BURSTLast summer, Sonnie Trotter made the first ascent of Little Wing 5.13c (8a+), found high up on The Chief in Squamish, B.C. It is a truly beautiful and unique climb, traversing and ascending along an undercling crack behind a wing-shaped feature. Trotter has been establishing new routes on The Chief for the last two decades. He described Little Wing as his “last undone line.”
Little Wing is climbed in two pitches and is fully bolted. Pitch 1 is 5.13c, and pitch 2 goes at 5.13a. Pitch 1 begins with some easier climbing that leads to a stunning dihedral. Some powerful climbing on underclings and slippery, smeary feet carry you through the next section, until you are met with a bouldery section on wild dyke features. The pitch finishes with more powerful underclinging and smearing as you traverse a roof into a corner. Pitch 2 is another mega-line. Trotter estimates it is roughly 30 meters of traversing and 20 meters of vertical climbing to the summit.
Trotter recently released a film about Little Wing, which you can view below. The eight-minute film was shot and edited by Tempei Takeuchi. I caught up with Trotter to learn more about his experience establishing and climbing Little Wing. You can read the short interview below, which has been lightly edited for readability.
Interview with Sonnie Trotter
Where exactly is Little Wing found on The Chief?
It’s found on the far right side of the Prow Wall, on the second summit of the Chief. You can literally walk right up to the base of it. It takes about 45 minutes.
The line looks like it would take a lot of effort to clean and equip! What was your process like?
It was borderline insanity, ha ha, but I was also mildly obsessed with the idea of taking it to the top, so I kept showing up, rappelling in, scrubbing moss, adding protection bolts, working moves, and jugging out. The climb probably traverses more than 150 feet, so the workload was exhausting. Once it was cleaned and protected, it only took a few goes to redpoint, but it took like 10 times longer to get there, ha ha.
You previously said you bolted the route “for the best, safest, and most enjoyable experience for both the leader and the follower.” You also mentioned that there are “blank sections, blind sections, and sharp corners to avoid.” Can you elaborate on this? For example, if gear was used instead of bolts, would the second face big swing potential? Are the bolts necessary for keeping the rope off of sharp edges? I’m guessing that the bolts also made prepping and working the route much more manageable.
Exactly, the only way to truly get an understanding on why I bolted it is to actually get on it. From the video, the angle is very foreshortened, and I understand why it might raise some questions. However, when you climb on it, with a partner and start taking falls, and belaying up the second, you quickly realize how different it would be on natural protection. I love gear climbing, it’s probably my favourite style, but I tried to imagine what it would be like for a team to approach the climb for the first time from the ground and how their experience might be.
Many of my favourite gear-only climbs and headpoint ascents from over the years almost never get enjoyed and are rarely, if ever, repeated. Because this was a decent hike to approach, I knew it would simply grow over without any love or attention at all. I wanted to make this climb fun, safe, exciting, and inviting for people to come and play on. I think it deserves that.
I’m happy to help remove the bolts, if subsequent ascensionists think that would be best, I’m certainly not attached to them in any way. But after having climbed much of the route on gear already, I do think it’s a better line overall the way it is. The last thing I will say is that if someone cared enough to remove the bolts, I would only hope that they would never use them in the first place. It would seem a little disingenuous to me to use them for one person’s process, but then remove them for others. But maybe I’m wrong, and that’s ok too.
Once you had the route cleaned and bolted and crux moves sussed out, what about the route gave you trouble? Is the difficulty of the route based on the boulder problem or is it more of an endurance / power-endurance challenge?
Honestly, the crux was probably convincing a partner stoked enough to come up and climb it with me. It’s a lot of effort, and it was pretty hot on those days. In the end, the route itself didn’t give me much physical trouble to be honest. I had climbed a Spirit Quest only a few months before, so I felt I was still in okay shape. I think it was a few goes to send the crux pitch, and two goes to send the upper one? Some footholds crumbled, which made it a little harder, but also cleaner, and the pump is very real indeed.
Sonnie Trotter on Little Wing 5.13c
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