Australia's 5.14 Sneaky Snake Tamed Again
The Grampians. Late spring. The kind of place where the sun hits the orange-and-white streaks of Taipan Wall just right, and your heartbeat syncs with the rhythm of the rock. And somewhere in the mix, you find Oliver Schmidt, elusive, relentless, a climber the wider world doesn’t know, but should.
Last year, Australian filmmaker Ethan Morf landed on these cliffs with one goal: document Oliver on the second ascent of Sneaky Snake, the line first stitched into Taipan Wall a decade ago by climbing legend Lee Cossey. It’s a route that’s become quietly mythic, a weaving 55-meter juggernaut that demands both finesse and fearlessness. For Cossey, it was a masterstroke: grading it 33 (8c), he danced through a high-stakes crux by skipping bolts, linking seven meters of an existing climb to his 48-meter independent masterpiece. The direct start remains a tease, the kind of move that separates those who dream from those who do.
Fast forward to 2025: Schmidt, known in elite climbing circles but nearly invisible online, no socials, no hype, just pure gravity-defying craft, arrives in Australia after quietly ticking off some of the hardest lines on every continent. When Ethan heard Schmidt had repeated Sneaky Snake, there was no question: it had to be captured.
Filming with Schmidt is a lesson in patience and awe. Every movement up the orange-and-white streak resonates with history; the climb sits right next to the infamous Groove Train, immortalized in the cult climbing film Smitten. Anyone who’s ever felt the pulse of that closing scene with Ben Cossey knows the level of stoke involved. And Schmidt? He didn’t just climb it, he flowed it, turning each technical crux into a fluid, almost surf-like dance up the wall.
Collaborating with creative powerhouse Sophie Sheppard, the footage captures more than climbing, it captures a lifestyle. The line, the movement, the exposure, the sun hitting the rock just so, like carving powder down a hidden backcountry line or dropping into a perfect swell. The final edit took time, but now it’s out: a rare glimpse of a climber who prefers the silence of the ascent to the noise of the feed.
From Lee Cossey’s original ground-breaking first ascent to Schmidt’s modern reinterpretation, Sneaky Snake has cemented its place among the Grampians’ last great climbs. It’s a line that honors the past while hinting at the future, where climbing meets art, adventure, and that intoxicating mix of risk and reward.
Oliver Schmidt isn’t a household name. But in the orange streaks of Taipan Wall, on a climb called Sneaky Snake, he’s the guy who rides the wave few have.
WHIPPER ALERT: At the 1 minute mark.