Spanking the Iron Monkey

Ethan Pringle has repeated the Eldo trad line Iron Monkey 14a. Iron Monkey is arguably the second hardest single trad pitch in North America. First put up in 2006 by Matt Segal, Iron Monkey ascends a thin seam up a 30-degree overhang in the Kloof Alcove, with the crux marked by an improbable dyno to an incut edge. Ethan began working on Iron Monkey in mid October and returned a few days later with Tommy Caldwell and Carlo Traversi. The three worked the line together and unlocked key beta on the problematic dyno.

Ethan returned to the route on Oct 21^st. On his first attempt of the day, Ethan fell low, popping a small stopper and taking a ground fall resulting in bruised heal. He shook off the event, and while placing gear on lead, fired Iron Monkey for its second ascent. Look for Brian Solano's new film Players to feature exclusive video footage of the ascent. To read more about Iron Monkey, check out Ethan's Blog.