Joe Skopec at Lion’s Head

Southern Ontario climber Joe Skopec has been projecting on a hrd 5.14 route on the Niagara Escarpment for the past two years. He took a break to apply his training to the walls at Lion’s Head. In late August, he sent the classic 5.14a of the crag called Titan, f irst climbed by Sonnie Trotter in the late 1990s. Skopec also climbed The Man in Me 5.13d, which starts a few feet left of Titan. “I remember reading about Sonnie Trotter doing the first ascent of Titatn when I was a kid,” said Skopec. “I told my dad ‘one day I’ll do that route’ knowing that I couldn’t send a 5.8 yet. But Titan is a five-star route. This wall is something you would find in Ceuse (never been, but looks the same). It starts off with and overhang for 60 feet and then 60 feet of slab.”