Didier Berthod Returns to Climbing Limelight With FA of 5.14 Crack

On June 23, Didier Berthod completed the first ascent of The Crack of Destiny, an airy single-pitch finger crack at the top of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish, BC. The Crack of Destiny—clocking in at anywhere from 5.14a to 5.14c—is now one of the hardest finger cracks on the planet (and the most beautiful, Berthod emphasizes).

This story is much bigger than another hard first ascent. For nearly two decades, Berthod’s place in climbing lore was one of mystery and gossip. After establishing multiple crack climbs on the cutting edge (Greenspit, Learning to Fly, From Switzerland With Love) in the early 2000s, Berthod vanished from the scene and joined a Swiss monastery for reasons unclear, a story famously documented in the film First Ascent. He returned to Squamish over a decade later, not for climbing, he happily says, but to try to make amends with his daughter and her mother. “But I love climbing, so, I’m going to climb.” Enter, The Crack of Destiny.

The Crack of Destiny was a long-standing open project that shares a beginning and end with the 5.13b trad testpiece North Star. North Star follows 5.11 climbing up a laser-cut, Bugaboo-esque dihedral before a slap-in-the-face V7 at the lip. Jeremy Blumel—North Star’s first ascensionist—told me that he and his friends had stared at Destiny for years: an independent finger crack that splits the left wall of the dihedral, before traversing back right just before North Star’s crux.

Berthod’s bid on Destiny wasn’t the first. Many folks have tried it over the years, from some of the world’s best crack climbers to the anonymously curious. “I first heard about it in 2008. It was one of those mythical projects,” Mason Earle told me, who tried the line briefly in 2017.

Sonnie Trotter tried the line in “2010 or 2011” when a direct finish looked feasible. “A key hold broke on Will [Stanhope] when he went to check out, and I haven’t been back since,” he said. Stanhope added: “I thought going out right was too thin. Pretty cool that Didier proved me wrong.”

Many dabbled—some more seriously than others—but for some reason no one went all-in on the notorious splitter beside North Star. Perhaps it was the lore, or the hour-long hike, or just the fact that things in life have to line up to climb a crack that hard. For locals and traveling professionals, that never happened on Destiny. Sam Eastman—a local—told me he had tried it “way back in the day,” and did the splitter portion of the route but couldn’t figure out either exit. More recently, Stu Smith—one of the strongest Canadian trad climbers you’ve never heard of—put in a few days last season, calling it “the single greatest bit of crack climbing, hands down.” You get the point: a lot of capable folks have checked Destiny out; a few of them with the Cobra Crack under their belt—but for one reason or another it was Berthod, off the heels of a decade-plus long climbing retirement, who finally completed the route after 39 days of effort. Blumel called this “a fitting way to bring Didier, a guy very connected with Squamish climbing history, back into the story.” Indeed, what struck me in my reporting for this story was how excited everyone was that Berthod was back, and that he had redpointed such a beautiful open project. Mason Earle called it “the best comeback ever.”

Without further ado, here are a few words with Didier Bethod, orbiting around The Crack of Destiny. 

The Interview 

Climbing: How did you learn about The Crack of Destiny? Was it on your radar for a long time? 

Berthod: When I first came back here in March 2022, I was reading through the guidebook with an open mind and saw it in the photo of North Star. “Holy shit,” I thought, and started to inquire around. I asked Ben [Harnden] about it and he told me that he had been up there a little when he did North Star. I really wanted to know whether it was big enough to jam.

I walked up there July 5, 2022. As I rapped down, I was so impressed by the steepness. I thought maybe it would be a vertical crack and thus super, super thin since it hadn’t been done, but I was psyched to give it a go. After one day I immediately knew it was possible.

Climbing: Let’s get into the nuts and bolts.

Berthod: Yes. So, the splitter portion is about 15 meters [50 feet]. It starts with a couple of 0.3s, and then widens up to 0.4s for the middle section. I do think you could climb the whole splitter just placing 0.3s though. It is quite thin. At the end [when the crack traverses and joins North Star, the crux] it thins back to 0.2, but I karate kick into the dihedral to sort of skip jamming that section, which would be much more difficult.

Climbing: How would you break down the route? 

Berthod: The first five or six meters is maybe 13b/c, I don’t know. It is 0.3s, no feet, kind of campusing.

Climbing: And really sequential.

Berthod: Yeah, very sequency, very hard. Afterward you have an okay rest where you can chalk. Then the middle section is really sustained: Long moves, few feet. I would also say maybe 13b/c to the setup for the crux: the karate kick. You do two or three setup moves, and then the kick. All of that together, from the setup, doing the kick, and rejoining North Star, is maybe V9 or so. I probably fell 15 or 20 times around there. And these are theoretical “sections” but after the first rest it is really all continuous. And then after the crux you get a bad rest, and then right into the crux of North Star. [Didier and I then paused to argue about the grade of the crux boulder on North Star. I think V8, he thinks V7, and you, dear reader, certainly care about this pissing contest. He finally compromised at “a tough V7.” —Nat] 

Last summer, I spent around 10 days rope-soloing the crack, and then 20 more days trying it with a belay. This year, I spent six days going for the pinkpoint, and then three more days to redpoint it. Redpointing it was easier than I thought it would be. I placed the same gear that I pre-placed for the pinkpoint. Maybe 10 pieces? 

Climbing: Is it the hardest route you’ve done?

Berthod: I don’t know, I’ve climbed 14c [sport] on limestone in Europe and I don’t know if the Crack of Destiny is 14c. It is so hard to compare cracks with sport routes. But this is definitively the hardest crack I’ve ever climbed. Greenspit, From Switzerland with Love, Learning to Fly, are all warm ups compared to Destiny. It even seems to me that the Cobra is slightly easier, but since I still haven’t sent it, it is tricky to say! What I can tell for certain is that Destiny is harder than 14a. When I sent it, it was burly, Chris Sharma style! It was a fight! I got to the last rest and I was fucked!

More important than the grade, Destiny is to me—by far—the most beautiful crack I have climbed.

Climbing: Any tricks in the process? Velcroing cams, specific tape? Anything like that?

Berthod: No! Nothing. This was actually one of my strategies. I did not enter into any complex parameters. I taped all my fingers. I didn’t velcro anything. I didn’t watch the humidity. No parameters, just keep it simple. No specifics about the tape. I didn’t want to enter that space.

Climbing: Tricks are for kids?

Berthod: [laughs] Tricks are for kids.

Climbing: What changed between this year and last year? Between falling a lot, and then doing it quite fast? 

Berthod: Last year I had an elbow injury, so I wasn’t really able to train or even pull really hard on my left arm; I wasn’t in great shape. I trained a lot this winter.

Climbing: What did that look like?

Berthod: [laughs] One-arm pull ups and front levers. That’s it. Maybe two times a week. I was also bouldering outside a lot and climbing in the gym with my family. I went from not even being able to do a one-arm pull up in November, to doing almost four in a row in June, when I sent.

Climbing: Anything you want to highlight about this crack?

Berthod: Even if it sounds kind of dumb or repetitive, it was one of the best splitters I’ve ever seen: It is an Indian Creek kind of splitter, on granite, and at the top of the Chief. This crack is a miracle. I’d like to highlight that. I didn’t spend all that time up there just to climb 5.14, I was always super inspired by it. This is a crazy, unbelievable line. I was so moved when I saw it, I thought, “this is the crack of my dreams.”

Climbing: It is interesting that you came back to Squamish and started immediately trying an unclimbed line. I think the public perceives the pursuit of first ascents (Greenspit, From Switzerland With Love, Learning to Fly, and of course Cobra Crack) as a big part of your climbing. I know you said you came here with an open mind, but you ended up going all-in on this one route.

Berthod: Well, what’s interesting is that I didn’t come to Squamish to climb the Cobra, like most people think. I didn’t come here for climbing at all. No, I came here for Thomasina, and for my daughter, and to sort of try to learn to become a father and a partner. But I love climbing, and so, I was going to climb! Since I love cracks, I started to check for gems, having the intuition that Squamish granite had a new one to offer. I found a couple, but they were kind of closed projects. Destiny came out of nowhere to me, and was free from any other climbers’ hearts. Her [Destiny] beauty was so appealing. It was like she was waiting for me. It felt like I didn’t choose to spend a lot of time up there, but the opposite: she chose me, some kind of destiny. That’s why I called it The Crack of Destiny.

I’m always looking for amazing lines. With an open mind, sure, but I’m always looking. I know that Mason Earle has a similar mindset, I don’t know him personally but I watched a video where he was explaining this idea: We are treasure hunters, always looking for treasure cracks. I feel like that has always been a thing in the crack-climbing scene, a few of us are always looking for the next amazing crack. Actually, there are four or five more cracks here that I want to check out.

Climbing: This one might be the most beautiful. I hope not, but I don’t know.

Berthod: Yeah, maybe. It is crazy. I spoke with Jeremy Smith the other day [longtime Squamish local and first ascensionist] and he said “no doubt, that one is the best.” Maybe there is another one on a shield wall, alone, with a crack in the middle, somewhere around the Chief. But this one, this one is unbelievable. 

Climbing: Does it matter if it is climbed or not? If you came here, and that thing had already been sent, do you think you would’ve been so connected?

Berthod: The thing is, last year, I kind of wanted to be by myself. It wasn’t an easy time last year. So maybe, if this crack was famous and people were up there trying it, I would not have checked it out. It was so good for me [that the route was quiet].

There’s an undeniable magic unclimbed gems hold. With Destiny, there were two important parameters: I was alone, and it hadn’t been climbed.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking to take revenge for not having done the first free ascent of the Cobra or anything like that [laughs]. That wasn’t my mindset at all! Actually, when I heard Stu [Smith] was trying Destiny as well, my only reaction was “I hope he is a good guy” and that we could team up, which we did!

Climbing: You’re turning 42 soon. How has your relationship with climbing changed in the last two decades?

Berthod: In one sense, it hasn’t changed at all. I’m still super excited, super keen. Super passionate. But, I would say that I am way more in control of my passion. Back in the day, I was like a volcano out of control. I had too much passion and not enough wisdom. I wasn’t able to cool down, think about my goal, and ask “what is more important” in life. I started traveling when I was 21 and stopped climbing when I was 24. That part of my life, in a sense, was a mess: Going here, going there, doing that, doing this. I was out of control. I burned my wings.

Now, I still have that part of me. I still have that inner fire, that volcano. But I have control. That would be the main difference.

I also know now that I need an intellectual part of my life. During my years as a monk, I’ve studied philosophy, theology, and history. I loved it (and still do). In my early twenties, I was searching for that part of me, but through climbing. I was so stuck on ethics, because I needed to have a philosophical dimension to my existence. Climbing can’t give you that. Now, my relationship with climbing is way better because I don’t ask my climbing to make me happy, or to be the foundation of my existence. I’ve found meaning elsewhere, and I’ve come back to climbing in a more artistic way, and a more peaceful way.

Climbing: What was it like after you sent? 

Berthod: When I started climbing again almost four years ago, I thought it would be really cool to be strong again, and to climb hard lines again. Somehow I had the desire to make a gift to the climbing community. But I kept that to myself mostly. Even good friends did not support me. They would say “Dude, you’re 40. Look at this generation, come on! Live in the present, and just be happy with your past.” I knew they had a point but I had this dream, this goal: Wouldn’t it be just amazing to come back and display some magic again? To continue to play my role in the climbing community? Clipping the anchor, grabbing the last jug, was like “Wow, it happened. My intuition was good. This is just amazing.”

I love rock climbing and I love you rock climbers!

Also Read:

• How Lynn Anderson Fired Off Eldorado Canyon’s Hardest, Scariest Trad Climbs—in a Single Day
• Should We Rethink the Ethics of Highball Bouldering?

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