BURSTTim Emmett has climbed his first 5.14d, Chris Sharma’s Era Vella 5.14d in Margalef, Spain. Conquering the line was no easy feat for Emmett, who gave it his all for 130 days over the course of eight years. He was open about his process, sharing his journey on social media. While this undoubtedly added pressure, it was an approach that amassed a whole lot of support. Sharma himself was there at the crag to support the British climber on a day where Emmett dry-fired off the top crux. And Neil Gresham, a lifelong friend of Emmett, rallied climbers to send their thoughts to Emmett with a heart-warming post:
“I doubt there’s a single person who’s looking at this who won’t know what an important week it is for my lifelong friend and sparring partner, [Tim Emmett],” said Gresham last week on Instagram as Emmett neared the end of another trip of effort. “Historically, Tim was always the guy who was having too much fun and travelling too fast to get stuck on projects, but we reserve the right to reinvent ourselves. In fact, Tim has been trying to climb his first [5.14d], Era Vella in Margalef, on-and-off for over a decade. He’s said that this will be the last trip and he’s now entering the last week but he can always change his mind about that too if he wants; not that he will need to because he’s going to f#%king do it. So let’s all get behind him and give him a mighty war cry. Raaaa!”
Emmett ended up sending Era Vella on his final go of the Margalef trip, just before he had to leave for the airport. He posted a teary-eyed announcement of his ascent on Instagram, which you can view below. It may have taken Emmett eight years to clip the chains, but he navigated some serious injuries along the way, including a broken scapula in 2024. But the eternal optimist kept his eyes on the prize and soldiered on. In the end, his dedication paid off. His experience on Era Vella is undoubtedly one of the most inspiring climbing stories in recent memory.
Era Vella was opened by Chris Sharma in 2010. It’s gone on to become one of the most popular 5.14d routes in world, seeing repeats from many of the world’s best climbers, including Adam Ondra, Sasha DiGiulian, Seb Bouin, Jonathan Siegrist, Jorge Díaz-Rullo, Alex Megos, and Michaela Kiersch, among many, many others. Established at 5.14d, the grade consensus started to drift to 5.14c before a hold break brought it back up to 5.14d. It’s a true five-star classic, standing out for its length, perfection of movement, and beauty.
“I can’t believe it ! Last day, last go,” said Emmett on Instagram. “I’ve never been emotional with a climb, but this one has had me in tears for the last few hours ! So happy, I can’t believe it’s actually real. The circle with [Anghelo Bernal Quintero] is finally complete. Day 130 over 8 years!
“There are so many people to thank especially my wife Katie and Rocco, but really the one person that allowed this to happen was Rob Wilson. He’s been my number one support guy for the last week and today particularly he offered to drive me to the airport a 5 hour round trip just so I could have one more go! The send go! It’s going to take me a while to process this and talk more about it! Thanks so much for all you support wow Unbelievable.”
Originally from the U.K., Emmett now lives in Canada. You’d be hard pressed to find a climber with as diverse a set of climbing accomplishments as Emmett’s. Sport, trad, mixed, ice, big wall, alpine, mountaineering, deep-water soloing – he’s done it all.
Emmett is considered one of the pioneers of deep-water soloing, opening many lines in Spain and other locations around the world two decades ago. Along with his climbing partners, he was the first in the world to send waterfall ice climbs at grades WI 10, WI 11, WI 12, and WI 13 – all at Helmcken Falls in British Columbia. He was also part of a group to first ascend the east face of the Kedar Dome in the Himalayas.
He’s made many hard ascents in trad and sport. In 2010, he made the first ascent of Muy Caliente E9 6c in Pembroke, Wales. He’s also repeated the Gritstone test piece Meshuga E9 6c, the intimidating The Path 5.14a R at Lake Louise, and Sonnie Trotter’s Superman 5.14c. In recent years, he’s been one of the primary developers of the Anvil Island crag near Squamish, establishing lines like Archimedes Principle 5.14b, Atlantis 5.14a/b, and Apnea 5.13d/14a.
The post Tim Emmett, 51, Climbs His First 5.14d with Era Vella appeared first on Gripped Magazine.