BURSTIn October last year, Connor Herson made the fifth ascent of Magic Line 5.14c in Yosemite. Opened by Ron Kauk in 1996 in a pinkpoint style, the line went unrepeated for over 20 years. In 2016, Lonnie Kauk – Ron’s son – repeated the route with pre-placed gear. Nearly two years later, he was the first to redpoint the line, placing all gear on lead, and upgrading the route from 5.14b to 5.14c. A film of Herson’s ascent was just released by Fusis Film, which you can watch below.
Hazel Findlay made the first female ascent of Magic Line in 2019, and then Carlo Traversi repeated the route in 2022. After Herson’s ascent, Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher completed the line. Herson, Traversi, Zangerl, and Larcher are the only four climbers who have redpointed both Magic Line 5.14c and Meltdown 5.14c in Yosemite.
Herson, only 22 years old, has already sent most of Canada and the United States’ most iconic hard trad lines. His accomplishments are already too long to list, but highlights include repeats of Stranger Than Fiction 5.14, Meltdown 5.14c, Magic Line 5.14c, Blackbeard’s Tears 5.14c, Cobra Crack 5.14b, and Crack of Destiny 5.14b. While in Squamish last summer, he made first ascents of the stunning crack The Shark 5.14b as well as one of Canada’s hardest sport climbs, Midnight Way 5.15a. In 2022, he made the first all-gear ascent of Carlo Traversi’s Empath, a sport line graded 5.14d at the time.
Connor Herson on Magic Line
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