✅️ Superman 8B/V13
Another milestone for me. My hardest problem to date, I wanted to send 8B/V13 whilst I'd been climbing for only 3 years and the deadline was getting close but I made it happen.
This problem taught me alot. I poured an embarressing amount of sessions into Superman last year and progress was made but any gains were small and arduous. I was really nervous to come back to it this year as I felt whether I could do it was a representation of whether the improvements I'd made over winter were substantial.
Progress has definitely been made however as I sent on the start of my third session this year with it feeling like a completely different problem to last year.
In hindsight I don't actually think Superman suits me all that well and am not nescissarily sure that this is my limit right now so I'm really excited to move onto bigger and better things and to see what I can get up too on other bits of rock. Psyched for what comes next👀
Left shoe - @unparallel_uk Souped Up
Right shoe - @unparallel_uk TN Pro
Chalk - @tokyopowder_uk@dark_ventures
#climber #boulderer #climbinglife #unparallel #rockclimbing
✅️ Burlymcfreewilly 8A+/V12
First of all i want to say that for those of you who dont know, I started climbing in july 2022. To send V12 in under 3 years of climbing feels absolutely unreal and has been a big goal of mine for the last couple of months, as soon as i realised i was capable.
Burlymcfreewilly is an absolutely amazing problem with moves that couldn't fit my style much better (apart from the pinch).
So great to get this problem done, getting the tick on the first hour of my fifth session, this caught me totally off guard, really thought I would've had to spend atleast another 2 or 3 sessions before doing send attempts, but I am for sure not complaining😂.
✅️ Big Bad John 8A+/V12
Yes im using a shoe as a kneepad, sue me🤭
Really nice problem recently put up by @adamwheeler._ that suited me really well.
Got a few thoughts on this as I found a kneebar which I think makes the middle section alot easier, that being said I think I'll keep it as the given grade but with the caveat it's likely gone from hard 8A+ to soft 8A+ and wouldn't be particularly surprised if it goes down to 8A with time, but who knows, im shocking with grades🤷♂️😅
Nontheless I had an absolute blast working this, actually sending about 20 minutes after I did superman, making it by far the best day of bouldering I've had!!!
Shoes - @unparallel_uk Souped Up
Kneepad - also @unparallel_uk Souped Up
@dark_ventures
#bouldering #unparallel #climber #boulderer #rockclimbing
✅️ One Clear Moment 8A/V11 (Fourth attempt)
Lost for words on this problem.
I've had my eyes on One Clear Moment for about 6 months as I thought it'd suit my board style relatively well and on a whim said to myself earlier in the day that I'm going to do it sub 5 tries, a rediculous expectation as I have only ever done 2 8As in a single session, let alone been able to count the attempts.
I guess I got myself into the right mindset and managed to dispatch it on the fourth attempt after not trusting my feet on the first, messing up beta on the second and simply missing a hold on the third.
Absolutely buzzing🤯
Shoes- @unparallel_uk Souped Up
@dark_ventures
#bouldering #climbinglife #unparallel #v11 #climber
✅️ Influx 8A/V11
Nice little basic scrappy problem which is a bit of a testpiece for how hard you can crimp.
Sent on the day I got back from font and was supposed to be resting, alas apparently I can still pull pretty hard 5 days on and slightly sleep deprived. 😂
Had this as a regression problem last year and never felt particularly close. Continuing on with the story of all my old projects going within an hour this year. 🤘
Thanks @kinder.climbing for convincing me to get out (not that it takes much).
@dark_ventures@unparallel_uk
#unparallel #climber #bouldering #climbinglife #limestone
✅️ Super Mario 8A+/V12
A climb I actually did a few days before heading to fontainebleau and have decided to sit on for awhile to gather my thoughts.
This was my main project throughout the suboptimal grit season we experienced this year and had been consistantly getting close, even dropping the last of around 30 moves in late February.
Unfortunately a few days after dropping the last move I had my ankle injury and I thought my chances of a send this end of the year were over as the grit was quickly coming out of season. Despite this I vividly remember turning to @issylongx in A&E and saying "I"m going to do super mario before font" with us both knowing that it was most likely unrealistic and a far off dream.
This problem was almost all I thought about throughout the rehab process and think it was a big motivating factor to get healed up as quick as possible, constantly playing the movement of Super Mario in my head in the weeks I was out of action.
Thankfully my rehab went superbly and a few days before font I finally felt like my ankle was good enough to take any falls from the top section. Against all odds, I didn't need too, I didn't drop it once. I pulled onto the start intending to warmup on the first moves and I felt good, so just decided to carry on. Getting the send completely cold, and after having not touched any moves for a month, absolutely magical.
As for grade goes, the problem is graded 8A on UKC and in the guidebook, however after speaking to 2 of the 3 other ascensionists its pretty unanimous that 8A+ is appropriate, myself also feeling that it feels like a step above of anything else I have climbed this year so far.
@dark_ventures@unparallel_uk
#bouldering #climber #unparallel #climbinglife #gritstone
✅️ Joyeux Grill (accroupi) 8A/V11
Nice little surprise send on the last proper day of climbing in font. Ended up finding this boulder the night prior and after seeing a video of it I knew it would fit me perfectly.
Despite being absolutely wrecked from 4 days of climbing I worked the moves within about half an hour and started giving send burns only to drop the last, low percentage, bump sequence a fair few times.
I decided to come back in the afternoon so I could rest my right bicep, which had already been on the verge of exploding for 2 days, but still half expected to do it first try. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case as I kept dropping the bump sequence over and over. Luckily on the very last go of the day I decided to give it absolutely everything and I got a magical send whilst feeling absolutely blasted, ontop of that it started raining as I was sitting on top of the boulder making it feel properly meant to be.
🩰 @unparallel_uk Souped Ups carrying me through the super tentative first heel move which equated to the majority of the difficulty in my opinion.
@dark_ventures
#unparallel #climbinglife #climbing #bouldering #fontainebleau
✅️ Eclipse (7C/+)/(V9/10)
Got incredibly inspired by this super proud line. Came to it after unfortunate split circumstances that forced me to stop on a few other climbs. Managed to work a sequence I was happy with pretty quickly, dropping the last move on the first session.
Decided to have a rest day and come back fresher but ended up trying it in full sun and dropped the last move 3 more times which was heart breaking as I didn't know if I'd have the beans to come back, turns out after resting for a couple of hours I did it first try back.🤘
As it goes for grade it felt far harder then the other 7Cs ive pulled on and thought it was deserving of the / grade some people give it, if not the full +. That being said I am on the shorter end of climbers and the middle and end sequences definitely would help to have abit of lank on your side!
Thanks to @issylongx for listening to me winge about it and videoing😂
#unparallel #climber #boulderer #fontainebleau #climbinglife
✅️ De Vita Beata 8A/V11
Was happy to put down an 8A on the first couple of hours of the font trip to get the hard climbing out of my system.😂
Kind of surprised myself with this one as it wasn't particularly a climb that I had on my radar and just happened to end up infront of on the day. Nevertheless it went down quickly, punting the last move after doing the start 2 move crux within about an hour after starting, then managing to finish it off after a big rest, a few more punts and a baguette filled lunch!!
#climber #boulderer #climbinglife #rockclimbing #fontainebleau
✅️ Bizarre Ride 8A/V11
Another project from 2025 that only took me an hour in 2026. I have been hesitant to acknowledge my progress as I've rationalised in my head that my recent ticks I was so close to sending last year or are just soft etc. However bizarre ride I put quite alot of sessions on last year and had done all the moves, but the thought of linking the first and second move seemed unattainable at the time.
Really pleased to tick this. Has always been a boulder where if I've seen someone has done it I immediately think "wow they are strong" and am so psyched for my name to now be on that ticklist. Bizarre Ride also happens to be my 10th send of a climb that is 8A or above, which considering this time last year my top grade was 7C+, I'm pretty impressed with myself.
Maybe one day I can think about doing the highly coveted john exit😂.
#rockclimbing #bouldering #climber #climbinglife #V11
✅️ Tsunami 8A/V11
My longest project ever, spanning over half of the total time I've been climbing. I first tried this in May 2024 and did the kneeling start as my first outdoor 7C/V9 within a couple sessions. I was convinced that tsunami would be my first 8A and it was only a matter of time till I sent. 15 odd sessions in 2024 and a couple here and there in 2025 yielded no results. Turns out I only needed the one session in 2026!!!
I didn't really go with the expectation of sending and more to see if my recently injured ankle could start to take heel hooks again and thought I might aswell do it on a project, turns out it can definetely start to take some heel hooks😂. Also switching up my beta entirely for the start after seeing @the.short.climber beta. I'd tried this method before but felt impossible at the time, but ended up working out really well for me when i started to properly understand the technique.
Thanks to @issylongx for the spot and @hb.boulders for introducing me to this project when I was a punter!🤭
#boulder #climbing #climbinglife #V11 #boulderer
✅️ Feeding The Pony 7C+/V10
What a problem. Sending on my first attempt after 6 months off of it!
I sent crazy horses 8A/V11 pretty early on last year and had feeding the pony as a little side project to work alongside, which I mistakenly assumed would quickly follow suit. However I had to spend quite alot of solo sessions on this boulder to finally get the tick and was overall a big lesson in projecting patience for me.
Part of the reason this took so long for me to do is because every single session I've had on it the slot coming out of the roof has torn the skin on my right pointer finger. This meant sessions have had to be weeks apart so i can heal, making me deviate from my usual style of consistantly showing up to a boulder until I get the send. Aswell as dropping the last real move 3 times in October last year before it went out of season, making it an overall frustrating experience for me, but in a strange way I slowly became quite fond of the boulder. Throughout 2025 it felt like a familiar face I could show up too when I didn't feel like working any of my current projects at the time and it didnt nescissarily matter if I was making progress or not because I was just simply enjoying the time outside.
In honesty I wouldn't change how or when I sent this as it's come at a time when I've needed to prove to myself that I have been making continued progress over the winter as I always find it hard to quantify progression when I've been stuck indoors, but I feel like my performance on the rock over the last couple of days has really shown that the training has been paying off!
Thankyou to @issylongx for the much needed spot and support!🫡
#climber #bouldering #boulderer #V10 #rockclimbing
