COTC Ep 6 | The Fugitive

Something that might be at the edge of your limit, you know, 13A, 12, whatever it is, 5.11, if any of those grades are your limit, we kind of want to touch on all of those and get something filmed that everyone can climb, something that everyone can aspire to. You know, I think, for me, I just want to chase these lines and be able to balance a career in medicine as well as also, like, climbing kind of hard and enjoying it, you know, so I think that's what really stoked the fire on this project. Yeah, we're here in Gallatin Canyon, which is just outside of Bozeman, Montana. I just finished up my OPGYN rotation in Anaconda Medical School. I was driving through. It's been really, like, unseasonably warm winter here, so normally you can't climb this late, like, in December, but it's been stellar here in the canyon. We picked this route called the Fugitive, which was my first 5.12 trad line that I did back when I was in undergrad here in Bozeman, so it's been a while. And I think 5.12 trad, for me, was kind of marked, like, a big moment in my climbing. I had sent 5.13 sport before then, long before then, and 5.12 trad was, like, a huge challenge for me, but this line, in particular, is pretty approachable. I tried it ground up the first time that I did it. It's really safe, and then sort of top-ripped it a couple of times, and it really lends itself to, like, a projectable route. The gear's super safe. It's a lot of stoppers, a lot of natural, like, small stoppers, which is really sweet. The line sort of follows on this thin wafer, these discontinuous crack systems that sort of are, like, just enough in terms of holds and gear. It's, like, really perfect the way that it's formed. The climbing is stellar, and the falls are really, really clean, and I think it just makes just a phenomenal route. I think the standout thing about this route is, A, the aesthetic, and then, B, how there's, like, just enough to get through it. It's pretty desperate through the crux, really techy. There's just enough gear, just enough holds to make it, like, climb Valletta relatively cheaply or great. I think it's a really good candidate for a lot of people's, like, first trad line, especially for, like, going to school here in Bozeman.