Climbers looked at it and said, ‘You’d have to be hallucinating to see a route up there’
-First ascensionist, Jim Newberry
Watch the real, authentic, and raw footage of Nik Berry and Hayden Kennedy seeking to free climb the Hallucinogen Wall (V 5.13b R) in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, found in Colorado. This difficult route, graded at A5 was first aid climbed in two pushes over 17 days by Jim Newberry and crew in 1980.
Standing as one of the major big wall test pieces in North America, free climbing the infamous Hallucinogen Wall made for an obvious objective for Nik and Hayden to take on. The route features patina edges and difficult face climbing unique to the area, as well as runout pitches offering only sketchy copperheads and fixed pieces for protection. In a one push effort, the pair completed this climb in just over nine hours without taking any falls by either climber.
You just feel like you’re in a deep dark hole and there’s nothing to do but to climb back out.
-Nik Berry
