Robinson feels relatively confident about proposed the grade of V15 for the new problem. “As we all know grading is a very subjective thing. To me this climb just really felt like a big step up … I started my season strong with a V14 in Australia and then a few weeks later a few V13’s and a V14 in South Africa. There was no doubt to me this thing felt leagues harder. It is hard to say, obviously, how others will perceive the grade on this one. But personally, this climb took me a long time to do and with it being in my style, it seems appropriate to give it the V15 grade.”
The American Dave Graham sent Daniel Woods’ Noise vs. Beauty (8B+/8C – V14/V15) in Rocklands, South Africa, last Saturday. Daniel Woods first sent the 13-move problem in 2015, and Nalle Hukkataival and Paul Robinson later repeated it. Following his send, Hukkataival wrote on Facebook that the problem requires “tension and powerful positions all the way through.” At the time of the first ascent, Woods wrote that Noise vs. Beauty was “one of more beautiful lines I have established.”
Daniel Woods added one more V15 to his record list of problems at the grade at the end of June. After working it for three days on a rope, and then another three without, Woods sent The Finnish Line, Nalle Hukkataival’s eight-meter-tall testpiece in Rocklands, South Africa. Shawn Raboutou made the fourth ascent of the problem only a week before Woods. In an email to Rock and Ice, Woods wrote, “I’d say this thing is pretty solid for 8C [V15]. Shawn, [Alex] Megos and I used a different hand sequence for the top half of the bloc that was easier to Nalle’s. It is def one of the harder blocs in Rocklands next to Livin Large. Besides the difficulty, the line and moves are a true experience.”
The Czech climber Martin Stráník put up a new 8C (V15), Liquid Luck (Tekuté Štěstí), last Friday in Moravian Karst, in the eastern Czech Republic. The problem follows a roof out of Sloupská Cave, leading to a big right-handed dyno up onto an overhanging face. Stráník told 8a.nu, “I tried it barely during last years, doing stand up version and figuring out sit start moves. The process of proper trying was three days. It is great powerful problem with hard ending.” On his 8a.nu scorecard, Stráník also wrote that it is now “one of the hardest boulders” in the Czech Republic. Adam Ondra swooped in for the second ascent almost immediately.
Shawn Raboutou, the 20-year-old American crusher, has sent The Finnish Line (8C/+ V15/16), a beautiful overhanging fin of striped orange and black rock established by Nalle Hukkataival in June 2017. After his first ascent of the problem, Hukkataival wrote on Instagram, “A gem rarer than diamonds and a new contender for the hardest in Rocklands!” Raboutou announced his success on the problem via Instagram with a dimly lit picture and a simple caption reading, “The Finish Line (v15/8c). Good times in [South Africa] with the boys and Brooke [Raboutou].”