Cobra Crack is a long traditional climbing route on a thin crack up an overhanging granite rock face on Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. The route was first ascended by Peter Croft and Tami Knight in 1981 as an aid climb. After rebuffing many attempts by leading climbers – most notably by Swiss crack climber Didier Berthod in 2005 – Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter made the first free ascent in 2006. With subsequent ascents, the consensus grade has settled at which ranked Cobra Crack as one of the hardest crack climbs in the world, and almost two decades later, it is still considered one of the world's hardest traditional climbing routes.
History
In 1981, Canadian climbers and Squamish regulars, Peter Croft and Tami Knight, made the first ascent of Cobra Crack, as an A2-graded aid climbing route. The route was named after the distinctive Cobra silhouette of the groove that leads into the main crack. By the 2000s, the route had become an open project with the leading traditional climbers vying for the first free ascent.
In 2005, Swiss traditional climbing and crack specialist, Didier Berthod, attempted to free the route but failed due to a serious knee injury. Berthod's efforts were recorded as part of an award-winning climbing documentary film, First Ascent, at the end of which he says to the camera (in crutches), "I came here to feed my ego and my vanity – to be the first". Berthod imediately quit climbing, and his struggles on the "world's hardest crack-climb" were covered by the international media.
In June 2006, Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter made the first free ascent after 40 attempts spread over 3 years, placing all of his climbing protection as he was lead climbing on the route. Trotter felt it was a "solid 5.14" route, and with subsequent repeats, the consensus grade has settled on . A tradition was also started of successful repeaters signing their name on a wooden fingerboard (called the "Earlmarker") that hangs near the base of the route.
In 2023, Berthod, who had returned to climbing after a decade absence, visited Squamish for the first time since 2005, and made the first free ascent of the long-standing open project, The Crack of Destiny, which he graded as being harder than .
Route
Cobra Crack is a crack climb, with a narrow crack that barely accommodates individual fingers. The route has an abrasive surface causing many to limit their attempts to once or twice per day to avoid excessive skin wear. It, therefore, requires a higher pain threshold, with Trotter saying in 2006: "pain is ever-present, and the mental crux is overlooking the pain move after move".
While the entire route is over long, the main crack is circa . Halfway up the main crack, it begins to sharply overhang at circa 45 degrees, and entering this section requires an extremely difficult (and painful) move where the climber inserts their middle finger vertically upwards into an "undercut mono pocket" in the 45-degree wall above them.
The technical crux is getting over the lip at the top of the overhang and then immediately making a critical move upwards. In 2006, Trotter said: "The redpoint crux comes over the lip on a slippery side pull; the feet are next to nothing, and it takes momentum and a huge throw to latch the final edge, at which point you're about 15 to 20 feet about your last piece of gear—it's really exciting". Contemporary climbers often use route beta that employs a dramatic inverted heel hook (i.e. the climber's legs are above their body) to get through this lip.
Legacy
After its first free ascent in 2006, Cobra Crack was considered the hardest traditional crack climbing route in the world. Reporting on Didier Berthod's failed 2005 attempt, El Pais called Cobra Crack "the most difficult fissure on the planet", while Desnivel said that Favresse's 2008 repeat had: "sealed Cobra Crack's candidacy for the hardest crack on the planet". Almost two decades after the first free ascent, Cobra Crack still ranks amongst the hardest traditional climbing routes in the world, and only one to two notches below the hardest, which are at to potentially .