Magic Mushroom VI 5.14a

Magic Mushroom climbs a demanding free line up the right side of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, breaking its own path through the upper wall after sharing ground with other El Cap routes lower down. It totals roughly twenty pitches at 5.12 or harder, with two pitches of 5.14a (8b+) concentrated near the top. That combination, sustained 5.12 and 5.13 pitches low on the route feeding into two pitches at the redpoint limit high on the wall after days of fatigue, is what makes Magic Mushroom rank among El Capitan's hardest free routes, behind only the Dawn Wall.

History

Hugh Burton and Steve Sutton put up the original aid line in 1972, rated 5.10 A4 (roughly 5.7 A3 by modern reckoning). Tommy Caldwell and Justen Sjong freed it in May 2008, and Caldwell returned a month later to climb the whole route free in under 24 hours. It then went unrepeated free for almost a decade. Jacopo Larcher and Barbara (Babsi) Zangerl spent more than a month total on the wall across several pushes, working pitches ground-up and aiding sections while rehearsing moves on toprope, before topping out on December 10, 2017, after an 11-day final push. Each climber led every pitch of 5.12+ or harder, and their ascent was only the third free ascent of the route.

On film

FREE ASCENT of El Capitan's 2nd Hardest Route | ft. Babsi Zangerl & Jacopo Larcher (Louder Than Eleven, 2023) documents this free ascent, showing the pair's rope work, toprope rehearsal and the grinding, multi-push process of linking 5.12 and 5.13 pitches into a single free ascent on one of El Capitan's biggest walls. The film frames the route as the second-hardest free line on the formation, after the Dawn Wall, and follows the physical and logistical toll of a big-wall free attempt: hauling, portaledge camps and repeated tries on the crux pitches near the top.