Jon Cardwell Makes FA of 5.15b, ‘Wind Up Bird’
Kryptonite and Flex Luthor, historic climbs at the remote Fortress of Solitude in Colorado, will now be joined by another test piece. On November 11, 34-year-old American climber Jon Cardwell made the first ascent of Wind Up Bird, which he’s graded 5.15b.
The New Mexico-based climber has previously sent four other 5.15a’s, including Joe Mama, La Rambla, Papichulo, and Biographie. After sending Kryptonite (5.14d) and trying Flex Luthor (5.15a) in the Fortress, Cardwell first took notice of the line that would become Wind Up Bird in 2015. “I was looking to the left and right [of Flex] and just realized that there’s just so much space for new routes,” Cardwell says. In 2016, Cardwell and Carlo Traversi bolted a line to the left of Flex, and the project was born.
[Also Read: Nicholas Milburn Sends ‘Flex Luthor’ (5.15a)]
Cardwell was pleased to find such a clean and quality line, given the reputation that Flex has for being a chossy and dirty climb. “We were just surprised that every bolt that we made it higher on the route, there were holds and features, and not a lot of stuff was breaking off, it was super compact, really solid rock,” he says. “We lucked out a bit because the Fortress is really hit or miss with the rock, but the really good rock at the Fortress is world class.”
The approximately 25-meter route was a different kind of challenge for Cardwell compared to his other 5.15 sends, which tended to be longer and required greater power endurance. Wind Up Bird, on the other hand, packs a punch. Cardwell describes the first few bolts as 5.12+ climbing, followed by a solid rest, and then a V9 boulder, an eight-move V12 or V13 boulder problem, and then a tension-filled, technical V10 boulder, before finishing with a 5.12+ or 5.13- sequence. “It’s a completely different style of climbing.…It’s just not a route that I would pursue, but I really wanted to improve in this style,” he says.
After several week-long sessions on the project, Cardwell began to feel stuck, continually shut down trying to link the sequences. He took a hard look at his training plan, and adapted his methods to train his body for this specific climb. “More power-focused fingerboarding, lots of bouldering, and I basically just prepared my body to boulder as hard as I could for multiple sections at a time,” he says. In addition to training, Cardwell needed resilient belayers willing to make the long, uphill hike to the Fortress. He credits his fiancée, Cally Chapman, as well as Carlo Traversi and Nicholas Milburn, for their continual support.
For Cardwell, the send began to seem more and more possible as he gathered steam on his most recent trip. “I must have fallen on this one crux move 50 to 100 times, and I just finally was able to do it from the ground, and I think that really helped. I started to build up momentum,” he says. On every subsequent attempt, Cardwell got a move or two higher, until he finally broke through the entire crux clean. “I had to calm myself down quite a bit… I just kind of fought to the top. It wasn’t super desperate, but I was definitely climbing really carefully,” he adds.
While the FA was certainly a momentous moment, Cardwell says more is to come. Thanks to urging from Steve Hong, he’s bolted an extension of Wind Up Bird that covers an additional 55 meters, approximately. “It switches styles a bit. It’s a little more like Flex: There’s really technically difficult knee bars, and a lot more Rifle-style climbing,” he says. The full pitch will require both bouldering power and technical skill. “It’s the full package in my eyes. It just kind of encompasses everything,” Cardwell explains. He estimates that the entire route would be in the 5.15b to 5.15c range.
Wind Up Bird, plus its extension, is Cardwell’s contribution to the legacy of a crag that has inspired many climbers. “To be adding to a crag like the Fortress, which holds a lot of historical relevance in North American sport climbing, I’m definitely proud of that,” he says. He hopes this climb inspires the up-and-coming generation of climbers and makes hard sport climbing more accessible to young Americans. “If this [full] route ends up being 15b, 15c, it could be one of the hardest routes in the country and the world, and that’s kind of a big deal,” Cardwell adds.
South-facing, remote, and incredibly difficult, the Fortress of Solitude has not always been held in high esteem by elite-level climbers, and Cardwell is excited to be part of the community changing that perception. “It’s still a little more aggressive than your average crag, but it’s something special up there.…It takes a while for people to catch on and they realize, ‘Wow this place is actually really amazing. There’s potential for more routes here,” he says. Cardwell bestowed praise on Tommy Caldwell for his pioneering spirit and willingness to embrace the area; “I hope that Tommy is proud of himself for opening our eyes to a place like that,” he says. More and more, he sees people finally recognizing the Fortress for the true treasure Caldwell believed it was.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, Cardwell will look to capitalize on his momentum and continue to progress on the full line. “I actually have a reasonable chance if I get through the bottom part, to climb the top part,” he says. “I think it’s important just to follow that intuition and keep working towards it.”
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