Monkey Wedding Bio The notoriously difficult 14-move problem was put up by Fred Nicole in August 2002. At the time of his first ascent, Nicole awarded the problem the grade of 8B+/V14. Since then the route has had over a dozen repeats with the consensus being that the route is closer to the 8C/V15 grade. …
Vasil Vasil Bio Standing at only 12m high, Vasil Vasil is considerably shorter than Ondra’s two prior 9b+, Change (55m) in Flatanger, Norway and La Dura Dura (40m) in Oliana, Catalonia. While the route might be shorter, it is by no means easier. Hidden within this 22-move route are some extremely difficult sequences. The route …
Catalan Witness the Fitness Catalan Witness the Fitness is a horizontal roof problem found in Cova de Ocell, Catalunya. The problem is in a cave situated halfway up the cliff, requiring climbers to scale a fixed line in order to reach the problem. After moving to Barcelona and opening ‘Sharma Climbing Barcelona’ in 2015, Cova …
The Gioia Bio Gioia, Italian for Joy, came to fruition after Varazze local Marco Bagnasco became inspired by Fred Nicole’s iconic masterpiece Dreamtime. “I’m not sure exactly when, but someday I’ll find another difficult problem, perhaps not as hard as Dreamtime but just as beautiful” Bagnasco proclaimed to Core. True to his word, Bagnasco discovered …
The Wheel of Life Bio When The Wheel of Life got its first ascent in 2004 by Dai Koyamada he proposed the boulder grade of V16/8C+. This would not only have made it the hardest problem in the Southern Hemisphere, but also the hardest boulder problem in the world, at the time. The Wheel would …
The Finnish Line Bio The Finnish Line is an imposing 21 move highball in Rocklands, South Africa. After Nalle Hukkataival made the first ascent on 27th June 2017, he initially didn’t offer a grade for the line, although suggested it was one of the hardest lines in the area. This placed the problem in V15/V16 …
The Story Of Two Worlds Bio Like a lot of iconic ascents, The Story of Two Worlds (TSOTW) is a boulder problem shrouded in controversy. The route itself is a V15/8C, 21-move problem on the Dreamtime boulder, found in the popular bouldering area of Cresciano, Switzerland. The Story of Two Worlds is a sit-start extension, …
The Big Paw Bio Big Paw is a V14/V15 (8B+/8C) the sit start variation of Boogalagga (V13), a compression boulder up the side of a blunt arête in Chironico, Switzerland. The 7 move boulder problem became a popular test piece for bouldering specialists receiving ascent from Dave Graham, Dai Koyamada, Daniel Woods and many others. …
The Bügeleisen Sit Bio After Bock’s repeat, however, the ascents dried up. It wasn’t until Nalle Hukkataival arrived in April 2013, over a decade later, that the boulder eventually got its third stand-start ascent. Since the Bügeleisen stand start was established in 2001, it became a well-known test piece for many elite climbers. The 50°, …
The Jumbo Love Bio Jumbo Love was first bolted by Randy Leavitt, a local California climber who had established several lines on the Clark mountain. Although it was originally bolted as a 3 pitch climb, Sharma envisioned a mammoth 250ft (76m) single-pitch sport route and re-bolted the face to facilitate his vision. The line consists …
