A few weeks back there was a lot of buzz on the Internet regarding the latest climb by rock star Chris Sharma. The route was dubbed Jumbo Love and Sharma rated it a 5.15b after completing it. If that rating stands, it'll be one of only four in the world, and the only one in the United States.
The 250-foot route is on The Monastery on Clark Mountain in California. The face is mostly limestone and offered some unique problems, even for a climber of Sharma's skill level. But, on September 11th he managed to best the rock face at last and topped out on what has been called his "hardest, proudest route".
Today, Stewart's Climbing Blog over at About.com wonders if this new route is quite possibly the toughest in the world. The latest entry offers some more insight into the climb as well with the following description:
This monster enduro-climb begins with 60 feet of warm-up climbing (5.12d), then heads up an overhanging face with sustained bouldery moves (5.14c) for 100 feet to a severe crux at 160 feet. Above is more hard climbing (5.13c/d) to the cliff-top anchors. Sharma, who worked for months on the project, regularly took 100-foot falls since it was too hard to clip all the bolts. The route also has only one jug handhold—all the rest are crimps, pockets, and edges. Very impressive—a monumental achievement.
Sounds amazing, and there may only be a handful of climbers in the world that can duplicate this route. It may be some time before the rating can be confirmed, although I suspect there will be some top climbers giving it a go soon. One thing is for sure though, the Legend of Chris Sharma continues to grow.
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