Pringle, Siegrist Send Hard 5.14s at the Red

11/8/10 - News link: Ethan Pringle bagged the second ascent of The Golden Ticket (5.14c/d) at the Red River Gorge's Chocolate Factory on Friday. This route hadn't seen a repeat since Adam Taylor's FA last fall, although many climbers, like Chris Sharma, have attempted it.

In an interview with the Climbing Narc, Pringle says, "The GT is amazing! I'd say the majority of the holds are pockets and crimps, with a few better holds interspersed... The line is so inspiring and the movement is really incredible... I'd like to say that the GT is maybe the second best route of its grade, maybe behind Biographe. There isn't one manufactured hold on the route, the line is beautiful and in a beautiful setting on an otherwise blank wall... and the holds are probably never going to break!"

Read more of Pringle's interview here. Read Taylor's detailed account of the route at redriverclimbing.com.

While Pringle was working The Golden Ticket, Jonathan Siegrist completed the FA of Pure Imagination, also at the Chocolate Factory, on his third try of the day. He is proposing 5.14d for the grade, saying on his blog, "I base this suggestion on A) the relative difficulty of this route compared to the 14b's and 14c's at the Red I've done, and B) how much effort it took me in comparison to Kryptonite (about the same number of tries at 12-15 or so). As with basically all new routes, an initial suggestion is only that—a suggestion. It could very well be easier or harder... I'll be very stoked to see it repeated!" Read more about the route here.

Dates of ascent: November 4 and 5, 2010

Sources: Climbingnarc.com, jstarinorbit.com, redriverclimbing.com