May 19th, 2024: my best day of climbing ever. I climbed the twelve 5.12s at Bat Wall in a day. Every climb felt flowy, well-known, and well-executed. I was in flow state for most of 12 hours, and I didn’t make a mistake until pitch 12. I had learned a lot from the first try, about nutrition, timing, route order, and beta. The result was a singular experience that combined most of what I know about climbing, endurance, and mental focus. Here’s the backstory.

The Bat Wall

Bat Wall, at Broughton Bluff, is the best local crag near Portland, Oregon. In the words of illustrious Dan Bookless, Bat Wall is “maybe the best cliff in the world.” All joking aside, it’s pretty good. The rock is bullet, vertical basalt, and the climbs require a lot of technique and trickery along with some straight pulling. The basalt is not columnar, but forms person-sized features and blocks, similar to Main Cliff at Rumney. You can find all sorts of holds on the wall: crimps, pinches, slopers, and even a bunch of hand and finger jams. The body positions are weird, and the beta finicky. One wrong foot can render a whole sequence impossible. It’s a style that I really like, since it requires thought, precision, and problem-solving more than raw power.


Clipping through the end of Bad Omen. Photo by @caleb.jacobson

There just so happen to be twelve 5.12 sport climbs accessible from the ground at the Bat Wall. They span the range from 12a to 12d. Of the 12 climbs, at least half are classic, and I’d say all of them are worth doing. Dracula, Bela, and MFR are as good as climbs get. There are other challenges that combine multiple routes on the wall in a day: for instance, the Triumvirate (Dracula, Bela, Bad Omen), and the Sacred Combo (Triumvirate + MFR and Bloodline). But, to my knowledge, no one had done all 12 in a day.

One of the cool things about this combo is that there’s very little overlapping climbing. Dracula and Bela both exit through the infamous “pod” feature, which is the last 20 feet or so before the anchors. The Haunting also crosses Bad Omen, but they don’t share any meaningful climbing. The rest of the climbing is independent: pretty good for a local crag!

Preparation

Beta

First, I had to learn all the beta. Before starting this project, I had done all the climbs, with the exception of MFR. Some of them I hadn’t repeated, and I only had 1 or 2 wired. To prepare, I climbed them over and over, maybe 5-10 times per route. I can’t remember exactly when I started training, but it was sometime in the Fall of 2023. Learning and remembering all the beta was the crux of the whole challenge.

After a lot of frustration, I realized that I just couldn’t keep all the moves for all 12 in my head. I was only getting to the cliff a couple of times a week (I also had a full-time job), and I wasn’t remembering the beta precisely enough. Often one missed foot or hand would make a sequence impossible. At the very least, climbing with shaky beta or poor execution required a LOT more energy. I knew that if I was going to have a shot, I was going to have to be pretty fresh through the first 8 or so climbs. So, energy conservation was key.

I settled on the following strategy: record video of each climb and then voice over the beta. I found that a video alone is not sufficient, because the subtleties of some movements are not apparent. Details like a hip shift, extra weight on a foot, or micro beta for a hand might not be discernible in a video but can be communicated in a voiceover. The videos were the key to success, and I’ll share them eventually.


Mid crux on MFR. Photo by @caleb.jacobson

Here are a few of the notable pitches and moves:

Manson Family Reunion 12c: Technically a second pitch, MFR can be linked from the ground with a 70m rope at full stretch. I decided to combine it with Bela. It starts off with two long throws that are full span for me. Then, there is a pump crux near the top of the cliff. I knew I needed to be fresh to have a shot at sending.

Bloodline 12b: Notoriously sandbagged, the move over the roof at the end might be the hardest single move on the wall. Get a slopey heel hook with hands way out left on small crimps. Switch to a toe, perch, and get as high as you can to reach a mono on the slab. You’re also a bit pumped at that point.

Predator 12d: Used to be pretty soft, but the start hold broke while I was preparing, and the move went from V4ish to V6. It’s a hard pull, but close to the ground.

The Haunting 12d: The hardest of the 12s. A couple of bolts of pulling on very small crimps, with bad feet.

The pod: The infamous finish for both Bela and Dracula. You must get your body into a person-sized pod and then exit on slopey holds and feet. Many people fall here repeatedly when working both climbs. I use a hand jam and then a foot jam.

Bad Omen: My personal nemesis. Before starting on this project, the only two times I’d pulled the crux move from the ground were when I sent Bad Omen and Bitenight. I find that the move just doesn’t fit my body. Luckily, Ryan gave me some alternate beta, which, while strenuous, was repeatable.

I also had a lot of trouble remembering the beta for Bela and The Thirst. Both climbs feel easy when I get them right, but impossible when I forget a move.

Route order

How did I decide on the order of the routes? Obviously some routes are harder than others. Some are pumpier. Harder routes would generally have to come when I was freshest. However, difficulty, and particularly the grade, were not the most important factor for route order. The most important consideration ended up being the location of the crux. A route with a crux at the top, especially if it was pumpy at all, would need to come near the beginning. Bloodline at 12b was the route I was most worried about because it ends with maybe the hardest single move on the wall. I also knew I would have to be fresh to pull through the redpoint crux on MFR, which comes around 100ft from the ground. Routes with a low crux, even pretty hard ones like Predator, could come later when I was more tired.

I selected Supernatural and The Thirst as my warmups. I decided to save Dracula for last, because I felt like I could practically do it in my sleep. The rest of the routes I could fill in as needed.

Energy

12 hours of activity requires proper nutrition and rest. I consumed 100-200 calories of Tailwind (ultra marathoner sugar) and half a liter of water after each climb, plus snacks. I rested at least 30 minutes between each climb, even when I was feeling fresh. I also napped in my van in the parking lot in the afternoon to split the climbing into two sessions.


Resting. Photo by @caleb.jacobson

Weather

Good conditions are the key to any send. At Broughton, I had to contend with three main factors: rain, heat/sun, and daylight. For rain, the Pacific Northwest can be pretty wet. While most of Bat Wall is actually climbable in the rain because the wall is ever so slightly overhung, the humidity does not help on all the slick holds. For temperature, summer is generally too hot for serious climbing at Broughton. Clouds are good, because the wall gets partial sun in the afternoon. For daylight, I needed at least 12 hours, so I couldn’t do the challenge during the winter. I was looking for a cloudy, cool, spring day.

Mental focus

I needed to get myself in the right mindset for each climb, and between each climb. While climbing, I needed to be fully relaxed to conserve energy, to be focused enough to remember the beta, and to reserve enough “oomph” to get through the cruxes. Between climbs, I had to relax my body and recover as much energy as possible. I have been meditating frequently, and am able to get myself into focus mode pretty easily these days. I found that watching the beta video before each climb, rehearsing the beta in my head once, and then taking a few mindful breaths got my head in the right place.

During the climbing, I concentrated on climbing quickly between rests and trying to be as dynamic as possible. Doing moves with momentum allowed me to climb fast, and also to get micro rests as I floated between moves. I focused on thinking a couple of moves ahead, which helped my execution accuracy and speed.

Try 1

May 7th, 2024:

Kristian Trakov agreed to get out super early with me so that I had enough daylight to complete all the climbs. I thought it was going to be cool and cloudy, but it turned out to be raining. Conditions left a lot to be desired. Despite the weather, I started out feeling super strong. But I had a bunch of fumbles early. I had an epic save on Bela, where my foot slipped and I was weightless for at least a half second before stabbing my hand out to catch myself. I fell twice on the MFR crux. I was using a ton of energy pulling imperfectly through the climbs. By pitch 5, Bloodline, I was exhausted. I fell on Bloodline, and then I fell on Full Bloodsucker. At that moment, I knew I didn’t have all 12 in me that day, and was pretty frustrated. I guess I had some unrealistic expectations that I might send on my first try. But, I pulled myself together and decided to treat the day as a dress rehearsal. I attempted all the climbs and ended up with 9/12, as follows:

Supernatural, 12a
Bela Lugosi, 12c
MFR, 12c (fell twice, then sent)
Haunting, 12d
Bloodline, 12b (fell)
Full Bloodsucker, 12a (fell)
Thirst, 12a
Predator, 12d
Danse Macabre, 12a
Gold Arch, 12b
Bad Omen, 12b (fell)
Dracula, 12a
Bad Omen, 12b (fell)


Gritting through the crux on Bad Omen. Photo by @caleb.jacobson

I learned a bunch of things that day. First, I had the order wrong. I needed to do Bloodline earlier, because it was so hard with a crux at the top. Second, I found better beta for some of the climbs, notably Full Bloodsucker. I really leaned into my beta videos, making them as precise and complete as possible. I resolved to watch the video before each climb, which I wasn’t doing consistently on the first try. Finally, I realized that I needed to start the day climbing “tired.” I had come out too hard, with too much GRRRRR, and burned all my energy. I needed to start out slow, steady, and smooth. No extra pulling. Climbing “tired” is a mindset that I now try to apply to all my climbing.

Oh, and also, someone (unnamed) broke Predator. The start hold broke, which I was using as a key foot. The climb went from a pretty chill V4ish move to probably a V6. So that was a significant upgrade, but luckily the crux was still at the bottom.

The day

May 19th, 2024:

I got to Bat Wall at 7am with Ryan Westby and started up Supernatural. It felt pretty smooth. Bloodline went well, and I managed to pull the crux to the mono without too much trouble. Caleb Jacobson was filming and had set up fixed lines around most of the climbs. He also had me wear a mic for some of it. The wire for the mic ended up winding around my arm at the top crux of MFR, but I was able to climb through it. The climbs were feeling smooth and flowy. I was watching my beta video before each climb. After each climb I was drinking my Tailwind, maybe eating a snack, and resting for at least 30 minutes.


Setting up for the crux of Bloodline. Photo by @caleb.jacobson

By the time I got to pitch 5 around 11am, the wall was getting a little crowded. I was going to do the Haunting next, before it got in the sun, but a party was on Bad Omen, which overlaps the route. I ended up getting on Predator just to finish something. By the time the party finished and I got on The Haunting, it was in the sun. The Haunting consists of 2 bolts of really small crimps. In the sun, those crimps were just too greasy. I nearly pulled the sequence, but greased off near the end. At that moment, I put my chances of finishing all 12 at less than 50%. It was pretty frustrating to get my order messed up by crowds, but that’s the nature of climbing at Broughton.

I decided to push through a couple more pitches before nap time. Gold Arch and Danse Macabre went well, although I was starting to feel tired. I also didn’t have my beta wired for the start of Danse and had a couple of false starts, but that was negligible energy. After, I went back to my van, had a smallish lunch, and laid down for ~45minutes. I’m not sure if I fell asleep, but I did feel refreshed.

I got back out with a warmup on The Thirst, which was in the sun, but went smoothly. I then pulled onto The Haunting. I knew I only had one shot, with my energy and skin levels. If you had told me at the beginning of the day that I was going to have to climb The Haunting as the 10th pitch of the day, I would’ve said, no f’ing way. The Haunting is the hardest climb, with probably a 10 move balancy sequence bearing down on tiny crimps and bad feet. But, I gritted through it. It felt limit. After the crux there’s a good rest, and then a tricky but not super hard sequence (5.10ish). I was so tired that I had a lot of trouble recovering at the rest. I eventually just decided to go for it, and I managed to send the route, but barely. After sending The Haunting, I started to believe. I just had to get past Bad Omen and Full Bloodsucker. I had fallen on both of them on the first try day.

I sent them, and Dracula felt like a victory lap. I’ve probably done Dracula ~100 times, but I was so excited that I was a little sloppy. I made it through, though. It took just under 12 hours to do the 12 12s. I actually felt like I had energy to maybe do another pitch or two of 5.12a. I was sooo stoked, and it was so cool to come back down to earth and have a bunch of friends around to support me.

Thanks to everyone who shared the experience, supported me, and helped me chase my somewhat arbitrary goal! Special thanks to my belayers Craig Hoffmann, Jason Blanks, Lucas Arredondo, and especially Ryan Westby who got out there early and finished with 7 bluepoints.


Friends came out in force. Love you all! Photo by Ryan Westby

Also, thanks to Caleb Jacobson for filming the whole thing. The movie will be out soon. The photos in this post are stills from his video.

Stats: 13 pitches, 12 hours. Climbs in order:

Supernatural (5.12a)
Bloodline (5.12b)
Bela Lugosi (5.12c)
Manson Family Reunion (5.12c)
Predator (5.12d)
The Haunting (fell)
Gold Arch (5.12b)
Danse Macabre (5.12a)
The Thirst (5.12a)
The Haunting (5.12d)
Full Bloodsucker (5.12a)
Bad Omen (5.12b)
Dracula (5.12a)