BURSTOlivia Ogier has made the first ascent of Yellow Sun at the Fortress of Solitude in Colorado, an extension to Tommy Caldwell’s famous Kryptonite. Caldwell established Kryptonite as the first route at the crag and the first 5.14d in the USA. As Ogier said about it: “Over the years it’s become one of the most iconic hard routes in the country, climbed by many of the people I’ve looked up to for a long time.”
Nikolai Milburn was the climber who bolted the extension to Kryptonite that finishes at the very top of the steep section, turning an already gigantic pitch into a full 50-metre route. About her send, Ogeir said: ”My favorite. My hardest. Still finding the words. I owe a big thank you to Nicholas Millburn for bolting this extension to Tommy’s iconic Kryptonite. The feeling of clipping the chains after doing all 50 meters is not something I’ll forget. One of the absolute best.”
Ogier also suggested a slight downgrade for the original Kryptonie, saying: “With modern beta and a couple broken holds over the years, I believe Kryptonite sits at the very top of 8c+ [5.14c], but not quite 9a [5.14d] with modern beta. Yellow Sun adds a proper fight, with a boulder and 10m+ of climbing after doing Kryptonite. 9a feels appropriate.”
Fortress of Solitude is also home to Caldwell’s famous Flex Luthor, which Caldwell left ungraded, but later repeats put it anywhere from 5.14d to 5.15b.
Matt Segal on Kryptonite
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