The Phoenix | E7/7c+ Trad climb at Cascade Falls Upper

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First ascent. 14 attempts.

An incredible ascent for its time, combining cutting edge difficulty with the technical innovation of friends, which Jardine invented and put to good use on routes like this. The bottom corner was 'pinned out' ie piton scars created to reduce the difficulty.

Gripped.com:

In 1977, armed with a handful of Friends, Jardine rappelled into The Phoenix project. Instead of lowering after he fell, he hung and worked out the moves. Though other Valley climbers scorned his hangdogging, Jardine pushed through. On his 14 try, he climbed the route, protecting it with nuts and pins at the bottom and Friends on the splitter.

“The Phoenix is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Jardine in a 1979 Mountain Magazine interview. Not only had Jardine shown what cams and hangdogging could do, he’d also established the world’s first 5.13 trad route. [2]

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/511968895535957

[2] This was the World's First 13a Trad Climb, Gripped.com 6th December 2022 https://gripped.com/routes/this-was-the-worlds-first-5-13-trad-climb/

Second ascent.

Hudon climbed with passive protection only as Ray Jardine's Friends had not yet been brought to market and were unavailable to other climbers.

References

[1] http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/794170/The-Phoenix

First onsight ascent

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/44jSroCmJWJowHbQQrnpsJ?

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/462380993828081

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CTmkokWDd3g/

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2011/06/honnold_solos_the_phoenix_-_yosemite-62712

[2] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,4660.3825/topicseen.html

[3] https://youtu.be/WeUoLWiVH8U?

[4] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/the-phoenix-solo-alex-honnold-interview-and-rare-ray-jardine-insight.html

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/BbSII__ld8A/