BURSTKatie McKinstry’s recent ascent of Parallel World made her the first woman to send the drytooling grade of D15+/D16. With her redpoint, she achieved her goal of “pushing what is possible for women in the sport of drytooling.”
Parallel World was originally climbed by Darek Sokolowski in 2018 in DTS style, receiving a groundbreaking grade of D16. In January 2019, Kwon Young Hye on-sighted the route in Yaniro style and graded it D15+. Subsequent Yaniro ascents by Matteo Pilon (2021), Chris Snobeck (2023), and Kevin Lindlau (2024) also gave it a grade of D15+.
Victor Varoshkin was the first climber to repeat the route in DTS style in May 2024, giving it the grade of D16. Other hard lines in the cave include Tom Ballard’s Je Ne Sais Quoi D14+, and A Line Above the Sky D15.
If you’re not familiar with drytooling, DTS (Drytooling Style) involves climbing without making any Figure-4s. Wheres Yaniro style means that you use Figure-4s and/or Figure-9s.
Here is McKinstry’s write-up of her groundbreaking ascent: This route has pushed me beyond my limits and has been a non-stop commitment for a solid year, with 30 sessions on the route, two trips overseas, and countless hours in the gym. This route has challenged me to grow, to become a more powerful, dynamic, and patient climber. Ultimately it taught me to truly believe in myself. I’ve never experienced so much personal growth while pursuing a single goal, and now, as I emerge from this process, I feel proud of my perseverance and my commitment to something that stretched me far beyond my comfort zone.
When I first started working the route in 2024, I realized Darek had recently restored the original crux moves by removing two holds that had been found/added since the first ascent. This restoration reestablished the hardest section of the route—a powerful two-move sequence bigger and more demanding than any other moves on the climb. While these two moves may not change the grade, I found that they were at the absolute limit for my wingspan.
Additionally, based on my experience and climbing style, I feel this route is significantly harder than A Line Above the Sky D15. While in my opinion, I think Parallel World is harder than D15+, I’m still unsure if it fully reaches D16. Ultimately I would love to climb more routes in this grade range such as Matteo Pilon’s Aletheia D16 and Kwon Yung Hye’s Ascension D15+ to further clarify my perspective on grading. This is one of the most challenging grading decisions I’ve faced, highlighting the inherent difficulty of grading at the top levels of such a niche sport. I’m committed to climbing more hard routes globally to better understand and articulate these nuances.
This climb would not have been possible without my husband, Joe, whose sacrifices and unwavering support carried me through every step of this journey. He spent countless hours with me in the gym, patiently belayed me through endless attempts on the route, comforted me through tears of frustration, and willingly gave up his entire ice climbing season so we could return to Italy this spring. Then he traveled across the world again, juggling roles as belayer and videographer for our vlog and film, while still pursuing his own climbing goals. And when the moment finally came, he celebrated with me through all the emotions of the send. There truly aren’t words to capture his selflessness—I am endlessly grateful.
There are many others to thank—far too many for one post—so I’ll share more in the coming week. This send was not just my own effort but the result of incredible support from many people. Thank you all!
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