A student at the University of Colorado Boulder looks set to outdo all of her classmates' summer vacation stories after she successfully climbed one of the most difficult climbing routes in the world over the break.
Katie Kelble, 20, has become one of only a few climbers to successfully free climb The American Way in Kyrgyzstan.
The American Way is a 5.13a route on the northwest face of Pik Slesova ("the Russian Rower"), a granite tower in the Ak-su Valley that rises 13,910ft (4,240m). The tower also houses the famous Perestroika Crack (5.12b), which was free climbed by Greg Child and Lynn Hill in 1995.
Kelble, an aerospace engineering student, reveals that not only did she manage the feat despite undergoing wrist surgery in late March, but the route was her first big wall climb.
"Not enough words to explain how stoked I am about this one! Somehow snagged a free ascent of this brilliant route. With 20 pitches of beautiful granite, this may be the best route I’ve ever done," writes Kelble on Instagram, adding that the climbing may not even have been the most difficult aspect of her adventure
"Hardest part of the trip was having enough self-restraint to not bring home a cat."
The climber took three days to complete the 3,116ft (950m) ascent, which stands a little higher than El Capitan in the Karavshin Valley. Many compare the area to Yosemite National Park in terms of terrain, though it's considerably more remote.
The 20-pitch climb was freed in 2019 by Eric Bissell, Brent Barghahn, David Allfrey and Nik Berry. Emily Harrington and Adrian Ballinger completed a free ascent in 2021, which was documented in the HBO series The Edge of Earth.
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