UKC

Alex Barrows has climbed his first 8C, ticking The Wheel of Life 8C at Hollow Mountain Cave in the Grampians, Australia. The problem is world-famous for its length of ~70 moves and was first climbed by Dai Koyamada in 2004 and originally graded 8C+.

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In reply to UKC News:

Massive climber, massive news

In reply to UKC News:

No diss to Barrows as this is undoubtedly a great tick, but why has it been reported as being his first 8C when Alex states that the consensus grade is now 8B+ with knee bars?

In reply to UKC News:
Good Effs Barrows!

In reply to Will Hunt:

Everyone knows wheel of life, and honestly I don't think anyone cares about the grade of the thing anymore. I has become one of those ungradeable pieces of rock that gets anything from 8B+ - 8C+ or 8c - 9a+ depending on who you are talking to and whether they have had a pleasing bowel movement that day. When it comes to the grading of it, the '8C' quote could be overlooked in favour of the grade breakdown of the route/problem/kneebar-fest, which is orders of magnitude more informative imo! Climbing 7B+ > 8A > 7C > 8A is f*cking bananas, and I dont think Alex is going to claim the 8C grade (not that it would be wrong of him to).

My opinion as a comparative weakling.

In reply to AMorris:

I agree, I'm sure its a difficult thing to slap a number on, and the breakdown is useful and perhaps more impressive than simply saying 8B+ or whatever. However despite how difficult it might be to grade, Alex has offered a grade which he describes as the consensus - and that grade is 8B+.
I'm not a great follower of Wheelbarrows' activity or of elite bouldering in general, but I do know that Alex has a pedigree of using knee bars and pads on hard stuff (something that I fully support) and proffering sensible alternative grades for ascents made in such a way. To report these ascents with the original higher grade is disingenuous and will only add fuel to the fire of the anti-kneepadders, which can only serve to hold back the future of hard climbing.
8B+ or 8C, it's still a fantastic achievement for Alex and he's clearly very satisfied with the climb, regardless of what grade others choose to cite. As such this is not having a dig at him, moreover a plea to UKC to make their reporting a little more honest.

In reply to Will Hunt:

Very well said.

It's not how you do something that matters. In our anarchic sport people can and do whatever they like. But it's the fact that it's reported honestly that is important.

In reply to UKC News:

If I had to give a boulder grade I'd give it 8B+... if only because the power of maths says that route soft 9a should be about 8B+ boulder... I think. Probably.