Sonnie Trotter’s ‘Most Savage’ Climb
By Michael Frank, Adventure Journal on November 28th, 2011
Being second might not count as much as begin first, but Sonnie Trotter’s second-only ascent of the 5.13d, 1,500-foot The Prophet on El Cap is pretty seriously high-five worthy. It took Trotter, seconded by Will Stanhope, a few months of effort and frustration, but they made it happen. Trotter writes on his blog that he and Stanhope found themselves the only climbers on all of El Cap, and only in a last, desperate attempt, were they able to do complete an all-out haul-and-climb slog over the course of three days. The last two pitches, a 5.12 and 5.13, were finished in the dark by headlamp, and Trotter writes of being utterly spent: “I think it was the most savage and satisfying rock climb of my life.”
