Full Nelson, my arch nemesis route, goes straight through the center of Upper Wall, Acephale in the Bow Valley of Canada. It is the second route I ever bolted, the first hard project I ever bolted, and is lovingly graded 14d by the first and only ascensionist, Alex Megos.
It all started as a joke while hanging out at Acephale one day, when Craig Doram and Peter Nelson (for whom the route is named) suggested I bolt an utterly blank looking section of the wall. I quickly dismissed the idea. It was 2012 and being completely green to developing new routes, I had no idea what I was looking for anyway.
Shortly afterwards, the same section of the wall came into conversation again coincidentally, this time with Lev Pinter, who mentioned he had rappelled the line previously, placed a bolt, but also dismissed the potential for a line. That conversation sparked a genuine interest in me as the presence of an existing bolt made scoping out the line much easier.
Not long after, I rappelled the line myself and was pretty stoked. Everything seemed doable except for one extremely difficult section. But it seemed like there was just enough that it could go.
While I was stoked on the possibility of a route, I was still nervous to actually put bolts in the wall, especially straight up the middle of Upper Wall. I rappelled the route a few more times staring at the holds and the potential, but it was meeting Joe Kinder and his amazing contagious stoke later that summer during his visit to the Bow Valley that convinced me to just go for it.
Lev's original vision of Full Nelson involved sharing a start with Copacabana but right beside was a prominent corner feature just begging to be climbed and so an independent start was bolted. The start of the route is now called Half Nelson at a much more attainable grade.
After Full Nelson was bolted, it remained largely untouched for awhile as I was getting into the thick of projecting Bunda de Fora which would later be my first 14d. After sending Bunda a year later, I turned my attention to Full Nelson. It was quickly apparent that the route would be hard. It turned out trying to free climb the moves was much harder than simply imagining the sequences while hanging on a fixed rope.
The crux, as I suspected, was hard, maybe impossible. I couldn't touch it, but I was convinced it would go, possibly requiring someone much stronger than me. I continued to climb at Acephale regularly for a number of years, and tried Full Nelson periodically, but never really made much progress on the crux and the route kept it's project status until Alex Megos visited the Bow Valley in 2016.
I met Alex on his first day at Acephale. He had already dispatched Bunda de Fora and Kinder Surprise 14c by the time I arrived. In that moment, I decided to offer up Full Nelson. I was curious about what he thought of the climb and if it truly was possible. However, it was not an easy decision for me as at that time my projects were largely closed and I was just beginning to toy with the idea of opening up my projects.
On his first attempt, Alex agreed the crux was hard, possibly impossible. I offered up my ideas of how I thought it might go, with the most promising method involving a very high and aggressive heel hook. After working the crux for quite some time, out of kindness to his belayer, Alex lowered without having done the moves yet, but he was intrigued enough to try again. On his second try, Alex figured out the crux, went to the top, and suggested a possible grade of 15a.
Before his third attempt, he simply stated that if he sent that go, he would grade it 14d. Of course he climbed it third try seemingly effortlessly. I was super inspired watching him send and I knew I had made a good decision giving up the project. That moment really helped me embrace my new and current philosophy that all my projects are always open once the bolting and cleaning is complete. (I still reserve naming rights.)
Knowing the route was doable and at a theoretically attainable grade for me, I had renewed passion towards Full Nelson and I managed to do all the moves myself a few weeks later. One main problem I encountered with the right heel hook beta prior to meeting Alex was the lack of a supportive left foot. Alex solved this problem by putting a tick mark on a random spot on the rock and all of a sudden there was a supportive smear foot to support the move.
Usually, I find when I can do all the moves on a route, the send comes shortly after. For me, the 3 hardest moves on Full Nelson are so close to my max limit that I can only do them as single moves and only sometimes. I can't link even one move into them or out of them. I've been putting off Full Nelson, hoping to return stronger one day in order to link these moves but for now Full Nelson continues to sit right in the middle of Upper Wall, awaiting a second ascent, and will surely remain a test piece for years to come.
Acephale Upper Wall catching early morning sun before getting shade for the rest of the day.
Photo by Brett Lantz.
Shortly afterwards, the same section of the wall came into conversation again coincidentally, this time with Lev Pinter, who mentioned he had rappelled the line previously, placed a bolt, but also dismissed the potential for a line. That conversation sparked a genuine interest in me as the presence of an existing bolt made scoping out the line much easier.
Not long after, I rappelled the line myself and was pretty stoked. Everything seemed doable except for one extremely difficult section. But it seemed like there was just enough that it could go.
Hard moves on Full Nelson culminate with a jump to a sloper. Photo by Jeff Lewis.
While I was stoked on the possibility of a route, I was still nervous to actually put bolts in the wall, especially straight up the middle of Upper Wall. I rappelled the route a few more times staring at the holds and the potential, but it was meeting Joe Kinder and his amazing contagious stoke later that summer during his visit to the Bow Valley that convinced me to just go for it.
Lev's original vision of Full Nelson involved sharing a start with Copacabana but right beside was a prominent corner feature just begging to be climbed and so an independent start was bolted. The start of the route is now called Half Nelson at a much more attainable grade.
I haven't spent much time at Acephale in recent years but one day I will be back for Full Nelson.
Photo Jeff Lewis.
After Full Nelson was bolted, it remained largely untouched for awhile as I was getting into the thick of projecting Bunda de Fora which would later be my first 14d. After sending Bunda a year later, I turned my attention to Full Nelson. It was quickly apparent that the route would be hard. It turned out trying to free climb the moves was much harder than simply imagining the sequences while hanging on a fixed rope.
The crux, as I suspected, was hard, maybe impossible. I couldn't touch it, but I was convinced it would go, possibly requiring someone much stronger than me. I continued to climb at Acephale regularly for a number of years, and tried Full Nelson periodically, but never really made much progress on the crux and the route kept it's project status until Alex Megos visited the Bow Valley in 2016.
Alex Megos unlocking the heel hook beta of Full Nelson.
On his first attempt, Alex agreed the crux was hard, possibly impossible. I offered up my ideas of how I thought it might go, with the most promising method involving a very high and aggressive heel hook. After working the crux for quite some time, out of kindness to his belayer, Alex lowered without having done the moves yet, but he was intrigued enough to try again. On his second try, Alex figured out the crux, went to the top, and suggested a possible grade of 15a.
Before his third attempt, he simply stated that if he sent that go, he would grade it 14d. Of course he climbed it third try seemingly effortlessly. I was super inspired watching him send and I knew I had made a good decision giving up the project. That moment really helped me embrace my new and current philosophy that all my projects are always open once the bolting and cleaning is complete. (I still reserve naming rights.)
Trying hard at my max. Photo by Jeff Lewis.
Usually, I find when I can do all the moves on a route, the send comes shortly after. For me, the 3 hardest moves on Full Nelson are so close to my max limit that I can only do them as single moves and only sometimes. I can't link even one move into them or out of them. I've been putting off Full Nelson, hoping to return stronger one day in order to link these moves but for now Full Nelson continues to sit right in the middle of Upper Wall, awaiting a second ascent, and will surely remain a test piece for years to come.
