We finally managed to put together a list of the hardest trad routes in the world. Of course, this still needs to be supplemented and corrected. So please bring your hints and corrections.
Probably the hardest route in this list was “Tripe” by Jacopo Larcher for the first time last year. The difficulty is still unconfirmed, but the suggestion comes from a certain Adam Ondra. The oldest route on this list is from Ron Kauk. He climbed the “Magic Line” route in 1996 with the safety equipment left in place. In 2018 his son Lonnie Kauk was able to eliminate this “”flaw“”. At the moment the route most repeated is the “Cobra Crack” in the Canadian climbing area Squamish with 13 ascents. Sonnie Trotter first ascented the route in 2006.
The list shows all trad routes from grade 8b + / X +. The “Prinzip Hoffnung” is an exception here. The route deserves it because of its historical significance. Most trad routes are “traditional” on the American continent. In Europe, apart from the British Isles, there are certainly a few more pearls.
| Route | Grad | Massiv | Erstbegehungsjahr | Land | Begeher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackbeard's Tears | 8c+ | Redwood Coast | 2016 | USA | Ethan Pringle |
| Power Ranger | 8b+ | Sunset Rocks - Chattanooga | 2017 | USA | James Pearson |
| Black Mamba | 8c | Utah | 2019 | USA | Tom Randall, Pete Whittaker |
| Brozone | 8c | Shawangunks | 2016 | USA | Andy Salo, Sam Elias |
| Century Crack | 8c | Canyonlands | 2016 | USA | Tom Randall, Pete Whittaker, Danny Parker, Molly Mitchell |
| China Doll | 8b+ | Boulder Canyon | 2017 | USA | Mike Patz, Matt Segal, Ethan Pringle, Joe Mills, Heather Weidner |
| Dihedron | 8b+ | Joshua Tree | 1997 | USA | Randy Leavitt |
| East Coast Fist Bump | 8b+ | Oak Creek Canyon | 2015 | USA | Joel Unema |
| Enter the Dragon | 8b+ | The Fins | 2012 | USA | Jonathan Siegrist |
| Father's Day | 8b+ | Donner Summit | 2014 | USA | Alan Moore, Nico Favresse, Urs Moosmuller |
| Full Dunn-Westbay | 8b+ | The Diamond | 2013 | USA | Tommy Caldwell, Joe Mills, Jonathan Siegrist |
| Ill Fire | 8b+ | Adirondacks | 2011 | USA | Peter Kamitses |
| Iron Monkey | 8b+ | Eldorado Canyon | 2008 | USA | Matt Segal, Ethan Pringle, Brian Kim |
| Magic Line | 8c/+ | Yosemite | 1996/2018 | USA | Ron Kauk*, Lonnie Kauk, Hazel findlay |
| Magic Mushroom | 8b+ | Yosemite | 2012 | USA | Tommy Caldwell, Justen Sjong, Babsi Zangerl, Jacopo Larcher |
| Meltdown | 8c+ | Yosemite | 2008 | USA | Beth Rodden, Carlo Traversi |
| Oppositional Defiance Disorder | 8b+ | Adirondacks | 2011 | USA | Peter Kamitses |
| Ozone | 8b+ | Shawangunks | 2016 | USA | Cody Sims, Peter Kamitses, Andy Salo |
| Planet Claire | 8b+ | Shawangunks | 2015 | USA | Scott Franklin, Char Fetterolf, Andy Salo |
| Proper Soul | 8b+ | New River Gorge | 2011 | USA | Brent Perkins |
| Pure Pressure | 8b+ | Escalante Canyon | 2016 | USA | Ben Rueck |
| Sewer Rat | 8b+ | Sundown Ledge | 2009 | USA | Dave Sharratt |
| Silently Does the Sun Shine | 8b+ | Red River Gorge | 2012 | USA | Andrew Gearing |
| South Face (Washington Column) | 8b+ | Yosemite | 2011 | USA | Matt Wilder |
| Stranger Than Fiction | 8b+ | Moab | 2015 | USA | Mason Earle |
| The Almighty | 8b+/c | Teton Canyon | 2012 | USA | Ty Mack, Jonathan Siegrist |
| The Bull | 8c | Squamish | 2013 | USA | Jeremy Smith, Ben Harnden |
| Leve Leve | 8b+ | Pico Cão Grande | 2018 | São Tomé and Príncipe | Iker Pou, Enoko Pou |
| Prinzip Hoffnung | 8b/+ | Bürser Platte | 2009 | Österreich | Beat Kammerlander, Alex Luger, Jacopo Larcher, Fabi Buhl, Babsi Zangerl, Michael Gunsilius, Christian Bindhammer, Nemuel Feurle, Michi Wohlleben und Nadine Wallner |
| Psychogramm | 8b+ | Bürser Platte | 2018 | Österreich | Alex Luger, Fabi Buhl, Jacopo Larcher, Michi Wohlleben |
| Into the sun | 8c+ | Murgtal | 2017 | Schweiz | Bernd Zangerl, Jacopo Larcher |
| Recovery Drink | 8c+ | Jossingford | 2013 | Norwegen | Nico Favresse, Daniel Jung, Pete Whittaker |
| Cobra Crack | 8c | Squamish | 2006 | Kanada | Sonnie Trotter, Nico Favresse, Ethan Pringle, Matt Segal, Will Stanhope, Yuji Hirayama, Alex Honnold, Pete Whittaker, Tom Randall, Ben Harnden, Mason Earle, Logan Barber, Said Belhaj |
| Family Man | 8c | Skaha | 2014 | Kanada | Sonnie Trotter, Ben Harnden |
| La Zébrée | 8b+ | Mont-King | 2007 | Kanada | Jean-Pierre Ouellet, Sylvain Masse |
| Sugar Daddy | 8b+ | Squamish | 2010 | Kanada | Sonnie Trotter, Ben Harnden |
| The Path | 8b+ | Lake Louise | 2012 | Kanada | Sonnie Trotter, Ethan Pringle, Miles Adamson, Matt Wilder, Peter Kamitses, Tommy Caldwell, Read Macadam, Tim Emmett, Doug McConnell, Babsi Zangerl, Jonathan Siegrist, Jacopo Larcher, Alexander Megos |
| Tom Egan Memorial Route | 8c | Bugaboos | 2015 | Kanada | Will Stanhope |
| Tribe | 9a+? | Cadarese | 2019 | Italien | Jacopo Larcher |
| Lapoterapia | 8c | Osso | 2015 | Italien | Jacopo Larcher |
| Pura Pura | 8c+ | Valle dell'Orco | 2014 | Italien | Tom Randall |
| Direquiem | 8b+ | Dumbarton Rock | 2010 | Großbritannien | Sonnie Trotter |
| Echo Wall | 8c | Ben Nevis | 2012 | Großbritannien | Dave MacLeod |
| Longhope Direct | 8b+ | St. John's Head | 2011 | Großbritannien | Dave MacLeod, James McHaffie, Ben Bransby |
| Rhapsody | 8c+ | Dumbarton Rock | 2006 | Großbritannien | Dave MacLeod, Sonnie Trotter, Steve McClure, James Pearson, Jacopo Larcher |
| La Voyage | 8c | Chambre du Roi -Annot | 2017 | Frankreich | James Pearson |
| Das große Knübbeln | 8b+ | Pfalz | 2014 | Deutschland | Felix Lehmann |