Become a Member

Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more.

Already have an account? Sign In

Become a Member

Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more.

Already have an account? Sign In

Brands

News

La Rambla (5.15a) for Jon Cardwell

This is Cardwell's third-ever climb of the grade.

Lock Icon

Unlock this article and more benefits with 50% off.

Already have an Outside Account? Sign in

Outside+ Logo

40% Off Outside+.
$4.99/month $2.99/month*

Get the one subscription to fuel all your adventures.


  • Map your next adventure with our premium GPS apps: Gaia GPS Premium and Trailforks Pro.
  • Read unlimited digital content from 15+ brands, including Outside Magazine, Triathlete, Ski, Trail Runner, and VeloNews.
  • Watch 600+ hours of endurance challenges, cycling and skiing action, and travel documentaries.
  • Learn from the pros with expert-led online courses.
Join Outside+

*Outside memberships are billed annually. Print subscriptions available to U.S. residents only. You may cancel your membership at anytime, but no refunds will be issued for payments already made. Upon cancellation, you will have access to your membership through the end of your paid year. More Details

Catalonia climbing season is in full swing with another send of La Rambla (9a+/5.15a) on the books. Over the weekend, the American Jon Cardwell clipped the chains on the famous 135-foot route that has become the single-most repeated 5.15a in the world. Cardwell’s is the 20th ascent of the line.

A post shared by Daniel Woods (@dawoods89) on

“Hard to explain the feeling, but these moments are why I love climbing,” Cardwell wrote on Instagram after his send. “Long days out with good friends in amazing locations, hard work and discipline for goals, seeing the process all the way through. ‘La Rambla’ was a great test, one of the routes that inspired me in my first years of climbing. So happy to share the moment with many of my close friends.”

Cardwell projected La Rambla back in the beginning of 2017 alongside Margo Hayes and Matty Hong, but couldn’t finish it off before he came back to the States. “Last year he battled a serious finger injury that put him out for multiple months, but was able to rise above and get back in the game,” Daniel Woods—who just made the third ascent of La Cappela (9b/5.15b)wrote on Instagram.

Both Hayes and Hong sent on that trip, and thereby kicked off La Rambla’s busiest year to date. Following them, it was sent by Stefano Ghisolfi, Jacopo Larcher and Klemen Becan in 2017.

This trip it took Cardwell a mere 10 tries to polish it off. This was Cardwell’s third 5.15a, following Biographie in May 2016, and Papichulo in April 2017. He has also sent more than ten 5.14d’s (9a) and climbed The Game (V15). In 2003, Ramón Julián Puigblanque first climbed the 9a+ extension to La Rambla, the core of which was originally climbed as a 9a by Alexander Huber in 1994.


Also read Margo Hayes Sends La Rambla (5.15a)!