Phil Schaal Sending Midnight Express (V14)

Ethan Pringle is back at Mt. Clark, home to that one route first done by that one guy:

Projecting a route like this requires all of your attention, and having to devote all of your attention to a route like this can get really tiring really fast. At some point, you just want to get it over with. Of course, afterward you feel a mix of relief and loss. Relief that you’re done and the epic is over, and loss that this magnificent line doesn’t require your presence anymore. But for me, I think I’ll have to take a nice long break from serious route projects for a little while after this. Like Randy Levitt said, “It’s like a limestone El Cap.” Obviously, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it does sort of convey the amount of work required to complete a project of this caliber.

Pringle is no stranger to Jumbo Love, having tried it even before its FA back in 2008. You can see some footage of those attempts here.

I don’t know about you, but I always try my best to climb close to an actual bathroom.  In case you don’t, the Access Fund has a nice refresher on what to do when nature calls.

I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that with training like this that Canadian Yves Gravelle was able to climb his first V14 in Daniel Woods’ Echale in Clear Creek Canyon according to his 8a scorecard.