Empath 9a (+) on trad by Connor Herson (18)

Connor Herson, who did an 8c+ 2nd go at age 14 and one year later The Nose 8b+ in Yosemite, reports on Insta that has done Empath 9a (+) in Tahoe on trad gear. The stunning slightly overhung 20 m line on granite tufas and slopers was put up by Carlo Traversi, one of the most accomplished trad climbers in the world, and has been repeated and confirmed several times as a 9a+ bolted route. (c) Christian Adams

Later Ethan Pringle repeated it using jammies, aka sticky rubber gloves, and said that for him, and also due to his height, he thought it was more of a solid 9a. In this case, the grade is rather important as previously in the trad game, 8c+ is the previously hardest climbed beside Jacopo Larchers's Tribe which he did not grade but made comments indicating it should be at least 9a.

Connor sent Empath using the bolts last year on his fifth session. Later he has sent three more 9a's and in his three Youth World Championships, he has always been Top-16.