Article by Marco Sappa

The first time I saw photos of this line, I immediately fell in love.
I like cracks, and I like cracks under roofs.
Necronomicon is the queen of cracks.

Last spring, I went to Moab and, after climbing Excommunication (5.13a) and Ivory Tower (5.13b III) ‒ the most beautiful and difficult of the Castle Valley Towers ‒ I dedicated myself to The Crack House (5.13/V8). A 30-meter crack boulder problem under a roof, graded 5.13 (7c+ in Europe). I managed to send it very close to my limit on my last day in the USA. Definitely harder than Green Spit (one of the most famous and hardest crack climbs in Orco and Europe)! Since I had so much fun, I immediately wondered if there was something similar, but harder…

I discovered Necronomicon (5.14/8b+), a truly impressive line along a roof, over 30-metres long. It’s located along the White Rim Road, an off-road route within Canyonlands National Park in Utah. There’s no information or guidebook, and the area is so vast it’s impossible to find if you don’t know where it is. There’s very little information online. Five repeats in 15 years.

I started dreaming.

The video of Mary Eden (@trad_princess) climbing it is so inspiring!

But dreams always have to face reality: it’s not easy to reach, and it’s not easy to leave your family for a long time, especially with young children. And, as with any good project, there’s always a real chance of failure.

Honestly, after the initial enthusiasm, I put the idea aside for a while.

Over the course of the year, however, it kept coming back to me. I’d return to the few photos and videos I could find online.

Then, over the summer, Thomas and I started thinking that we could actually return to Utah in the fall. So I decided to take it seriously. I started asking my contacts for information, and finally Pete Whittaker gave me the GPS location.

Okay, now the next step was specific training.

Training for Necronomicon

The problem is that in Europe, we don’t have similar lines; there’s nothing that can truly prepare you for that kind of physical commitment. Over the years, I’ve learned that if you don’t arrive in Utah physically ready, it takes a long time to adapt ‒ to get your muscles used to that intensity, and above all, to maintain it for such a long time, because the lines are very long.

So with coach Raf, we worked to set up a sustainable training plan at home.

I built a four-meter crack machine in the garage, and as soon as the summer season ended, I added specific sessions for a month, combining crack training with a strong core focus.

The great thing about crack climbing is that, if you’re motivated, you can keep training even when you can’t hold the holds anymore. So in September, thanks to a very well-structured plan, I managed to climb some great crimpy projects near home and, in the meantime, train for Necronomicon.

“Marco worked hard on the roof crack sim with a cascade based protocol twice a week. We also did plenty of high-volume core work, and bicep and horizontal pull strength. But the main focus in the training for Necromicon came in the form of the roof crack simulator, and getting really good at that, spending time in those positions, and practicing the skills, while also getting fitter in those specific crack sizes.”

— Coach Raf, Lattice Training

The Process

I landed in Salt Lake on October 13th, and on Thursday the 16th, I had my first day on the project.

The first part is hand-fist climbing ‒ long, but relatively easy. Then comes more than six meters of ‘green’ climbing. The first try was a bit of a shock: it seemed impossible to stay on. It’s really narrow, and besides your hands, the problem is that your feet can’t fit.

The other great difficulty of Necronomicon is trying it. Going back and forth under that roof isn’t very comfortable, and if you take a long fall, you have to climb back up ‒ it’s exhausting! All this while carrying a lot of friends.

Initially, I focused on the hard section, and slowly I began to gain confidence with those insecure jams. I worked all the moves individually. I got used to feeling my feet better and climbing with that constant sense of precariousness.

On the third session, I managed to do the entire hard sequence with the friends already placed, and I realized I probably should have done it without placing any.

I started making attempts from the beginning; the key was to climb the first section very well and quickly, so I could arrive as fresh as possible at the hard section.

At the end of the green sequence, with a beautiful and very strange move ‒ “You Turn” (feet first) ‒ you manage to lock your knees and breathe. After that, the route gets easier, but it’s still long, and you have to fight to the end.

In sessions four and five, I fell three or four times at the end of the hardest section, making crazy swings and brushing the bushes below.

Honestly, I felt a pressure I’d never felt before. I also felt a little guilty toward my family. The more you realize you’re about to succeed ‒ after investing so much ‒ the harder and more stressful it becomes. You have to keep all these emotions under control and make sure they don’t take over. It wasn’t easy.

On day six, I did it on my second try. An incredible emotion.

Definitely the hardest crack I’ve ever climbed: physically and mentally.

I’m very proud to have taken another step forward in my crack climbing journey.

Wow. I climbed Necronomicon.

Psyched to train with Lattice? Check out our training plans.

LatticePlans: custom training plans that adapt as you train. Learn more.

Follow Marco on Instagram.