Pat Goodman climbed a desperate trad line in western North Carolina, creating one of the boldest leads in the country. Goodman, 28, redpointed Ishmael (5.13+ R/X) at Stack Rock Creek in early July, following a year’s off-and-on work on the climb.
Ishmael takes a complex 80-foot line of intermittent corners and cracks on overhanging metamorphic sandstone. “The first time I saw the route I thought to myself, ‘Darn shame that thing would never go free!’” Goodman said in an email. “But after…some longtime locals insisted it would go free as a bolted route, I got psyched. After a few tries on TR, I realized it was way too special to bolt. So I figured out all the moves and what little gear there was to be had on TR, and started trying it on lead.”
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