Jonathan Siegrist Sends Three 5.15’s in Three Weeks
Jonathan “J-Star” Siegrist sends Chaxi (9a+/5.15a), Joe Mama (9a+/5.15a), and Pachamama (9a+/5.15a) in Spain during his “best three weeks of climbing ever.”
Jonathan “J-Star” Siegrist topped off his “best three weeks of climbing ever” on Saturday with an ascent of Chaxi (9a+/5.15a) in Oliana, Spain. He began his sending spree with Pachamama (9a+/5.15a) earlier this month, followed by Joe Mama (9a+/5.15a), both
in Oliana.
“This has been my best three weeks of climbing ever and honestly I’m really proud,” Siegrist reports on Instagram. “I took a completely different approach than usual leading up to this trip and it’s wild to see it actually work.”
Chris Sharma equipped Chaxi but it was Adam Ondra who made the first ascent of the route, along with the direct-start variation Chaxi Raxi (9b/5.15b), in March 2011. Since then, Sharma and Cédric Lachat have repeated the route, before Siegrist’s
ascent on April 22.
“Chaxi is explosive and much more bouldery than some of its neighbors,” Seigrist reports. “Good rests, hard boulders, real crimps! It felt utterly
impossible in bad conditions last week but on Saturday everything was perfect for me and I did it.”
In mid-April, Siegrist made the fifth-known ascent of Joe Mama, a route equipped by Joe Kinder and first climbed by Klemen Bečan in March last year. The route has also been climbed by Sharma, Jakob Schubert and Matty Hong.
And three weeks ago, Siegrist sent Sharma’s Pachamama (5.15a) in Oliana for its sixth known ascent, after Sharma’s FA in 2009, Sachi Amma in 2011,
Ramon Julian in 2015,
and Jakob Schubert and Ondra this year.
Siegrist had grappled with Pachamama in the past; this time around, he sent the route within a week of his return to Spain. “It felt surreal to
sit at the anchors, to realize something that for weeks and weeks I was obsessed and overwhelmed with desire to have,” he wrote on his blog. “The moment I sent was calm. It was a strangely tranquil experience. Almost like, ‘huh, well, here I am. This is the moment.’”
He continues: “Not to say that I was not or am not excited. It was biggest, most powerful battle of my climbing life—without question. But I guess
the finish, while hugely important to me, was also just a small piece of the experience. I imagine I will look back on this for my whole life. Silly…
rock climbing.. huh.”
Watch Jonathan Siegrist and The Art Of Projecting: Pachamama 9a+:
A post shared by Jonathan Siegrist (@jonathansiegrist) on
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