Gambler's Fallacy 5.13b

Gambler's Fallacy climbs the Diamond, the sheer east face of Longs Peak in Colorado's Front Range, at 14,255 feet elevation. The nine-pitch line is graded 5.13b and follows the old aid route Enos Mills Wall for its lower five pitches before breaking onto new rock for two harder finishing pitches, 5.13a and 5.12d, near the top of the wall. At this altitude, sustained 5.13 climbing is rare: cold rock, thin air, and multi-day bivvies on the wall make the free climbing itself only part of the challenge.

History

Chris Weidner and Bruce Miller began working the line in July 2017 and returned each summer after that, eventually spending 51 days on the wall across four seasons. Weidner led the final redpoint on August 9, 2020, with Miller belaying and hauling in support. The pair placed nine new protection bolts and nine new belay bolts, mostly to connect old aid seams into a continuous free line. The name plays on both the tradition of naming Diamond routes after card games and on the statistical fallacy of believing that years of failure make success more likely, which is how the two felt after so many seasons on the wall without a send.

On film

FIRST ASCENT on America's Highest Big Wall (14,255') (2020), from Louder Than Eleven, documents Weidner and Miller's years-long push on the route. The film follows the pair through the hauling, bivvying, and repeated attempts that led to Weidner's redpoint, with Miller climbing in support throughout, and frames the ascent as a test of persistence as much as technical free climbing at altitude.