Lurking Fear | E9/8b+ Multi-pitch on El Capitan

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First ascent. With Beth Rodden. First free ascent.

On the second pitch:

No single move is crazy, but for thirty minutes your feet are just sliding off the holds, so it’s more of a mind test. [1]

And the crux seventh pitch:

It’s probably a 5.13a slab to a really hard three-move section. Finally one day my foot just didn’t slip. I got the body position just right and I got through it. [1]

and the grade:

At the time I’d never heard of a slab harder than 5.13c so we just rated it that, I think in modern grade it would be firmly into 5.14.

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/places/how-hard-can-slab-climbs-actually-get/

First ascent. With Tommy Caldwell. First free ascent.

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/places/how-hard-can-slab-climbs-actually-get/

Remarkably it was Pietro's first route on El Cap.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/DJrh5JpMGzP/

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ19NXAOADQ/

[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2025/05/pietro_vidi_makes_second_free_ascent_of_lurking_fear_513c_el_capitan-73976

[4] https://www.instagram.com/p/DRDTfcdkoj5/

Fourth ascent. With Sachi Amma.

Based on my own feeling, the 7th pitch is around 5.14a [8b+], and the 2nd pitch feels closer to 5.14c [8c+].

But when I first sent the 2nd pitch back in 2003, I was in top shape—physically, mentally, and technically—and even then it still took me five days to send. On top of that, the 2nd pitch was easily accessible and could be practiced almost like a single-pitch route from the ground. Now, with Sachi trying it this season, some holds have changed, and it seems to have become even harder. Taking all of that into account, I personally feel that the 2nd pitch could very well be 5.14d [9a].

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRIn7UikhbQ/

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DRhDMdkEtN2/

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/DRDTfcdkoj5/