Hard, Unrepeated American Boulders

I thought it would be interesting to compile a list of hard (V14 and up) boulder problems that have not been repeated in North America. Thanks to everyone for help in compiling these problems (Most of these grades are pure speculation from outside observers):

This of course pales in comparison to the list of confirmed V14 and up problems that were established and repeated in the U.S. in just the past five years or so:

Problem Grade Location Ascents – FA listed first and then in no particular order
Ode to the Modern Man V14 Mt. Evans, CO Woods, Landman, Robinson, Jorgeson, Lamiche, Cardwell, Hukkataival, Wilder, Schaal
Jade V14 RMNP, CO Woods, Landman, Robinson, Hukkataival, Schaal, Traversi, Webb, Beall, Davis, Puccio
Witness the Fitness V15? (Broken?) Arkansas Sharma, Nicole, Woods
Terre De Sienne V13/14 Hueco Tanks, TX Nicole, Graham, Woods, Robinson, Cardwell, Wilder, Parton, Webb Parsons, Kassay, Hukkataival, McColl
Terremer V15 Hueco Tanks, TX Nicole, Robinson, Woods, Beall
Aslan V14 RMNP, CO Woods, Landman, McColl, Di Felice, Webb, Traversi, Litz, Cardwell, Graham, Verhoeven
Midnight Express V14 Boulder Canyon, CO Landman, Woods, Graham, Allred, Robinson, Parady, Webb, Schaal
Mandala SDS V13/14 Buttermilks, CA Lamiche, Graham, Woods, Robinson, McColl, Diamond, Birch, Moroni, Jorgeson, Wilder, French (V13 beta), Goicoechea, Barrett (V13 beta), Voges (V13), Hedrick (V13 beta), Verhoeven, Glairon-Mondet, Hukkataival, Pringle, Warren, Heal, Boyko, Megos, Amma
The Swarm V13/14 Buttermilks, CA Birch, Wilder, Graham, Landman, Woods, Robinson, Jorgeson, Davis, Clifford, Diamond, Nicole, Beall, Hukkataival, Peirce, Hedrick, Pringle, Shiraishi, McRae, Puccio
Echale V14 Clear Creek Canyon, CO Woods, Graham, Robinson, Schaal, Webb, Gravelle, Takeuchi, D’Anastasio, Hong
The Saddhu V14 Temple, NM Fairfield, Cardwell, Woods, Di Felice
Goldfish Trombone V14 Happy Boulders, CA Edwards, Sharma, Pringle, McColl, Woods, Nicole, Martin, Lander, Diamond
Esperanza V14 Hueco Tanks, TX Nicole, Litz, Sharma, Woods, Graham, Robinson, Duttle, Pringle, Haynes, Webb Parsons, Wilde, Hamada, Kassay, Hong, Dory, Hukkataival, Webb, Voges, Davis, Verhoeven, Taylor, Muller
Book Of Bitter Aspects V13/14 Bradley, CT Graham, Schaal, Zolotukhin (V13)
The Fly 5.14d/V14 Rumney, NH Graham, Parady, Sharma, Lamiche, Kehl (no rope), Jorgeson (no rope), Robinson, Woods, Wilder, Megos, Maschelien (no rope)
Wood Grain Grippin’ V14 Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, AR Graham, Woods, Robinson, Voges
The Beach V14 Moe’s Valley, UT Woods, Graham, Whiteside (V13)
Chinese Arithmetic V13/14? Lilly Boulders, TN Litz, Woods
Big Worm V14 Mt. Evans, CO Graham, Schulte, Robinson, Woods, Voges, Draughn, Nakajima, Wetmore, McNeil, Kuckovich, Betterton
Lost In The Hood V14 Cowell, AR Graham, Robinson, Voges, Hukkataival, Dory, Woods (V13), Webb (V13)
Evil Backwards V14 Mt. Evans, CO Woods, Graham, Cardwell, Emerson, Hukkataival, Webb (V13), Voges (V13), Weaver (V13), Antheunisse (V13), Lerner (V13), Robinson (V13)
Let The Right One In V14 Mt. Evans, CO Woods, Graham, Hong, Webb
Warrior Up V15 Mt. Evans, CO Woods, Graham, Webb (V14), Hong (V14), Robinson, O’Rourke
We Can Build You V14 Mt. Evans, CO Graham, Woods, Webb, Voges, Nakajima, Robinson
Resolve V14 Gunks, NY Diamond, Bosley
Direct North V14 Buttermilks – Bishop, CA Diamond, Glairon-Mondet, Beall, Traversi, Zolotukhin, G. Traversi, Megos, McRae, Amma
Crook By The Book V14 Hueco Tanks , TX Woods, Graham, Webb
The Game V15 Boulder Canyon, CO Woods, Traversi, Cardwell
Warpath V14 City of Rocks, ID Litz, Woods, Fultz, Robinson, Webb
Vanilla Sky V14 Mt. Evans, CO Graham, Webb (V13), Voges (V13)
Memory Is Parallax V14 Estes Park, CO Graham, Woods, Hong, Traversi, Robinson, Lerner
Desperanza V15 Hueco Tanks, TX Woods, Webb Parsons, Davis
Mirror Reality V14 RMNP, CO Woods, Webb, Robinson, O’Rourke, Landman
Paint It Black V15 RMNP, CO Woods, Robinson, Graham, Dory
White Noise V15 RMNP, CO Woods, Hong (V14), Graham, Robinson
Mind To Motion V14 Nicky’s Boulders, CO Woods, Hong, Graham, Dory
The Grey V14 Wild Basin – RMNP, CO Graham, Hong, Woods, Traversi (V12), Robinson
Blood of a Young Wolf V14 Hueco Tanks, TX Graham, Davis, Hukkataival, Robinson, Webb
Aggravated Assault V14 Griffin Falls, AL Woods, Webb, Robinson
Meadowlark Lemon V14 Red Rock, NV Robinson, Graham, Traversi, Takeuchi, Woods (V14), Webb (V14), Hukkataival (V14), Ceria, Whiteside, McColl, Schubert, Caballero, Feehally, Glairon-Mondet
Loved By Few, Hated By Many (Low) V14 Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, AR Webb, Woods, Robinson
Neon Desert V14 Hueco Tanks, TX Graham, Davis, Webb, Robinson
Bridge Of Ashes V15 Elkland, CO Graham, Woods, Webb (V14)
The Insurgency V14 Joe’s Valley, UT Litz, Robinson
The Ice Knife V15 Guanella Pass, CO Graham, Woods, Robinson, Webb (V14), Nakajima
The Wheel Of Chaos V14 RMNP, CO Woods, Hukkataival, Hong, Graham, Robinson, D’Anastasio, Cardwell, Verhoeven, Puccio, Landman
The 1%er V14 Mt. Evans, CO Schulte, Webb (V13)
The Wheel Of Wolvo V15 Mt. Evans, CO Webb, Woods, Graham
Delirium V15 Mt. Evans, CO Webb, Woods
The Right V14 Boulder Canyon, CO Schulte, Woods (V13)
The Penrose Step V14 Leavenworth, WA Traversi, Webb
The Purge V14 Elkland, CO Woods, Robinson, Graham
Force Of Nature V14 Moe’s Valley, UT Caldiero, Fultz (V13), Whiteside (V13), McRae
The Reckoning V14 Squamish, BC T Doyle, McRae, Webb
Lucid Dreaming V15 Buttermilks, CA Robinson, Woods, Megos
Spirit Walker V14 27th St. Boulders, Ogden, UT Chertudi, Whiteside (V13)
The Nest V15 Red Rock, NV Woods, Webb, Robinson, Hukkataival
Too Many Martinis V14 Hueco Tanks, TX Sharma, Litz, McColl
Trieste V14 Red Rock, NV Robinson, Woods
The Phoenix V14 RMNP, CO O’Rourke (V13), Woods, Webb (V13), Graham, Traversi, Robinson
Strangers from Within V14 Secret Garden, CO Robinson, Graham
Bossin’ Up V14 Secret Garden, CO Robinson, Graham, Woods
Irreversible V14 RMNP, CO Woods, Graham
Defying Gravity V15 South Platte, CO Woods, Webb
Komodo V14 Neverland, WY Webb, Graham, Woods, Robinson
Bling V13/14 Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT Caldiero, Fultz

Any other problems for either list?? Additions/Corrections?? Leave a comment below.

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211 Responses to Hard, Unrepeated American Boulders

  1. Tony February 4, 2008 at 7:26 am #

    I thought that Graham did Midnight Express as well, I’m not certain though.

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    • islandkid29 March 16, 2012 at 4:43 pm #

      What about the machinist minute 1:15 in the “76 points in hueco” vid

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      • Narc March 16, 2012 at 5:04 pm #

        That one is still under review by the Hard Boulder Committee

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    • Terb April 29, 2013 at 8:42 pm #

      Alex Megos did The Fly on a rope

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  2. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 7:30 am #

    Correct, can’t believe I missed that one

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  3. Sean February 4, 2008 at 8:36 am #

    Esperanza (V14) by Nicole. Repeated by Sharma and a few others?

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  4. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 8:49 am #

    I guess initially I was trying to keep the list recent but I should just go ahead and add the older ones as well as there aren’t too many left.

    Esperanza has been repeated quite a few times from what I can remember.

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  5. andy February 4, 2008 at 10:22 am #

    You forgot goldfish trombone at the happies…

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  6. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 10:34 am #

    Thanks. I think I had left it off because it was graded V13 originally. Might as well add it.

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  7. Another Andy February 4, 2008 at 11:21 am #

    V10 + V14 = V24!

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  8. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 11:35 am #

    Also on the math front, DG’s “Story of two worlds” adds a V14 sit start to an existing V14 to get a grade of V15. Says DG:
    “I think this is the hardest bloc (boulder) yet, and I think it can change the malprogression we can see when we are seeing millions of 8b+ and 8c blocs climbed everywhere. Now it’s just about comparison.”

    http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/storyoftwoworlds/

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  9. zonk February 4, 2008 at 11:37 am #

    narc, are you trying to list all ascents?
    off the top of my head,

    tyler landman also repeated coeur de leon, really quickly too. and pretty positive than bernd zangerl has also climbed coeur.

    lamiche also climbed ode to the modern man.

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  10. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 11:57 am #

    Yeah, all ascents. Like I said though, the entire list was by memory owing to server problems at 8a hindering further research.

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  11. fancyketchup February 4, 2008 at 12:16 pm #

    Freaks has been downgraded to 8B, Paul even suggested 8A+. Didn’t Litz get the second ascent of Esperanza? And what of Suspension of Disbelief in Eldo getting the upgrade by Woods? On a mathematcial tangent, if Story is 8B/+ into 8B+ for a total of 8C, how can Tonino ’78s 7C+ into 8B+ equal 8C+? And Terremer is 8A/+ into 8B+ for 8C? Crazy…

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  12. sonic February 4, 2008 at 12:28 pm #

    does anyone know if sharma’s problem in magic wood called “practice of the wild” has been repeated?

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  13. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 12:40 pm #

    FK – Freaks had slipped my mind on the downgrade front. JE said that if Freaks is 8A+ he is quitting climbing…

    As for Suspension I’m not sure about its place on the list with the conflicting opinions. I’ll put it on instead of Freaks and we’ll see what happens when the weather gets better for P-rob to finally get the send

    As for the math. Clearly when linking together problems there is no set forumla for how to determine the final grade but for someone able to climb V14, adding a V10 start shouldn’t increase the difficulty all that much.

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  14. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 12:40 pm #

    I am curious why there has been no word anywhere on Bosley’s Nuclear War after the initial news of his send. Surely Paul R must know something more about this problem being that it is at the Gunks.

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  15. zonk February 4, 2008 at 1:22 pm #

    hey narc, yeah, we’ve all experienced that. even though they try hard, 8a.nu often has server problems. i don’t really blame them though as i hardly imagine they are swimming in money.

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  16. wait, what? there’s no birthday party in here ??!!??!!

    question: how many times has ‘corizone’ [sp?] been repeated in mexican music? you know, like, the word. i think, like, a bazillion times and no downgrade? wtfrik?

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  17. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 1:38 pm #

    Not sure about that one Zonk, I’ll have to look it up when the site is back up. With the traffic levels that 8a has they should be making at least a fair amount of money.

    TTB”BP”VC7 – I think Corazon is down to about V7 or so…

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  18. matt February 4, 2008 at 2:56 pm #

    roses & bluejays (barrington)
    Alma Blanca (v13 hueco, nicole and maybe moon)
    algerita (v13 hueco nicole, woods)

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  19. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 2:59 pm #

    In order to keep the list more manageable I am trying to focus solely on problems V14 and up. It would be cool to put together a list of V13s in the US though.

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  20. Kevlar February 4, 2008 at 4:26 pm #

    It is pretty crazy to see how the grades in europe are quite a bit harder, but there are more repeats

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  21. Dom February 4, 2008 at 5:28 pm #

    not 100% enough to add to list for sure, but worthy of noting, Matt Birch (im not sure if he is still in Bishop, probably is) has been in Bishop recently, and I saw him working mandalion in bad conditions with taped fingers, coming extremely close, id bet he has done it, along with goldfish. also you may have forgotten Somewhere in Time (v14) in Tramway, CA. Birch had the FA, and Woods repeated.

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  22. Luke February 4, 2008 at 5:47 pm #

    From what I heard Somewhere in Time is more like V13/14. Woods didn’t think it was very hard. From his 8a sheet “Matt Birch did the FA and graded it v14 originally. I thought it felt v13…”

    Here is a list of routes V12 and harder in Colorado. Don’t know if its up to date though.

    http://www.boulderingmedia.com/list.html

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  23. Climbing Narcissist February 4, 2008 at 6:37 pm #

    Dom – I will keep my eye out for any Matt Birch news. I was thinking what Luke said with regard to somewhere in time.

    Luke – Ryan’s list is fantastic. It seems like the only problems missing are Trice and its new variations.

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  24. hayden February 4, 2008 at 7:09 pm #

    don’t forget shaun diamond, with ascents of mandala sds (the original name, I believe daniel coined the mandalion name) and the swarm.

    i believe dave graham also put up a problem in Connecticut called the book of bitter aspects that he called 14 and i have not heard of any repeats.

    james litz climbed a problem called morphine which he graded 13 but it is likely harder than most of the 14s in the US, and will probably never repeated.

    i have also heard that nuclear war is not 14, but that is likely just climber gossip and given that it is still unrepeated it could very well be 14.

    dave graham also called the fly v14 (despite the fact he did it on a rope) but i have also heard 13 for it.

    if you expand to canada then you get tim clifford’s the singularity (unrepeated, despite attempts by nicole and landman)

    this is also not including problems where sharma’s beta was likely v14 or harder only for later climbers to find an easier method

    josh haynes has also sent esperanza

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  25. rjtrials February 4, 2008 at 10:43 pm #

    Litz had the second ascent of Esperanza

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  26. NorthEast February 5, 2008 at 3:57 am #

    book of bitter aspects has not been repeated. p-rob has put a couple of days on it and is close. it could be the hardest problem in the northeast.

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    • jacob April 2, 2009 at 5:13 pm #

      phillip schaal repeated book of bitter aspects

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  27. Climbing Narcissist February 5, 2008 at 6:31 am #

    Thanks for the all the info.

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  28. Matt C February 5, 2008 at 9:36 am #

    James Litz’s Morphine is one of the sickest problems I’ve seen. Been to Hueco many times…seen many of the 14’s there…watched Litz on Esperanza….The holds on morphine make some of the holds on esperanza look like jugs. razors on a roof…crazy….

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  29. zorro February 5, 2008 at 4:02 pm #

    nuclear is at the master bedroom (hour south of Gunks). i heard nothing there is as hard as it’s graded, but that’s neither here nor there.

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  30. paul r February 5, 2008 at 4:26 pm #

    yep the book is absolutely amazing! and i am very close, hopefully i will get back out there sometime in the near future. also boz’s line is not in the gunks, it is at the horse den. i have been there one time and the day i was there it was soaking wet. i tried it little bit and got close even though it was wet. imo i would prolly think soft 8b, but yet again i did not do it so my thoughts dont really count until i go out and do it. i know that the line will appear in dosage volume 5 in the northeast dose though!

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  31. Climbing Narcissist February 5, 2008 at 4:33 pm #

    Thanks for the info zorro and paul. I sort of figured that nuclear war might be a bit overhyped but until someone repeats it I guess I’ll just go with the initial report. Should be cool to see it in Dosage, I didn’t know it had been filmed.

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  32. zonk February 5, 2008 at 5:08 pm #

    tim clifford graded the singularity (aka round room project) as V14.

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  33. gabor February 6, 2008 at 7:43 am #

    boz never really graded nuclear war V14.. he just did the FA and when people asked him, he said “yeah maybe V12, V13, V14?? i dont know.” either way its pretty hard and ive been on it, feels harder then a lot of V13s that Ive tried. then again i didnt do it, so i dont know

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  34. gabor February 6, 2008 at 7:50 am #

    also, the 8a article tries to focus on routes put up a long time ago that stand unrepeated. climbs like warpath, nuclear war, and mandala direct assis were just put up pretty recently..

    i think instead of focusing on V14 and up, this list should include any climbs that are V12 or higher that were put up over 5 years ago but have not been repeated..

    meathook in colorado – jim holloway
    morphine – litz
    chinese arithmetic – litz
    book of bitter aspects
    etc etc

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  35. Climbing Narcissist February 6, 2008 at 8:03 am #

    Gabor – I agree but it sort of illustrates the difference between routes and boulders. There is a long list of repeated hard boulders and very few that have stood unrepeated for a long time.

    The litz problems are probably unrepeated as much for their obscure locations than anything else but it would be cool for others to give them a go. There is also Genetics at HP40 that hasn’t been repeated as well.

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  36. Ryan February 6, 2008 at 2:04 pm #

    There were rumors of a repeat of morphine by a guy named Pydora (not sure of his last name). I believe he did it in a day. Brian Camp knows more about this.

    A good list is up on udini.de: http://www.udini.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=102

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  37. Climbing Narcissist February 6, 2008 at 2:23 pm #

    Interesting, there was a guy named Py in the midwest a while back that was quite strong.

    Thanks for the link ryan, that is a pretty nice list!

    Have fun in Heuco…

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  38. Tony February 6, 2008 at 2:42 pm #

    I like this part

    The current state of rating hard bouldering/climbing is like the 100m sprint without any direct comparison, face to face competition and before the invention of even a timer…

    A couple of strong athletes do their thing in some remote areas, come back and report: “It really felt like 9.6 secs yesterday, the track was fast, I was feeling strong, the wind was making this typical 9.6 sound…”

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  39. peter February 6, 2008 at 8:20 pm #

    yes tony, only in a sport where a timer will never be invented. i’m hoping the winds start making this typical 5.14 sound.

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  40. gabor February 7, 2008 at 7:11 am #

    yeah boz has actually tried both morphine and chinese arithmetic and he says that morphine didnt feel too crazy, probably a normal 8b+. also ive heard that its not such a great line. boz also said that chinese arithmetic felt really hard, way harder then morphine. perhaps 8c?

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  41. steve schultz February 7, 2008 at 3:10 pm #

    Brian, if you want to get in touch with pi get a hold of nic o. from nicros. if i remember right he may still be up in the twin cities. very strong on crimps so morphine may fit him well from what i saw of the line.

    he climbed down in madison for a while with mike and todd and always blew us away. very very strong fingers.

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  42. zonk February 7, 2008 at 10:15 pm #

    hi gabor, a list of old V12s and up that are unrepeated would be cool. that would be analogous to how that list on 8a.nu focused on older routes. i think such a list would be harder to put together. unfortunately, i know that i could not form such a list. my knowledge of hard sport and hard bouldering is very nascent.

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  43. gabor February 8, 2008 at 5:57 am #

    yeah, well i know there are probably a couple in north carolina probably down south.. theres one crack boulder somewhere in the south that litz put up and rated V12 that i dont think has been repeated. also in hp40, both genetic V11 and great dane V10 i think are both unrepeated. im sure there are a lot more.

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  44. gabor February 8, 2008 at 6:01 am #

    and also for the original list, the boulder that chris does in dosage 3 is also 8B+ ive heard. its the one where he does the jump into the vertical crack. i think its called the full package or something.

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  45. Climbing Narcissist February 8, 2008 at 9:10 am #

    Yeah, I hadn’t really thought of that problem. It sure looked really hard but it was overshadowed in the movie by Witness and King Lion. Maybe with the crew of Landman, Graham and Cardwell down there right now we might hear some more about it.

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  46. Luke February 11, 2008 at 6:03 pm #

    I am putting togeather a list of V12+ problems in California. I would love some input since the list is far from complete and mainly focuses on Bishop. Comments would be appreciated.

    http://dreaminvertical.blogspot.com/2008/02/hard-boulder-problems-in-california.html

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  47. JE February 12, 2008 at 1:04 pm #

    sorry i didnt get in on this earlier, Morphine was repeated in a day by Pi from Minnesota and he suggested V12. Litz has never graded Warpath, only others have made suggestions. Chinese Arithmetic is very hard, maybe hard V13 maybe V14, and interestingly enough I was told from a very reputable source that Litz thought Tilta-whirl direct (his other problem at the Obed) was harder. Book of Bitter Aspects is unrepeated, but it’s not as hard as Jade, it could be a hard V13. There are several V13s in Pennsylvania of which there should be some skeptiscism.

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  48. Climbing Narcissist February 12, 2008 at 1:10 pm #

    Thanks for the info Jamie. I climbed with Pi a bit during my time in Madison, crazy strong fingers as Steve pointed out. Chill dude as well. He is in a few Nicros ads that I remember seeing in the magazines lately.

    I’ll add the Litz problems to the list even if they might be V13.

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  49. Luke February 12, 2008 at 6:04 pm #

    Perhapses you are thinking of some of the problems in PA from this list? http://www.newenglandbouldering.com/stories/nehardest.html

    From the 4 years I climbed in PA there are definably some legit hard problems (V10+). Adam Markert and Char Fetterolf who were Haycock, PA locals could pull down hard. The hardest problem that I had heard of was a project called Big Monday that was supposed to be V13. I don’t think it was ever sent and these days Adam is living in Colorado.

    I might be skeptical about the V13 at Hunter rocks since sandstone was not high quality but the rock tended to be steep and pocketed so it is possible.

    Just my 2 cents since I have been to those areas.

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    • Professor April 5, 2013 at 6:39 pm #

      Big Wednesday still hasn’t been climbed. I hear the v13 at hunters is soft, but high end twelve if not soft 13. There’s a direct line on that boulder which is supposed to be 13. There’s a 13 now at mt. Gretna. The keyhole project went. Both of the aforementioned 13’s were out up by Tim rose. He’s pretty strong.

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      • yupyup January 5, 2014 at 11:12 am #

        The keyhole was repeated by Char Fetterolf and he suggested v10 or v11.

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        • mbsst26 January 6, 2014 at 10:42 am #

          Char’s a beast.

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  50. Zonk February 27, 2008 at 2:58 pm #

    who is Pi? what’s his full name? can you provide a little history?

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  51. peter February 27, 2008 at 7:14 pm #

    if this is the same pi, he’s this crazy strong guy who “climbs” up in the cities. really he lurks around the back of gyms…he’s kinda that guy who everyone knows is really strong but never puts his shoes on. the few times i’ve seen him actually climb i’ve been impressed. very impressed.

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  52. mike March 21, 2008 at 2:29 pm #

    Little Cottonwood Canyon has a couple of unrepeated problems in that range:1) Cheech, rated V13 – done nearly 10 years ago by Garth Miller, right next to Bully, unrepeated2) Mantra, rated V13 – right exit to Copperhead, Garth Miller again

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  53. andy March 28, 2008 at 1:22 pm #

    so yeah the never ending grade debates….
    interestingly enough, several of the FA’ers of these problems(Bos, Litz, etc.) never graded these problems..they have simply been interpolated from observers..
    there are several unrepeated sharma problems in NE that have been “estimated” at V13+

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    • CJS January 14, 2013 at 7:27 am #

      @andy:
      Unrepeated Sharma Problems in New England? What?

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  54. Steve April 20, 2008 at 5:34 am #

    Second the Garth Miller problems in Utah. From memory this was on the same trip that he was flashing 10’s, 11’s and at least one 12. Cheech took him Quite a few days.

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  55. dom May 20, 2008 at 10:53 am #

    kevin jorgeson sent mandala sit. gabri is so crazy for trying to downgrade it

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  56. Dan May 27, 2008 at 3:08 am #

    Just a thought. Many times linked problems can be harder than the sum of their parts for a reason both obvious and not so. Imagine, that you link two v10s for a v15. Crazy right? But the thing that most people don’t think about is the linking move(s) themselves. What if you link a v12 into a v14, but the 1,2,3 whatever moves actually connecting the two are v16? Just some food for thought.

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  57. Matt July 30, 2008 at 1:49 pm #

    RESOLVE V14-FA by Shaun Diamond in the Gunks.

    Bling V13/14-FA Isaac Caldiero in LCC

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  58. Narc July 30, 2008 at 1:58 pm #

    Thanks for the update Matt. I will update the list.

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  59. Julian November 19, 2008 at 3:48 pm #

    FYI, access at B*****y in CT is sensitive. Not sure if publicity is a good idea.

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  60. Narc November 20, 2008 at 6:37 am #

    I will remove any specific reference to it. Thanks.

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  61. PepsiTwist November 20, 2008 at 9:40 am #

    If anybody is still interested Pi’s full name is Phaydara Vongsavanthong. He does the marketing/advertising stuff for Nicros. Really fun guy to climb with. He doesnt talk alot about any of his ascents which makes it hard to get a gauge for how strong he really is. If you see him climb though, it leaves no doubt as to how incredibly strong he is.

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  62. Narc November 20, 2008 at 4:13 pm #

    People should stop being so humble! How are other people supposed to spray about their mad skillz if we don’t know what they are up to?

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  63. StellarTemple November 20, 2008 at 9:46 pm #

    I know, right? Stupid humble people and their humility!!

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  64. chris March 8, 2009 at 11:21 am #

    just to ask everyones opinion…
    1) the swarm and the mandala sit starts were originally graded v13. what happened?
    2) seems like all who do ode to the modern man say (face to face) it’s v13.
    3) we are experiencing grade compression over the last year or so, yes? i’m not bothered to say why, but it is happening.
    4) bernd z did do coeur.. he took 2 trips and a torn tendon. some have done it in about 30 min, some have said v12… ? kneebars!
    5) more and faster repeats don’t hafta mean soft. consensus takes time. it don’t matter, it’s about the individual and their feeling. the same problems that made dave G famous in his early days in the park have all been downgraded, not because he was wrong, but things are being compressed. John Sherman once said he thought crown of aragorn would be v11, that he didn’t think the grades should be sliced so thin.. another problem, like slashface, that people do by the truckload and “take” the grade, but slag it off amongst friends… honesty to self is all that matters. If a v11 feels v12 to you, maybe it is, or maybe it exploits your weaknesses. maybe you should go surfing.
    I liked the comment about the track runners.

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    • Narc March 9, 2009 at 1:25 pm #

      Interesting questions. I will try to incorporate these into my upcoming review/update of this post.

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  65. Adrian March 24, 2009 at 1:50 am #

    Jon Cardwell has since downgraded The Tipping Point to 8B according to his 8a card.

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    • Narc March 24, 2009 at 6:07 am #

      Thanks for the update!

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  66. Cannud March 28, 2009 at 6:39 pm #

    I should point you to Christophe Maschelein’s 8a. It seems that a couple years ago he did The Fly and got the 2nd ascents of Chinese Arithmetic and Morphine. Interesting comment/rating of Morphine vs. Fly.

    http://www.8a.nu/user/Profile.aspx?UserId=15583

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    • Cannud March 28, 2009 at 6:45 pm #

      I spoke too soon. Not a real person. Disregard. What a strange set of problems to pretend a fake person has climbed…

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  67. Zach March 31, 2009 at 11:39 pm #

    An article on Urban Climber Magazine’s online site has some info on the Litz problems at Obed. http://www.urbanclimbermag.com/themag/features/the_legend_of_litz_and_the_lilly_boulders/

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    • Narc April 1, 2009 at 6:49 am #

      One of my favorite climbing articles in recent memory

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  68. cole kronberg December 28, 2009 at 10:02 am #

    I thought that paul never sent lost in the hood according to his blog he did not. also warpath is rated v14.

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    • Narc December 28, 2009 at 10:06 am #

      Apparently he was able to go back and finish it up before heading to Vegas.

      Until Warpath is repeated any assignment of a specific grade is purely speculative unless you have other info??

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  69. Joe December 28, 2009 at 7:40 pm #

    Where is The Catwalk (there is a v14 listed from there)?

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  70. Paul January 17, 2010 at 10:08 pm #

    Let’s not forget about the infamous John Heggland

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  71. Jim January 22, 2010 at 7:27 pm #

    Has anyone tried to repeated Full Package in Arkansas? I know Graham, Landman, and Robinson have all been there and i’m sure there have been other strong climbers. Seems like one of them would have tried to repeat it.

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  72. greg February 9, 2010 at 10:42 pm #

    never noticed this. pretty sweet! the amatuer?

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    • sweatpants February 10, 2010 at 10:26 am #

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJtYVbg2FPc

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      • Narc February 10, 2010 at 1:00 pm #

        He makes that thing look like V4!

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        • greg February 22, 2010 at 10:47 am #

          no kidding! thanks for the video sweaty!

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  73. db March 10, 2010 at 1:40 am #

    Has anyone repeated that mono thing of sharma’s from dosage 3?
    Forbidden Fruit maybe?

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  74. matt April 15, 2010 at 3:09 pm #

    The 13 at Hunter’s (PA) is on private land. it’s only been done by Zach Learner. and Josh Newman. Josh recently did a 13 and said that they new one he climbed is his first “real” thirteen.

    Big Monday’s a project as far as i know. some other seriously hard PA problems/projects are unfortunately subject shady access… but then again there’s a slew of HARD 10/11’s all over the south east/central PA region with only a handful of repeats.

    There’s a lot of rock in PA.

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  75. Andrew April 19, 2010 at 11:40 pm #

    Where is the Woods ascent on Terremer

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  76. Rocco June 25, 2010 at 1:36 pm #

    Has anyone repeated Tactile Style in Hueco? I think Chris put it up in 2006? and I haven’t heard of a repeat. As far as Nuclear War is concerned, I was there for the development of that area and for Boz’s first ascent of the problem. It is a very difficult one to grade because the difficulty centers mostly around one hard move where you jump back into an undercling. That one move was tried by many people who climb V13 elsewhere and no one could do it except Boz…who seemingly did it quite easily. A question of style maybe? The problem is also long-ish, and ends with a V9/10, so endurance after the crux also comes into play. Complex to grade for sure…but unfortunately choss 🙂

    In other news, there is a problem in the Gunks that Paul put up called Further into the Forbidden Forest, and although I’m not sure how hard he suggested it was, I think it is also unrepeated.

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    • Narc June 25, 2010 at 1:38 pm #

      I believe Tactile Style was repeated last season by GP Salvo.

      It looks like Paul has FITFF as V12 on his card.

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  77. Joe June 25, 2010 at 11:26 pm #

    are you sure about some of the people in your list being real…

    also, Steven Jeffery did a climb in LCC (not recently) called American Dream which goes around V14

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    • Mark June 26, 2010 at 2:39 am #

      Who are you referencing? I can tell you, in my brief re-check of that list, I know every one of those people exist. I know personally quite a few of them exist, and have seen these people or have second hand knowledge about them and their climbs.

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    • Narc June 28, 2010 at 6:58 am #

      No, I really don’t. There are a couple I have questions about, namely Martin and Lander.

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      • Joe June 28, 2010 at 11:09 am #

        you read my mind…

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        • Narc June 28, 2010 at 12:36 pm #

          Hard to say. From reading their scorecards they seem like real people.

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          • chris schulte June 28, 2010 at 12:59 pm #

            mark lander is a real person, tho i dont know anything bout the catwalk..

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  78. M. September 25, 2010 at 2:17 pm #

    In Squamish we have three other super hard unrepeated problems. Zazen V14 ish (Harry Robertson), The Reckoning V14 (Some guy who lives in a red Toyota van) and The North Ridge V14 (Georg Jost).

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    • François Leblanc August 25, 2011 at 7:19 pm #

      Gotta love that red Toyota van! 

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  79. ejw September 26, 2010 at 9:42 am #

    Carlo also climbed Suspension of Disbelief this year.

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    • Narc September 26, 2010 at 10:01 am #

      I must have forgot it was still on the list. Probably need to take it off since it doesn’t really qualify anymore.

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  80. BA September 28, 2010 at 1:23 pm #

    Everything involving Reese Martin, Mark Lander, and the Catwalk should be taken off the list, as none of them actually exist.

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    • Narc September 28, 2010 at 1:26 pm #

      Since I’ve had a hard time corroborating either of their 8a scorecard entries I’ve been thinking the same thing myself. Care to elaborate at all on how you are so certain?

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  81. jg March 20, 2011 at 4:09 pm #

    Woods repeated Warpath a couple of days ago at 8B+.

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  82. LB April 7, 2011 at 2:16 am #

    Tilt-a-whirl SDS is also known as Tilted World James Webb got 2nd 2nd ascent bank in Jan.

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    • Narc April 8, 2011 at 12:39 pm #

      Sure enough. I suppose I can remove that one from the list since it’s “not
      hard enough” 🙂

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  83. list April 9, 2011 at 4:20 am #

    Just glanced at this.. really nice list and constantly being updated! I do think Brad Weaver also sent Fantasia and called it v13 along with Voges.

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    • Narc April 9, 2011 at 10:19 am #

      Man, I’m really slipping in my old age. Thanks for catching that.

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  84. guest April 24, 2011 at 7:08 pm #

    what about In Search Of Time Lost FA by Daniel Woods in 2008

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    • Narc April 24, 2011 at 7:28 pm #

      The boulder is not in America

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  85. Rents August 14, 2011 at 5:59 am #

    Has anyone repeated DGs “All screwed up”?, i was trawling the momentumVM video archive and stumble across the vid.

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  86. Nietzsche August 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm #

    You should probably take Evil Backwards off the list.

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    • Narc August 26, 2011 at 12:12 am #

      I was just thinking about that today actually. Maybe keep last year’s repeats for “historical” purposes?

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  87. Nietzsche August 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm #

    You should probably take Evil Backwards off the list.

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  88. Spro1 October 27, 2011 at 11:58 am #

    Dave Graham’s The Ice Knife came in at V15… very interesting looking line.

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    • Narc October 27, 2011 at 1:19 pm #

      There’s been so little activity in the U.S. of late that I forgot about this list…

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  89. SJS March 17, 2012 at 5:13 am #

    McColl also climbed Terre de Sienne but he gave it V13

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  90. Andrew March 20, 2012 at 8:28 pm #

    According to Facebook, Jesse Warren (of Seattle) just sent the Mandala SDS.

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150620470773387&set=a.10150620468428387.384556.634433386&type=1&theater

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    • Narc March 20, 2012 at 8:40 pm #

      Thanks for the heads up!!!

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  91. Joey April 4, 2012 at 3:07 pm #

    I’m really excited to see a hard boulder problem in Harriman! There is a lot of unseen and untapped potential there. There is also a v14 at a place called the master bedroom.

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  92. any interest? November 13, 2012 at 12:28 pm #

    the right, v14, boulder canyon
    the 1%er, v14, mt. evans

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  93. steve January 7, 2013 at 3:02 am #

    daniel repeated witness the fitness

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    • Duncan January 9, 2013 at 10:35 am #

      Full Package as well calling it 8B

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      • Narc January 9, 2013 at 10:51 am #

        Forgot that one was on the list

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  94. SJS January 13, 2013 at 12:51 am #

    Dying To Live, V14 by Woods ?

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  95. PDrizzle February 2, 2013 at 1:09 am #

    Zach Lerner has also done Evil Backwards (V13- post chip)

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  96. andrewkyleriley March 21, 2013 at 3:28 pm #

    Shouldn’t Adam Ondra’s Terranova be on this list? He proposed the grade of v16. http://www.adamondra.com/adam-ondra-terranova

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    • Narc March 21, 2013 at 3:29 pm #

      No, this is U.S. boulder problems only

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