A climber is 150 feet up a smooth granite corner, screaming and clawing through the hardest few moves, willing herself not to fall. The clip has been watched tens of millions of times. The detail that makes it almost unbelievable is one you cannot see: she climbed it with a torn tendon pulley in her finger.
Every so often a rock climbing clip escapes the climbing world and takes over everyone’s feed, and Amity Warme’s ascent of a Yosemite testpiece called “Book of Hate” is one of them. To a non-climber it reads as raw, terrifying effort. To anyone who knows the sport, it is even more impressive than it looks. Here is what you are actually watching, and why this particular climb is such a big deal.
The Short Version
The viral clip shows climber Amity Warme on “Book of Hate,” a 150-foot corner in Yosemite graded 5.13d, one of the harder grades in the sport. She pushed through the crux, the hardest section, and later revealed she had a fully ruptured A2 pulley, a finger tendon injury, at the time. The mix of extreme difficulty, real danger of falling, and visible struggle is what makes it land with millions of viewers.
What You Are Actually Watching
The route is “Book of Hate,” a famous 150-foot corner pitch in Yosemite Valley first ascended decades ago by Randy Leavitt. It is a benchmark hard climb, and elite climbers travel to test themselves on it. Warme’s send of it was filmed and spread far beyond the climbing community, as outlets covering the clip noted, racking up an enormous audience who mostly had no idea what they were looking at.
It is worth knowing she is not the only elite climber drawn to it. Other top climbers, including Sasha DiGiulian, have taken on the same corner, which is part of why the route has such a reputation. When a climb becomes a rite of passage for the best in the world, a clip of someone battling up it carries weight even for viewers who have never touched rock.
How Hard Is 5.13d, Really?
Climbers grade difficulty on the Yosemite Decimal System, and rock climbs sit in the fifth class, written as 5 followed by a number. Easy climbs are around 5.5, a fit beginner in a gym might work on 5.9 or 5.10, and the numbers keep climbing. From 5.10 up, each grade also gets a letter from a to d to fine-tune it.
A 5.13d is near the top of what all but a small number of humans can climb, several full grades beyond a strong recreational climber. Getting up one requires elite finger strength, technique, and endurance, and even accomplished climbers may spend a long time before they can do a single 5.13. That is the context the clip hides: this is not a hard-for-a-beginner climb, it is hard for almost everyone alive.
The Injury Nobody Saw
The most jaw-dropping part is medical. Warme has said she climbed the route with a fully ruptured A2 pulley in a finger. The A2 pulley is a small band of tissue that holds a finger’s tendon close to the bone, and it is one of the most common serious injuries in climbing, usually from a finger taking sudden high load on a small hold.
A ruptured pulley is painful and normally sidelines a climber. Pushing through the crux of a 5.13d with one is the kind of thing that makes other climbers wince and shake their heads. It is not something to emulate, and climbing on a suspected pulley injury risks worse damage, but it explains why the clip hits so hard for people who understand what her hands were going through.
Why Corner Climbs Are So Brutal
The style matters too. “Book of Hate” is a corner, and climbing a steep corner often means liebacking and stemming, pulling sideways on one edge while pushing with the feet, in a sustained, pumpy sequence with few places to rest. It is strenuous in a way that builds and builds until the forearms give out.
That is why the visible screaming and shaking are not drama for the camera. On a sustained corner at that grade, you are fighting a clock: the longer you hang on, the weaker you get, so the crux has to be climbed fast and committed, with a real fall waiting if the timing slips. The effort you see is the actual physics of the climb.
Why These Clips Go Viral
Put it together and the appeal is obvious even without the jargon. The height and exposure trigger a gut reaction, the visible, screaming effort reads as relatable human struggle rather than effortless mastery, and the payoff of watching someone hang on and succeed is deeply satisfying.
Climbing clips also translate across audiences because the stakes are legible: up is good, falling is bad, and the person is clearly at their limit. You do not need to know what 5.13d means to feel the tension, which is exactly why a niche-sport moment ends up in front of tens of millions of people.
Key Takeaways
- The viral clip shows Amity Warme on “Book of Hate,” a 150-foot Yosemite corner graded 5.13d.
- A 5.13d is near the top of the sport, several grades beyond a strong recreational climber.
- Warme said she climbed it with a fully ruptured A2 finger pulley, one of climbing’s most common serious injuries.
- Corner climbs demand sustained liebacking and stemming with few rests, so the visible effort is real physics.
- The height, raw struggle, and clear stakes are why a niche climbing moment reaches a mass audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What climb is in the viral Yosemite video?
It is “Book of Hate,” a roughly 150-foot corner pitch in Yosemite Valley first ascended by Randy Leavitt and graded 5.13d. The widely shared clip shows climber Amity Warme working through its crux, and other elite climbers such as Sasha DiGiulian have also taken on the route.
How hard is a 5.13d climb?
Very hard. On the Yosemite Decimal System, beginners climb around 5.5 to 5.9, and difficulty rises from there with a-to-d letter grades above 5.10. A 5.13d sits near the top of what humans can climb, well beyond a strong recreational climber, requiring elite finger strength, technique, and endurance.
What is an A2 pulley injury?
The A2 pulley is a small band of tissue that keeps a finger’s tendon against the bone. Rupturing it is one of the most common serious climbing injuries, usually from a finger loading a small hold suddenly. It is painful and typically requires rest and rehab, which is why climbing a hard route with a ruptured one is extraordinary.
Why do climbers scream and shake on hard routes?
Because sustained hard climbing, especially on a corner with few rests, pumps out the forearms until they fail. The climber is racing their own fading strength, so the crux must be done fast and committed. The visible strain is the genuine effort of holding on, not performance for the camera.
The Bottom Line
The viral Yosemite clip is one of those rare moments where the reality is more impressive than the spectacle. A 5.13d corner is brutally hard for almost anyone, the screaming effort is the true cost of hanging on, and doing it with a ruptured finger pulley pushes it into the almost-unbelievable. You do not need to climb to be floored by it, but knowing what is actually happening turns a scary clip into a genuine feat of the sport. For more coverage, see ShoutPost’s Sports and Travel sections.
This article explains a professional athlete’s climb for general readers. Rock climbing at any level carries injury risk; learn from qualified instructors and do not attempt elite routes or climb on a suspected injury without proper training and medical guidance.