The Fly is a short 25-foot (7.6 m) schist sport climbing or highball bouldering route in the Rumney Rocks climbing area, New Hampshire, USA, at the Waimea Cliff.[1] The Fly was bolted by Mark Sprague in 1995 as an open project but did not see a first free ascent until David Graham, an 18-year-old American climber from Maine, climbed it in April 2000, who graded it 5.14d (9a) or V14 (8B+). It was quickly repeated by his climbing partner, Luke Parady. At the time, these ascents were milestones for climbing in North America.[2]

The Fly
Map showing the location of The Fly
Map showing the location of The Fly
LocationRumney, New Hampshire, United States
Coordinates43°48′15″N 71°48′48″W / 43.80417°N 71.81333°W / 43.80417; -71.81333
Climbing areaRumney Rocks
Route typeHighball bouldering
Vertical gain25 feet (7.6 m)
Pitches1
GradeV14 (8B+), 5.14d (9a)
Route setterMark Sprague
First free ascentDavid Graham, 7 April 2000

History

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David Graham made the first free ascent (FFA) on April 7, 2000.[3] At the time, David Graham and Luke Parady proposed the tentative grade of 5.14d (9a). After further ascents and fine-tuning of the beta (choreography) needed to climb it, the consensus has settled to approximately 5.14c/d  using the Yosemite decimal system or 8B/+ in the Font bouldering grade.

Route

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The Fly ascends a short, steep, lower portion of the Waimea wall, gaining a large ledge (the E-Ticket Ledge) and a bolted anchor about 25 feet up. The climb is very fingery and powerful. The route is quite short by sport climbing standards, essentially a rope-protected highball boulder problem, with its two protection bolts being placed before the now common use of many stacked 'crash pads' to protect the dangerous landing. Most ascents make use of the protection offered by the bolts, usually pre-clipping the rope to them both, though after practicing the moves on a rope, the climb has been 'bouldered' (sans rope), first by Jason Kehl, on November 7, 2003.

Notable ascents

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Matt Samet. "Get Shorty - The 5 best miniature sport routes in America". Climbing.com.
  2. ^ Roberto Fioravanti. "Dave Graham". Planet Mountain. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  3. ^ He apparently made a typo while transferring his notes on his ascent in his 8a.nu scorecard from the route to bouldering category, changing the date from 2000 to 2001. See interviews such as [1] and archived first mention of The Fly from 10 April 2000 [2] Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Jeff Achey. "Fly Boys at Rumney". Climbing.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  5. ^ Dougald MacDonald. "Two quick ascents of The Fly". Climbing.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  6. ^ "Mike Foley sends The Fly". NEW ENGLAND BOULDERING. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  7. ^ The Fly: 9a/5.14D/V13/14/8B/+, retrieved 2022-12-17