Lee Sheftel, 59, Climbs 5.14
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Fifty-nine-year-old Lee Sheftel has redpointed The Whole Shot (5.14a) at the enormous Pipe Dream cave of Maple Canyon, Utah. Sheftel worked on the route for 16 days over about two and a half months, finding two cruxes near the end of this endurance testpiece: a throw to a crimp at the third to last bolt, followed by a stretch of small, sloping holds.
A major figure in New Mexico climbing before moving to Colorado, Sheftel had previously climbed a couple of 5.13d routes two years ago at Rifle, Colorado. “I have mixed feelings on working a route so hard,” he wrote in an email. “I can only do so once in a while, but, having said that, it’s a pretty cool process.”