First 8C+ in UK? Isles of Wonder SS

[Simon Lee]

www.instagram.com/p/Cgj_Pp2D8SM/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

As reported on Aidanwad thread - but deserves a thread of its own - Aidan Roberts has now done Isles of Wonder sit 8C+ at Ogwen which is the first boulder problem to be given 8C+ in the UK.

Some footage of his attempts on it last year here at 6.04:

https://youtu.be/HUj_ApZfodg

 

[Wellsy]

Pretty incredible achievement, I can't wait to see the footage

Feels like at his young age he's only just getting started too

 

[CapitalistPunter]

www.instagram.com/p/Cgj_Pp2D8SM/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

As reported on Aidanwad thread - but deserves a thread of its own - Aidan Roberts has now done Isles of Wonder sit 8C+ at Ogwen which is the first boulder problem to be given 8C+ in the UK.

Some footage of his attempts on it last year here at 6.04:

https://youtu.be/HUj_ApZfodg

Wasnt Superpowers given 8C+? Its the grade given in World Class film.

 

[remus]

I think Aiden said 8C originally. Jack palmeri (who'd seen Aidan trying it?) then put a fairly convincing post on here basically saying "like shit is it 8C, 8C+ all day long". If it says 8C+ in world class I guess Sam and Aidan probably had a chat about it too and decided 8C+ wasn't too far off the mark.

 

[Bradders]

He says 8C/+ in his original Insta post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFKXsP7jEM3/

 

[jwi]

Amazing! Very cool.

Regarding Superpowers, upgrades in the media is a US thing. Keep it out of Europe.

 

[Wellsy]

Anyone got a link to Palmieri's post about it here? I'm curious

 

[Bradders]

More important than the grade in my view is that Isles is a much better line than Superpowers. I mean what a beautiful, pure thing. Bouldering at its absolute best. Surely it should go straight on the radar of some foreign folk to come have a go.

Not that Superpowers isn't really cool, but it certainly has some minus points to it (bad landing, close proximity of rocks behind your back, slightly wandering top out, SHARP holds, etc.), such that it'd be easy to forgive if people aren't all that psyched for it.

 

[CapitalistPunter]

More important than the grade in my view is that Isles is a much better line than Superpowers. I mean what a beautiful, pure thing. Bouldering at its absolute best. Surely it should go straight on the radar of some foreign folk to come have a go.

Not that Superpowers isn't really cool, but it certainly has some minus points to it (bad landing, close proximity of rocks behind your back, slightly wandering top out, SHARP holds, etc.), such that it'd be easy to forgive if people aren't all that psyched for it.

The long approach isnt super appealing either.

 

[remus]

Anyone got a link to Palmieri's post about it here? I'm curious

If Superpowers isn’t 8C+ then you can remove me from the list as I haven’t climbed 8B yet. To think of that thing as just one grade harder than benchmark stuff like bewilderness is crazy. Just don’t see how it could get repeated. Woods is busy in the states getting schooled on something Aidan put up in a few hours over 2 very hot sessions.

https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,26074.msg618619.html#msg618619

 

[Wellsy]

Interesting. Yet more fuel for the "upper end of UK grading being funky" fire

 

[Carliios]

Incredible achievement from Aidan, truly next level. Excited to see what comes of the super hard project at Badger Cove next, looked at the holds when we went to film Blackwell on Bewilderness and it truly looked conceptual. Couldn't really fathom any sort of sequence through it but then again I think you'd need to operate at the 8C+ level to really visualise it.

Could this be the end of the terrible grade compression in the UK? Hopefully we start to see a spate of harder lines put up by the Aidans and Wills of the world and we can start moving away from the terrible grading issues we've seen in the last two decades.

 

[Carliios]

Excited to see what comes of the super hard project at Badger Cove next, looked at the holds when we went to film Blackwell on Bewilderness and it truly looked conceptual. Couldn't really fathom any sort of sequence through it but then again I think you'd need to operate at the 8C+ level to really visualise it.

Speaking of…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cgor_W9D3Nt/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

[Fiend]

:strongbench: :dance1:

 

[Bradders]

Excited to see what comes of the super hard project at Badger Cove next, looked at the holds when we went to film Blackwell on Bewilderness and it truly looked conceptual. Couldn't really fathom any sort of sequence through it but then again I think you'd need to operate at the 8C+ level to really visualise it.

Speaking of…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cgor_W9D3Nt/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Assuming this is the same problem as Aidan mentions in the recent Wedge board vid, surprised one of them hasn't declared it a closed project yet :-\ ;D

 

[turnipturned]

What’s awesome about Isles of Wonder Sit is they are all pretty big holds (relatively), nothing really tweaky or sharp. Guess that’s pretty rare on top end stuff. Arguably quite different in style to Aidan other hard problems in the UK. Those body positions are pretty crazy, you would get a dead right shoulder after about 3 goes. Best hard boulder in the UK by a long way.

 

[Carliios]

Excited to see what comes of the super hard project at Badger Cove next, looked at the holds when we went to film Blackwell on Bewilderness and it truly looked conceptual. Couldn't really fathom any sort of sequence through it but then again I think you'd need to operate at the 8C+ level to really visualise it.

Speaking of…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cgor_W9D3Nt/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Assuming this is the same problem as Aidan mentions in the recent Wedge board vid, surprised one of them hasn't declared it a closed project yet :-\ ;D

Haha you troll bradders! No need to declare it a closed project when no one can do it but him :tease: but yeah it is the same project they talked about in the wedge video!

 

[CapitalistPunter]

Only linkups can be closed projects!

 

[Will Hunt]

Nick, does this mean that the Calf link isn't closed? Ben's looking for a project.

 

[Bradders]

Hoist by my own petard :

Anyway I am reliably informed that what Will is trying there is actually a different problem to Aidan's project / replica.