Olivia Ogier FA’s Yellow Sun (9a) - Updated

Liv Ogier, who last year sent her first 8c+, has done the first ascent of Yellow Sun (9a) in The Fortress of Solitude. ”My favorite. My hardest. Still finding the words. I owe a big thank you to Nicholas Millburn for bolting this extension to Tommy’s iconic Kryptonite. The feeling of clipping the chains after doing all 50 meters is not something I’ll forget. One of the absolute best.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
The route is an extension to Kryptonite, which Tommy Caldwell established in 1999 as America’s first 5.14d and the first route at the Fortress. That climb has such a huge history in American sport climbing, so being able to contribute something to that wall felt really meaningful to me from the beginning. The extension was bolted by Nikolas Milburn , finishing all the way at the top of the steep. It turns an already massive pitch into a full 50-meter route, and what makes it special to me is that it really adds to Kryptonite. After climbing all of Kryptonite, there’s still a real fight left- a hard boulder problem involving a terrible sloper and a stacked mono, and another long section of easier but committing climbing when you’re already completely exhausted.

I first tried the route in November, and honestly I remember being intimidated. The wall is incredibly huge and conditions dependent, so most of the process became this constant cycle of preparing, waiting, and hoping the pieces would line up. I spent the entire winter coming back to it. I work a full time job, so I could only go on Saturdays and Sundays. My life was work, train, drive to The Fortress, repeat- but I wouldn’t change it. A big part of the challenge was learning how to stay mentally steady through the process. This route forced me to become more patient and I had to have a bit of delusional self belief to keep showing up. On the first warm day of the season, everything finally came together. The name “Yellow Sun” comes from Superman lore. Since the first pitch is Kryptonite, I wanted the extension name to connect back to that. Superman’s powers come from Earth’s yellow sun, so it felt fitting for a route that continues past Kryptonite and finishes higher on the wall.

On the grade, I believe Kryptonite now sits at the very top end of 8c+ with modern beta and a few broken holds over the years, but not quite 9a anymore. Yellow Sun adds enough difficulty and endurance after Kryptonite that 9a feels appropriate to me. What means the most to me is probably the process behind it. Spending an entire season focused on one line taught me a lot about commitment and trust in the process, and I feel incredibly honored that the route now stands as the second 9a established by an American woman.