BURST
Six months ago, on her front porch in the outskirts of Moab, Mary Eden revealed that she wanted to fall in love with a crack. She doesn’t choose a route because it’s the hardest, or supposedly iconic. Instead, she gravitates to lines that are romantic, messy, and dramatic. And she firmly believes that the heart of the climbing universe lies in the White Rim of Canyonlands, where she previously sent Necronomicon (5.14a/5.13d) in 2022 and Black Mamba (5.14b) a year later.
“I want there to be a love story with a route, you know?” said Eden, who is known on Instagram as Trad Princess. This was back in June and she was talking about her plan to project Century Crack (5.14b). “I want there to be a lot of challenge and struggle and strife with it. That’s why I chose it.”
Before she could romance the sandstone, she had to enter the literal grind, groveling back and forth all spring and summer long through a homemade crack trainer in her garage. Then came “Scout-tember,” aka September, when the Century Crack season began. Last spring, Eden, and her project partners, Sam MacIlwaine (Eden’s mentee and a Climbing editor) and Sam Foreman (Eden’s fiancé), relabeled the autumn months on their calendar in relation to the Century schedule.
For the first time, in “Scout-tember,” they got to see the crack itself. From the home that Eden, MacIlwaine, Foreman, and other roommates share in Moab, it’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive on backcountry roads, a mile hike, and a 60-foot rappel into the cave. When she finally beheld the 120-foot-long roof crack, Eden thought it was “the most beautiful rock climb” she’d ever seen.
By “Send-tober,” the temps began to shift from “swampy” toward optimal. And in the prime conditions of “Temp-vember,” well before the cold weather and road closures of “Desper-cember,” it happened. On the afternoon of November 9, Eden became the first woman and fifth person to send Century Crack, the world’s hardest natural offwidth.
A week after she sent, I spoke with Eden to find out why she climbed it completely differently than anyone before her, what she wants you to know about the White Rim, and why the climb felt like stubbing your toe—but with your whole body. But first, we offer a brief history of the Canyonlands crucible.
Century Crack: A short history of a long route
Century Crack (5.14b) is the hardest offwidth and one of the hardest roof cracks in the world. Only a concrete crack known as Autobahn beneath a bridge in Germany has been proposed 5.14c. Like many hard offwidths, the history of Century involves Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker, aka the “Wide Boyz.” But its climbing history doesn’t start there.
2001: The 120-foot long crack sees its first aid ascent by British climber Steve “Crusher” Bartlett, who names it Chocolate Starfish.
2002: A year later, another British climber, Stevie Haston, begins working to free the route. He renames it Century Crack. Ultimately, Haston doesn’t succeed.
2011: Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker get the first free ascent. However, the Wide Boyz sent Century on pinkpoint—on lead, but with pre-placed gear. After backlash from the climbing community, they return a fortnight later for a redpoint, placing gear on lead.
2018: Danny Parker becomes the first American to send Century Crack, calling it “exhilarating!”
2023: Japanese climber Fumiya Nakamura completes the fourth ascent of Century in 83 minutes.
2025: On November 9, Mary Eden gets the fifth ascent—and first female ascent—of Century in under 40 minutes.
A conversation with Mary Eden, the first woman to send Century Crack
This interview has been lightly edited for concision and clarity.
Climbing: After building a career of specializing in hard roof cracks, you’ve sent the hardest one—and become the first woman to do so. How does it feel?
Mary Eden: This sounds very cliché, but it’s not about the grade or being the first woman. I felt a deep, profound sense of peace with my climbing on that route.
I feel like I unlocked a different part of my mind and a different part of my body for a certain type of performance. That feeling is almost sacred. I feel euphoric and also really calm because I got to have this beautiful experience in my body, even though it was really painful. It was hard and it’s cool to have the labels, but for me, that was the fucking best I’ve ever rock climbed.
Climbing: Did you have a sense the day of your successful redpoint that you might finally link it up? Or did it come as a surprise?
Eden: I had an unwavering belief that I would send, even though I always hold space for life interjecting. In my mind, I’m like, “I’m going to send at some point, barring, injury, life, et cetera.” I knew that if I just kept going and doing the thing, I would eventually get there.
When I came close to actually sending, before I went to Greece to teach sport climbing, I had gotten the one-hang. I knew I was super close. And I was thinking that taking a step back and just enjoying myself and teaching people was actually a good cleanser for me.
Going back on the route, I had some doubt … I was close. How close am I actually gonna be now? With time off and getting sick from the plane ride, how long is it gonna take me to re-adapt to the climbing and recover? It took me four days to get over my sickness and then I sent.
Climbing: While you were technically working in Kalymnos, do you think taking the break and relaxing helped you send?
Eden: For sure. A lot of people make the mistake of putting everything on their life on hold for goals. I did not do that. I sport climbed all summer as well as trained for Century, I still taught my clinics, and I definitely didn’t postpone the Greece clinic trip. I’m not willing to postpone my life in order to do a rock climb. All my focusing energy went to Century, but I still lived my life.
Climbing: What drew you to this project—and the White Rim of Utah’s Canyonlands National Park more broadly?
Eden: Century Crack is the most beautiful rock climb I’ve ever seen—genuinely. I’ve heard over and over again that Yosemite is the center of the climbing universe. And anytime I go deep in Canyonlands, I’m like, “Yosemite might be the center of the climbing universe, but Canyonlands is the heart of the climbing universe.”
It’s so special here. You can feel it. You can hear the silence. You can feel how big it is and how crazy the terrain is. These cracks come in all sizes. They are small, they’re long, they’re tall, they’re short, they’re thin, and they’re wide, and they’re all the angles.
You’re standing under Century Crack and it’s like this cathedral. It literally glows with orange light during certain parts of the day. You see all these towers in the distance that you could climb. Everything is full of possibilities down there and it’s definitely more of a connection to the wilderness. You can pursue your limits out there in a lot of different ways. That’s why I think it’s the heart.
Climbing: Paint us a picture of November 9. How did the day unfold?
Eden: I will never forget the day I sent Century. The reason why it was so special was actually because of the day before. I had gotten sick coming back from Greece. I took two days off and then I went back for a second set of two days.
That first day, I went there with my friend Leslie and Tony and Sam Foreman, my partner. We were just having fun and showing them the area. Their jaws were on the floor the whole day with how beautiful everything was. I didn’t think I was gonna send. I was kind of like, “Oh, I’m still sick. I’m re-adapting my body and I’m training out here.” So we were totally unprepared. We even moved the fixed lines that we use to rap into the end of the route, so they were in the way.
I got on and 30 feet in, I wasn’t tired. Forty feet in, I wasn’t tired. Fifty feet in, I still wasn’t tired. I started to panic because I was like, “My god, I am not tired at all. I feel completely fine.” Normally, by this point, you’re tired. I yelled down to my friends, “I think I might be sending! Someone please jug out of the cave and move the ropes, please.” Because I can’t do the ending with the ropes in the way.
Everyone was not in the mode of being prepared. So there was kind of a shit show, honestly, while everybody was scrambling. Foreman starts to jug the fix line as I get into the barrel. He barely makes it up in time to move everything out of the way as I am coming to the topout—the last hard move before the finish.
Then I fell on the last move before the chicken wing. Literally the last step. It was so funny because I was an inch away from sending. If you get that chicken wing, you can keep it together and do the route. So I was like, “My god, I almost just freaking sent Century Crack.”
Climbing: What did you do after this close attempt?
Eden: We ate food and I texted Sam MacIlwaine, my climbing partner for Century, who had taken some time off because she strained her thumb. I said, “Sam, I almost sent it today. I don’t feel wrecked. It’s a 50/50 chance that I send Century Crack tomorrow.”
We had made this pact that we want to be there for each other if we’re sending. She made that four-hour drive in two and a half hours. Everybody in the house wanted to come. They arrived as I was taping up and I just heard them all on top of the crack. I started to get a little anxious—maybe I’ve wasted all these people’s time. Sam rapped down in the cave and she was like, “Where do you want me? Want me to belay?”
I was like, “I want you to be the emotional support. You’re my training partner. I want to be able to see you. If I send, I don’t want to top out and then aid back for an hour and then celebrate. I want you to be up there.”
Climbing: Who belayed you and who else was there supporting you that day?
Eden: My good friend Leslie belayed me. As I was sending, I could see Sam through the crack up top. She had this maniacal grin the whole time. It was almost too intense! I would look away from Sam and then in the cave at Tessa, who was just trying to give me a calming smile. So I’m just looking back and forth between these two ladies.
One of them’s like, “You will send now!”
The other one’s like, “It’s all good. You’re not suffering. It’s all fine.”
Foreman was on the fixed line, filming. Tony was in the cave, filming. At first, I felt overwhelmed that so many people were watching me because I get a little social anxiety. But I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older that when it’s your people, you switch from it being too much, to wanting them to have that experience with you. So I was able to focus on the climbing. Then I was filled with gratitude that they were there and that they were excited. There was this visceral energy that everybody was so stoked.
Climbing: How did it feel as you reached the point where you’d fallen the day before?
Eden: I’m doing the hard overhung calf locks and leg bars after the pivot and then I get to the chicken wing. It’s starting to hit me. It was really overwhelming—the idea that I was sending Century Crack. I yell up at Sam, “Talk to me like I’m in the crack trainer! Play some Modern Xena for me. We had put together this playlist that was house music based off Xena: Warrior Princess.
I start going for the top out and she’s talking to me exactly like we’re back in the crack trainer, back in the garage. As I pull over the lip—it was so ridiculous. It did not feel real. It felt like a really good training session with friends until my arms stopped working and Sam was just hugging me.
Honestly, I felt so much deep pain in my body. I wanted to hug her, but it was a very painful hug and she’s holding me upright. It felt like when you stub your toe, but it’s your whole body. Sending it was a very special experience.
Climbing: You had to invent new techniques than the previous ascensionists due to your size. How did your beta differ?
Eden: I always knew Century was gonna be weird because I am so different than all the boys who have done it. I am five foot tall and I’m a hundred pounds. I’m so small. My ape index is negative two and a half. When I went into Century Crack the first time—the “correct” way—I immediately knew it wasn’t going to go for me that way. In the wide pony position, I could not reach the stack in the crack. And I also couldn’t see the crack.
Century is not a crack trainer. It is inconsistent. It has pods and tight sections, where you do everything from a butterfly jam, to a squished double fist jam, to this weird praying motion. So you can’t go in blind. When I put a cam in the crack, I couldn’t reach the triggers. That’s a big deal. So I just was like, “I’m gonna flip around.”
Climbing: So you climbed the crack feet first?
Eden: Yes. That way, I could see the entire route and stack behind my feet and just push my feet forward. That works really well for me because it solves the problems. I can reach the crack and I can see the crack.
It created a new problem where the crack was a bit more injurious and a little sprainy on my ankles. I reinforce my ankle tendons. There’s a figure eight tape that you can do on your ankles if you sprain them in the wild and if you have weak ankles. I had to spend probably four weeks adapting to that movement, and training my body to handle that load.
Climbing: Tell us about the rack you used to protect the route.
Eden: I took 18 #5s, three #6s, a #4, a #3, and a #2. Some people say that’s over-placing, but actually, it wasn’t. If you’re running it out, like people have done before, when you fall out of the roof—sometimes uncontrolled—it puts a twist on the cam. And we’ve had every brand of #5 cam pop out of a perfect placement. Usually it’s really good, but sometimes the way you fall, they can pop out. I personally think that just having one piece between me and the ground that could get twisted in a weird fall is irresponsible.
My body adapted to carrying 20 pounds of gear—I trained for 15. So all I was asking my body to do was add five more pounds. I never felt like the weight of the rack or placing gear or the rope drag was the thing that stopped me. It never felt like the limiting factor. I didn’t want to be stressed out, so I just placed a cam every six to seven feet.
I have promised my parents that I would not climb like that—that I would not solo and that I would not take unnecessary risks. Honestly, it wasn’t that hard just to get better and to get stronger. Why be sketchy when I could just be stronger?
Climbing: Given all this original beta, did Century feel like 5.14b to you, particularly compared to Black Mamba, which is the same grade?
Eden: It’s really hard to ascribe a grade to it. I want to say it’s an honest 14b, where it just feels hard for the grade. Century feels a lot different—you could put in all the inputs and still not get the outputs. It’s particularly brutal on the body. The movement is more nuanced. And it’s really hard until you’re on the route to understand that. We trained for the route blind with advice from Tom [Randall] and Danny [Parker]. We didn’t get to go down there and scout the route because it was closed for birds and baby bighorn sheep. So we built the thing [the crack trainer] based on advice from 15 years ago.
So I can’t really grade it. I just know that it felt hard for the grade—more involved, more intense, and more painful. A good comparison would be how people say that Stranger Than Fiction (5.14-) is hard for the grade that Mason [Earle] gave it. I feel like it’s like the offwidth version of that.
Climbing: Since there isn’t a known harder natural offwidth out there, is the presumed 5.14c Autobahn bridge that Randall climbed last year on your tick list? Or are you sticking with real rock and more White Rim cracks?
Eden: The 14c is funny. Asking them directly, they won’t confirm if it’s 14c. We were actually talking about that last night; somebody who’s recently done Century needs to get on that or vice versa.
In the crack trainer that was size five, I did 324 feet with 15 pounds, 30 minutes, no big deal. I could do it three times a week. According to people we’ve been asking, it [the bridge] is the same thing as a crack trainer with weight, right? Because it’s just the same move. You don’t have variations and cruxes. Century has a crux immediately—there’s a really weird pod that you can fall out of that requires a little boulder problem to get off of. Then there’s a smaller pod after that and a regular pod later.
I don’t know if I want to climb the bridge. It looks like it’s above a sewer [laughs]. I love natural features. Do I really want to fly to Berlin and downgrade a route that my friends did that I love very much? Or do I want to recover and have some fun and start thinking about doing another 14a in the White Rim, the most beautiful place on the planet?
Maybe if Tom would belay me and wear a crop top with Autobahn X’d out, and I got to wear a t-shirt that had “Cancel Autobahn.” I would be more psyched on that.
Climbing: You just shared the news with Tom on Monday. As your mentor and one of the first ascensionists of Century, how did he react when you told him?
Eden: Tom is one of my best friends in the whole world. He was the first good climber to believe in me as an athlete and he trained me all year for Century. It was super important to tell Tom in person. So I gave everyone the Herculean task of shutting the heck up.
Tom had a feeling that I was gonna send because I had been sharing where I was on the route and he was like, “You’re gonna go to Greece, you’re gonna feel good, come back, and send right away.” I got back from Greece and I fucking sent right away, but I couldn’t let him know that because I needed to tell him in person and he wasn’t going to be here until the 17th. I had to throw him off the scent. So I started telling him that I was burnt out. I was like, “I’m taking a break. I’m not going to go down there again for a while.”
When he got here, we were all chatting and I was like, “Tom, I have something to tell you. I sent Century Crack a while ago. And he was like, “What? You tricked me! I thought something was wrong.” He was very happy for me.
Climbing: Cedar Wright recently announced he is making a film about you and MacIlwaine climbing Century Crack. What can you share about the scope of the project and when we might be able to see it?
Eden: We have a lot of awesome backlog footage of Sam learning how to trad climb and learning how to offwidth. We have all this footage of Sam and I working burns and our first trips down to the White Rim. We are a team and I want this movie to come out ideally when she sends. So I don’t want to put a timeline on a movie.
Climbing: What do you want climbers to know about Century Crack and the White Rim?
Eden: I’m honored to get to be part of the next generation of people who are psyched on the White Rim. Tom [Randall] and Pete [Whittaker] shone the light on it and everybody got really excited, but then lost interest. People don’t realize how many 14s and hard 13s Tom and Pete established. I have several on my list that are in the 14 range down there. All these climbs got a firm layer of dust on them.
Century Crack is busy this season. It’s the most action it’s ever gotten. There is a whole other wave of people who are stoked on these limit roof crack climbs. And I think that’s so special.
About the photographers: Spencer McKay is an adventure photographer and climber based in Golden, CO. Tony Archie Kim is an outdoor photographer, artist, and climber.
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