Caldwell, Trotter Finish The Shining (5.13+)

8/17/11 - Sonnie Trotter and Tommy Caldwell have established a 15-pitch mixed route, The Shining (5.13+), on the Diamond Face on Mt. Louis in the Canadian Rockies.

Trotter waited more than six years to check out this climb. "You can see it from the highway," he said in an email. "It taunts us as climbers... It's simply one of the most beautiful climbs I have ever seen in my entire life." In July, the pair used 105 bolts and a double rack—plus two umbrellas, three rain jackets, and a lawn chair—to top out the route after three days and 50 hours of climbing.

Last week, Trotter and Caldwell returned to Mt. Louie to complete the redpoint ascent. The hardest pitch clocks in at 5.13+, with four other 5.12/13 pitches on the main headwall; the seven hardest pitches were bolted on lead. The pair began climbing at 1 a.m., freeing every pitch, and topped out around 6 p.m. "It is one of the best routes I have ever climbed," Trotter said. "Does it get any better than that?"

Date of ascent: August 2011

Source: blackdiamondequipment.com