From V17 boulders to 5.15d routes: how tactics, mental stamina and clean technique make hard projects sendable.
Anyone aiming to send hard routes or boulders quickly runs into seemingly insurmountable barriers. Often, it feels as if raw power is simply missing. However, a look at recent world-class ascents reveals a more nuanced picture: maximum physical strength is merely the ticket to entry. The true solution to demanding moves almost always lies in the interplay between meticulous movement analysis, mental resilience and precise execution.
Reports of recent top performances highlight how lengthy and mentally taxing elite routes are. According to the climbing magazine Gripped, Sean Bailey spent four years and three climbing seasons on the first ascent of "Duality of Man" (proposed at 5.15d) in Arizona. Bailey explained that he had to learn a completely new level of patience, as he often only had a short window of one to two hours in the shade per day. The route demands extremely hard boulder moves on a steep wall, interrupted only by an awkward rest.
Other examples show that mental endurance is also crucial on extreme boulders. According to Gripped, Elias Iagnemma invested 211 sessions into the Italian boulder "Exodia", which Adam Ondra graded V17 after a repeat. On the boulder "Alphane" (also V17) in Switzerland, repeater Sungsu Lee described the project simply as a mental battle where friction on the rock changed daily. Even climbers like Dayan Akhtar, who needed only six sessions for "Return of the Sleepwalker" (V17), emphasise how important the mental state is: after a foot slip on his first attempt of the day, a new mindset instantly gave him the focus needed for the successful next go.
Elite performance by no means means forcing moves with uncontrolled power. According to Gripped, Seb Bouin stressed during the first ascent of the route "El Gran Cabrón" (5.15b) in China how complex the sequences were and how many movement patterns had to be unlocked first. The crux sections required pinches and very physical moves, but only worked through an exact understanding of body positioning. The route was later repeated by 18-year-old Wang Bingtang.
Small oversights in supposedly easier terrain also backfire immediately. Adam Ondra reported after the first ascent of his boulder "Scettro" (V14/15) in Val Daone that he had underestimated the finish. Because he had not rehearsed the topout beforehand, he had to let go during an attempt from the ground and only completed the boulder on the subsequent try after dialling the exact beta. His takeaway: never underestimate seemingly easy topouts.
How quickly top-tier boulders can fall once the technique is dialled is demonstrated by Anon Matsufuji: according to Gripped, she climbed "The Swarm" (V13/14) in California on just her fourth attempt, after adverse weather had initially delayed her start.
Lessons from the elite level translate directly to climbing and bouldering projects across all grades. To send a hard route, the following approaches help:
Your takeaway: Do not solve hard climbing sequences with brute force; instead, break your project down into precise micro-movements and plan every move right through to the final hold.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.