The Las Vegas-based sport climbing stud takes his pursuit of the world’s hardest routes to the Rockies. Visiting Colorado for the summer, he ticked a gem.
Perennial crusher Jonathan Siegrist notched another 5.15 route in Rifle, Colo., on Saturday, Aug. 13. He sent the first repeat of “Kinder Cakes” (5.15a), a route established by Joe Kinder in Sept. 2021.
In his description on 8a.nu, Siegrist said the climb checked many personal boxes and gave him all he could handle.
“Intense and very physical roof climbing from the depths of the Skull Cave,” Siegrist said. “A significant step up from D-Mouth [5.14d]. This was my main goal for the summer and an excellent challenge for me. Rifle summer camp is in full effect with a slew of good friends always around! Respect to JK, this one is brutal.”
The veteran climber has stayed busy this summer, landing the first ascent of “Event Horizon” (5.15b) at southern Nevada’s 5G Wall in June right after a strong European tour. For his latest project, Siegrist pursued a “linear” process, improving just a little bit each day, he told 8a.nu.
“I made just a hair of progress with each day until I finally had enough for the tough red point crux near the end,” he said. “Not sure exactly on sessions, but it was over the span of a 2-week trip. It was helpful to have climbed on ‘Resisting Arrest’ [5.14d, near Las Vegas] beforehand to help me get in shape for big roofs. In the summer heat, both routes were sometimes unpleasant, but still so fun to try hard on.”
In the post below, watch Siegrist on “Resisting Arrest.”
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Jonathan Siegrist: Certified Beast on 5.15
Siegrist has now sent 66 routes rated 5.14d or above, putting him at sixth in the world for the most sends at that difficulty, according to 8a.nu.
Each route at the grade offers its own unique challenges, as Kinder wrote when he finally finished the first ascent of “Kinder Cakes.”
“A big one for me and surely my hardest,” Kinder wrote on 8a.nu. “Odd how I think I’ve said that multiple times over the years. HA! It was a culmination of 2 months last year, 2 months of training beforehand, and then a month of banging out real-deal-tries until the one try that worked. It was an ordinary day on all accounts and somehow happened. I was bugging the fuck out, leaving the rest to finish the exit boulder … but never had any feelings of falling off. SO grateful.”
