Trotter Creates Canadian Testpiece

Sonnie Trotter has completed a much-discussed line on the limestone cliffs of Lions Head, Ontario, that may be 5.14c or harder. Forever Expired is “by far the steepest climb I’ve done anywhere,” the young Canadian said. “It overhangs like 75 feet in 110 feet of climbing, with a completely horizontal roof for 35 feet.” Trotter said the crux comes about 35 feet from the ground: an 11-move boulder problem with three monodoigts, ending with a five-foot sideways lunge off a pinky stuffed into a tiny hole. “I reckon it’s about V12,” Trotter said of the crux sequence. “I had to skip two crucial clips in order to link through it.”

Trotter would not grade the route but said it took him 10 days of work to redpoint, compared with eight days to climb Necessary Evil (5.14c) in the Virgin River Gorge, Arizona. However, he added, “It’s way different than Necessary Evil, because it’s way more bouldery and intense but then eases toward the end. Necessary Evil is very sustained. I look forward to trying to repeat some harder climbs so I have a better idea, but I would rather people come try this one and just tell me what they think.”