Five Ten 2016 | Jon Cardwell | Ascending “Shadow Boxing” 5.14d

In Five Ten 2016 | Jon Cardwell | Ascending “Shadow Boxing” 5.14d, we drop into Rifle, Colorado—one of North America’s most intense sport-climbing arenas—where steep limestone walls have fueled two decades of grade-pushing ambition. The film follows Jon Cardwell as he takes on “Shadow Boxing” (5.14d), a route that sits at the razor edge of what’s possible and represents the cutting edge of a crag packed with elite testpieces. What makes this worth watching is the rare combination of place, difficulty, and mastery: Rifle’s concentration of 5.14 routes turns every attempt into a high-stakes performance, and Cardwell’s experience shines in the tiny adjustments, gritty precision, and calm under pressure that hard climbing demands. In just a few minutes, it captures the obsession behind top-end sport climbing—how effort stacks over time, how failure refines movement, and how a single send can feel like the culmination of an entire era at a legendary cliff.

Five Ten · 6:40

For nearly two decades Rifle, Colorado has been at the pinnacle of producing the hardest sport climbing in North America. Being home to over 35 routes graded 5.14, including two 5.14ds established more recently, makes it one of the most concentrated crags in the country. Only one person has been able to keep up with the rapid production of routes, managing to climb just about everything. Check out Jon Cardwell’s Five Ten Hiangles at http://bit.ly/1pz65UQ