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The hardest boulder problems in the world

The race for V18 is happening as we speak with Shawn Raboutou, who has been projecting in Vegas since April. Until then, there’s only a handful of V17 boulder problems that will most definitely tear your fingers to shreds.

Until most of us are able to warm up on V14s, let’s make a tick list of the world’s hardest boulders in 2023 just to keep our hype during the wet and cold winter days and our imagination sparked in the gym.

Even if you’re still a beginner boulderer, this list is just a great excuse to travel the world and check out these marvels of rocks placed in some of the most wonderful sites. From Red Rocks, USA, to Finland and Magic Forest, Switzerland, we’ll be taking a fantastic journey into a universe of small holds, unreal overhangs, and exceptional feats of strength.

How bouldering started

Originally used as a training method by mountaineers, bouldering became a veritable sport in the 1930s in Fountainbleu, France, with Pierre Allain as one of the founding fathers who also developed the first bouldering-specific climbing shoes.

Across the ocean, John Gill began pursuing bouldering in the late 1950s and 1960s, introducing the use of chalk and establishing one of the first grading systems, the B scale, that ranged from B1 to B3.

Modern bouldering began to take shape around 30 years later, when climber misfit John “Vermin” Sherman started exploring the local boulders in Hueco Tanks, Texas. Later in the 1990s, he published “Hueco Tanks Climbing and Bouldering Guide” which was the first recording of what’s going to become the norm in American and international bouldering grading, the V-Scale. Along with the Fountainbleu Scale (Font), the V-scale is still used around the world for outside and indoor boulder problems.

The V-Scale

Although similar to the Font scale, the V-scale is an open-ended grading system that grows exponentially, as you’ll see in the chart below.

Experience
V-Scale Font Scale
Beginner V0 4
V1 5
V2 5+
Intermediate V3 6A
6A+
V4 6B
6B+
V5 6C
V6 6C+
7A
Advanced V7 7A+
V8 7B
7B+
V9 7C
V10 7C+
Pro V11 8A
V12 8A+
V13 8B
Monster V14 8B+
V15 8C
V16 8C+
V17 9A

Starting from grade V0, which is basically an easy climb, to grade V17, which requires almost monster-like capacities to solve.

The road to V17 ain’t easy, and you’ll notice that as the grades become harder, they lose “diversity,” meaning that a V14 is MUCH harder than a V16 rather than increasing the grade from a V5 to a soft V6, which requires less training.

Hardest outside boulders in the world

It’s hard to talk about the hardest boulder in the world since bouldering is such a subjective sport, and the style in which every problem can be solved alters the personal grading of the climber.

There are a handful of V17 routes in the world, some of which have even been repeated, but with so many beautiful problems out there, we’ll try to make a selection of the hardest and most legendary routes out there.

With this being said, let’s jump into the generally accepted hardest boulder problems in the world!

Burden of Dreams (V17/9A)

Located in Finland, Burden of Dreams is the first climbed V17 problem in history. First ascented by Nalle Hukkataival in 2016 and seconded by Will Bosi in 2023, Burden took Nale over 4000 attempts to send over the course of three years.

Featuring only 8 moves, Burden of Dreams is a 4-meter slab of granite rock, oriented at an exact angle of 45 degrees.

If Nalle had the opportunity to work on this project as much as he desired, it would have been rather harder for Will, who had to travel all the way from Great Britain to give the problem a shot. Considering that climbing it is not really a walk in the park, Bosi, along with Aidan Roberts, put up a 3D-printed replica of the route in Chesterfield, which he used for training.

The process of sending Burden involves working on the moves in isolation and then figuring out a way to link the moves. The process ain’t easy, considering it took Bosi approximately one month to link the first three moves.

YouTube video

YouTube video

Alphane (V17/9A)

Maybe one of the most famous hard boulders in Dave Graham’s Alphane. Located in the Swiss woods of Chironico, this project was forgotten for almost 20 years until Shawn Raboutou managed to send it in April 2022.

The most repeated V17 boulder, Alphane, once it was unlocked by Shawn, has seen another three repeats in 2022 by Aidan Roberts, Will Bosi, and Simon Lorenzi.

Jakob Schubert who had a wonderful run in 2023 got himself an early Christmas present by sending Alphane on December 21st.

The boulder is described as a powerful and technical blend of moves that transitions over three styles of climbing featuring brute force, crimps, and technical moves such as heel hooks and drop knees.

YouTube video

YouTube video

The Story of Two Worlds (V15/8C)

Another Swiss legendary problem, Dave “The Wizard” Graham’s The Story of Two Worlds, is a boulder problem that has sparked the imagination of many top climbers and has seen a lot of historical repeats.

First ascented by Dave himself in 2005, the problem was seconded by Dai Koyamada in 2010, and it sparked controversy because of his start not being on the right holds. He later proved his skills in 2012 by redoing the route on the original sit start.

Story is located in the Cresciano region of Switzerland and features the link between Toni Lamprecht’s The Dagger (V14) and Fred Nicole’s Dreamtime (V14).

The last time it was ascended by Emil Abrahamson was in January 2023, and previously by Alex Megos in 2020, taking him only four days to successfully solve the problem.

Jakob Schubert who had a wonderful run in 2023 got himself an early Christmas present by sending Alphane on December 21st.

The boulder is described as a powerful and technical blend of moves that transitions over three styles of climbing featuring brute force, crimps, and technical moves such as heel hooks and drop knees.

YouTube video

YouTube video

Midnight Lightning (V8/7B)

Established in 1978 by Yosemite legend Ron Kauk, Midnight Lightning is an iconic boulder in Yosemite Valley, USA.

The boulder features a series of slick crimps, seconded by some crimpy underclings, which take you to a dyno point just under the sleeping ledge.

In theory, it doesn’t sound like much, but for 1978, it was a real banger, taking Ron around four months to be able to send the route. He was quickly followed by John Bacher.

The route has been visited by dozens of boulderers, the last one to send it being Adam Ondra in 2019, flashing the line.

YouTube video

Return of the Sleepwalker (V17/9A)

Located in the Black Velvet Canyon, USA, Return of the Sleepwalker is a 17-move testpiece established by master boulderer Daniel Woods in 2021.

An extension of the infamous Sleepwalker (V16) established by Jimmy Webb in 2018, Return is a veritable battle on a massive overhung sandstone boulder, making it one of the hardest boulders in the US back when it was discovered.

When broken down into sequences, Return consists of a series of V9 and V10 moves in Jimmy Webb’s route, followed by six V13 moves that go directly into the V16 route without any rest. After all this massive pump fest comes the grand finale, a huck onto the final hold.

A repeat of the route hasn’t happened yet, but Nathan Williams gave it a shot but didn’t make it yet. Hopefully, 2024 will be the year of the repeat.

On February 21st 2024, Will Bosi sent Return of the Sleepwalker confirming the grade proposed by Woods in 2021. It took nine sessions for Return to give in but Bosi was confident as he had previously sent Sleepwalker in just three sessions.

YouTube video

Hardest boulder climbed by a woman

The year 2023 has been great for achievements for female rock climbers in boulderers, and fortunately, we had a ton of achievements to follow. Maybe one of the greatest problems solved by a woman was Katie Lamb’s first female ascent of Box Therapy (V16/8C+) this September.

Located near the Rocky Mountains National Park, USA, Box Therapy is Daniel Wood’s testpiece situated next to another legendary boulder, Tommy Caldwell’s Spread Eagle (V11).

Katie Lamb wrote a piece of history on this rock, becoming the first woman to climb a V16 boulder, and what’s even more impressive is the fact that she skipped a full grade during the process.

The whole process took Katie a few months to complete, considering she had to spare her skin because of the sharp crimpy holds, and the 4-hour hike up to Box is simply soul-crushing being located at an altitude of 3000 meters.

Soon after Katie’s win, the route-crushing family, the Raboutus, and Brooke Raboutou sent Box Therapy over the course of a weekend and proposed a downgrade to V15.

YouTube video

Hardest indoor boulder in the world

When it comes to indoor climbing, it’s hard to tell what the hardest boulder problems are because, after all, as a Redditor stated, the hardest boulder route is one without any hold, and you would have to climb using the drill holes. Apart from that, who knows what a dark and musky gym in a forgotten place holds?

Even so, we can talk about the standard in indoor bouldering, and that is the grades found on the IFSC tour boulders. Talking about grading in such situations is complicated, and for I don’t know what reason, not really talked about. Even so, after some research, I found out that the bouldering problems in the IFSC tour come from V6 to V12 and that’s simply mental because, as we’ve all seen, Adam Ondra can send harder boulders and still happened not to climb some routes in competition.

So, after all this talking about the hardest indoor boulder in the world, I think we can agree that the hardest boulder is the one that you are projecting on, and of course, that might be the most fun boulder in the world!

What is your next bouldering destination?

So we’ve been on quite a journey from the US to Europe, and the journey even goes beyond. As far as I’ve heard, India has great boulders, and don’t forget to check out Japan for some sick boulders.

But until then, enjoy your training in the gym, and don’t forget that as long as you’re having fun an progressing, it doesn’t really matter the number on the wall.

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