#184 Connor Herson — The World’s Hardest (And Best?) Trad Climb, Proposing A New Grade, and Headlining The Mellow Tour

#184 Connor Herson — The World’s Hardest (And Best?) Trad Climb, Proposing A New Grade, and Headlining The Mellow Tour

From The Testpiece Podcast by Testpiece

February 23, 2026 · 1h 13m · Episode 200

About this episode

Connor Herson discusses his proposal for the world's first 5.15 trad climb and balancing his climbing career with academic pursuits.

Connor Herson is back after an insane 3 years. Last week he proposed the world’s first 5.15 trad climb, “Drifter’s Escape,” a beautiful single pitch in Squamish that revolves around one of the best moves you could ask for on gear. He also talks about balancing climbing professionally with completing his masters degree, lessons he’s learned from climbing with boulderers, and his philosophy of improving by climbing as much volume as he can without sacrificing difficulty. Patreon Bonus Content (...

People in this episode

Host: Testpiece

Guest: Connor Herson

Topics covered

  • climbing
  • trad climbing
  • grades
  • professional sports
  • education
  • climbing philosophy

Keywords

  • Connor Herson
  • trad climb
  • 5.15
  • Drifter’s Escape
  • climbing philosophy
  • Squamish
  • Mellow Tour

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Drifter’s Escape

Places: Squamish

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