This summer, Read Macadam and Tim Emmett made it their business to finish Sonnie Trotter’s route The Path (5.14r) at the Back of the Lake in Lake Louise, AB. Sending on the same day (Read’s birthday!), both Read and Tim saw the end to the project that they dedicated themselves to for the summer, making the 7th and 8th ascent respectively of this epic route. This is the video of those efforts.
Here are the words of Read Macadam to put this experience into perspective.
At the end of June my friend and climbing legend Tim Emmett called me up from his temporary home in the prairies and proposed that he and I venture out to Lake Louise to attempt to climb a route called The Path. Now, The Path is what I considered above my pay grade; it is one of the hardest naturally protected climbs in Canada and I am better known as a lowly sport climber, a bolt clipper.
Now, Tim and I have had some very good times climbing psicobloc in Oman so I knew at the very least I was in for a great time. I love the idea of expanding my climbing range by sharing these experiences. “What the heck”, I thought, “at least I’ll see what this headpoint game is all about.”
The Path was originally climbed by Canadian superman Sonnie Trotter in 2007. Sonnie had a vision when working on the original route, which was bolted, that it would be possible to climb the route safely without using any of the bolts. Sonnie climbed The Path sans bolts and rated the climb 5.14a R and the R stands for runout. That means the space between the protection is significant and very long falls are a real possibility. To be honest, after climbing on the route I would say that a few of the falls are better left untested. At the time it was one of the hardest gear climbs in the world. It has only this summer seen its 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th ascents after three years of neglect.
To say The Path was daunting is woefully understated. Prior to this summer I had never climbed a naturally protected route nearly as hard, but most of all I had never taken a fall on my own placed gear! My trad climbing experience is basically first ascents, following the easiest path of resistance. Yet, somehow, climbing into unknown territory on virgin rocks here in Arabia, I have been able to climb daring run outs, hoping and deeply trusting my climbing senses that the future above me would offer the sanctuary of protection. Often on those journeys I climb well into the no-fall zone, yet those times I have mastered my mind and pushed into new mental and physical territory.
Yet, on The Path, I knew exactly what was required to succeed because we practiced The Path on a top-rope to learn the protection placements and sequence of difficult movements required to get to the top. Despite all of the foreknowledge I was still filled with such fear that to simply step off the ground on lead set me shaking!
After a few days of top-rope play Tim had already had a lead attempt or two, but it took me until our second trip back, just for one day to tie in and attempt the route from the bottom. I had climbed The Path clean on TR by now, yet still my first lead attempt resulted in some very tense climbing (insert much stronger language to describe the scene haha!). I dare say, not my usual modus operandi! The fear got the best of me early on and I was gripped midway up the headwall. Letting go willingly above my last gear was probably good training. I fell, my first ever trad fall! I was caught, of course. The fear was totally irrational. I pulled back on and climbed from cam to cam, making the most of the new sensations, becoming familiar with the placements and the exposure. The fact that Tim had committed to a sequence on day one and was making lead attempts from day two inspired me, lit my fire, and it also vexed me. I wanted to throw in my energy to the mix, get Tim psyched, too. I should! I could not…yet.
