few months. In addition I trained all last summer with Necessary Evil as the sole goal. That really helped. Then this season I managed to find more efficient beta which allowed me to climb a little faster and be more recovered for the upper crux moves. It all added up to slow and steady progress.
Photo courtesy of Rich Wheater ©
Any route-specific training?
Basically just fingerboarding. I knew that I would have to crimp at a level near my maximum for 25 moves. If I could increase that maximum ability then I could relax a little bit more on each move and save energy for the upper crux. It’s something that I wish I had known when I was a teenager. I used to think that I got pumped because I wasn’t fit enough and I trained endurance all the time! When, in reality, if you can increase your strength and make holds feel bigger then you can relax and climb longer.
Your attempts on the route were relatively well publicized. Did that ever get to you mentally?
No. I knew what I was getting into when I made the goal public. I was blown away by the support and words of encouragement I have received from around the world. People seemed to genuinely care and want me to succeed. I felt pressure to keep trying but it was a good, supportive pressure not an overbearing negative pressure.
The physical battle on this route was so great that I don’t think I had a chance to let it become a real mental battle. I only had 1 or 2 days that I would classify as a mental battle but maybe I’ve already forgotten the bad days. As I said earlier, I tried to stay positive each day and be happy with little gains. While I did try it a bunch and fell a LOT on this route I always felt like I was progressing, getting stronger and getting closer to redpointing. The biggest mental battle was dealing with the weather and I had to keep reminding myself to stay positive, stay focused and train on days when I couldn’t get out climbing.
In addition, I receive a huge amount of support from my climbing friends in both the Salt Lake City and the Las Vegas community. Many of them chose long term projects out at the VRG just to be able to come and support me. The thanks I have for them cannot be overstated. I truly am grateful to everyone that came out.
Who do you think gave you the most belays?
I’m pretty sure Lisa Davidson gave me the most belays but Seth Robinson gave me a bunch as well. Hundreds of belays between warm-ups, redpoint attempts and cool downs. Thanks everyone!!!
So, whats next?
I want to get up to Smith Rock and try to use my fitness on some classic routes there like ‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’, ‘The Big R’ or maybe even ‘Just Do It’. Then some surfing trips before getting back into training mode.
Thanks Mike! Again, congratulations on the send. Must feel pretty awesome.
Mike Doyle is sponsored by Metolius, Blurr, and La Sportiva. Special thanks to Mike and Rich Wheater for photos. For Mike’s take on the process, please click here.
Mike looking pretty happy post send. Photo courtesy of Mike Doyle ©
