Interview: Wilder Sends 5.13d Trad at the New River Gorge
Matt Wilder has just established an impressive 5.13d trad climb at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. Rock and Ice caught up with Wilder to learn more his new route dubbed Eye of the Beholder.
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![Wilder double gastoning the V10 crux on <em>Eye of the Beholder</em> (5.13d). Photo by Pat Goodman.” />Matt Wilder has just established an impressive 5.13d trad climb at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. Dubbed <em>Eye of the Beholder</em>, the climb was an “infield line” to quote NRG visionary Porter Jarrard—meaning the route was a swath of unclimbed sandstone lying unnoticed at the popular wall Beauty Mountain. </p>
<div>“When I first saw the wall, I looked up and the obvious question was: What route goes straight up the beautiful slightly overhanging headwall?” Wilder told <em>Rock and Ice</em>. “The answer was nothing, so I put myself to work on it.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, <em>Eye of the Beholder</em> was not Wilder’s primary objective at the New River Gorge, but rather a secondary project while resting from his infamous <em>Rapunzel</em>—an undone trad line that could be the NRG’s hardest gear route.</p>
<p><em>Rock and Ice</em> caught up with Wilder to learn more about <em>Eye of the Beholder</em> and the <em>Rapunzel</em> project.</p>
<p><strong><span>Q&A</span></strong></div>
<div><strong>Was <em>Eye of the Beholder</em> an open project?</strong></p>
<p>Actually, I’m not sure if anyone viewed this as a project. It hadn’t been cleaned or attempted when I started working on it. It’s a direct finish to a classic 5.11b crack called <em>Welcome to Beauty</em>. But I was mainly in the New to work on this mega project I found several years ago and dubbed the <em>Rapunzel</em>. <em>Eye of the Beholder</em> was just something I saw while I was there and got psyched on. </div>
<div><strong>What is the climbing like on <em>Eye of the Beholder</em>?</strong></div>
<div>The first part is the crux and is probably about a V10 techy sequence up a thin seam. At the end of the seam, you are double gastoning and you can’t let go with either hand, but you have to smear your foot on a bad hold and then spring up to a decent edge as you are falling away [see first photo]. The rest of the route is about 5.12+ climbing. Not terribly hard in comparison, but you could still blow it if you’re not careful and take a big winger.</div>
<div><strong>Is the gear good?</strong></div>
<div>The gear is good, but spaced. The crux comes after a no hands rest at the end of the 5.11 climbing. There is gear about 4-5 feet below your feet when you are doing the last moves. For the rest of the 30-40 feet of climbing there are two trucker cams. Actually it doesn’t feel as runout as it is and it’s definitely safe. Still I took the fall once at the crux and it was scary.</p>
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