Climbs

The route has suffered various breaks. It started off at 8c, then was around 8b+ when Dave Macleod made his solo ascent in 2008 but had gone back up to 8c by the time Jorge Díaz-Rullo made his solo ascent in 2021.

The third route to be free climbed on El Capitan, after Salathé Wall and The Nose.

The first ascent by Alexander and Thomas Huber followed meticulous preparation, with every hold ticked and every gear placement labelled.

Just a few days after the first ascent, British teenagers Leo Houlding and Patch Hammond made an extraordinary almost-onsight ascent of the route for their first big wall.

The route incorporates parts of Continental Drift (a mixed free and aid route) then largely follows the North America Wall climbed free in its upper half. Until discovery of the Pineapple Express Variation all ascents used a short pendulum to overcome a 10m blank section.

References

[1] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199901800

The first 8C in Spain.

References

[1] https://touchstoneclimbing.com/hasta-la-vista-with-ethan-pringle/

Originally a project of Dave Graham's from 2004. Dave gave up on the project before Giuliano Cameroni established first the stand and then the sit. Dave then returned to climb both the stand and the sit.

5.13c or 5.13b, V10.

A variation, Light Heart (5.13b/8a), avoids the crux dyno. on pitch 6 by climbing Freeblast or similar to the heart ledges.