Kinder Unfurls the Centerfold (5.14b)

12/13/10 - Joe Kinder finished a project last week in the Virgin River Gorge's Fossil Cave in Arizona, a 5.14b he calls Centerfold. Sitting in the center of the wall, this was Randy Leavitt's first bolted route. "There hasn't been ONE Leavitt route I have tried that sucked," Kinder says on his blog. "They are the best." Known as the only unclimbed project in the VRG, Kinder spent three days on the route, sending second go of the final day.

According to Kinder, "The style of Centerfold revolves around a gnarly boulder problem right at the steepest part of the wall. I would say about V9/10 on crappy handholds and oddly angled foot holds that only a downturned shoe could work on. Pinching with the feet and legs leads to larger dynamic moves on decent holds with no stopping. I fell many times after the boulder problem due to fatigue and the wearing factor of all of those long moves. The ending of Dinosaur (5.13c) has another epic crux at the lip with an incredible dyno to a giant horn."

Kinder's next project lies in the 300-foot-tall Hurricave in Hurricane, Utah.

Read more about the ascent and see excellent photos at Joekindkid.com.

Date of ascent: December 8, 2010

Source: Joekindkid.com