Gadd s Still Got It: The Mustang P-51 (M14-)

After a seventeen year hiatus, Will Gadd returned to The Fang Amphitheater in East Vail, Colorado, home of the seminal Jeff Lowe masterpiece, “Octopussy” (M8), as well as Will’s own groundbreaking routes “Amphibian” (M9) and “Reptile” (M10), and made the third ascent of my route “The Mustang P-51” (M14-) on his second attempt, besting our friend, the Korean powerhouse Kwon Young-Hye, who made the second ascent last December in a mere three tries. As with Kwon, Will finished the climb reaching the no-hands ledge with a single bolt anchor atop “The Flying Fortress” (M13), down-climbed a bit, and then jumped off . . . just for fun. Please pardon the length and the roughness of the edit; I wanted to get a long version up fast so Jeff could enjoy an unabridged reminiscence immediately.