Jonathan Siegrist: One year, three 5.15s

With international travel out in 2020, Jonathan Siegrist of Las Vegas looked to the bounty of rock in America, establishing three 5.15s in one year. First was the upside-down enduro One Hundred Proof (5.15a) in the Clear Light Cave at Mount Potosi, Nevada, in February. Then, in October, came the fingery 16-bolt Nu World (5.15a/b) at a new cliff near Las Vegas. In November, it was Full Metal Brisket (5.15a), a heinous, bouldery extension to the classic 5.13b Pod at the Coliseum, Summersville Lake, West Virginia.

The most difficult, Nu World, is a mere appetizer for harder projects at the limestone cliff, location under wraps while Siegrist and Alex Honnold are developing it. Since Nu World was one of the “easier-looking” lines, that won’t be a problem for most of us.