Jakob Schubert has managed to flash Chris Sharma's Catalan Witness the fitness, ~8C, in the Cova del ocell near Barcelona. The problem was originally given ~8C, and as far as I know none of the repeaters has suggested anything less than soft ~8C.
© Marco Jubes
Jakob himself takes the humble approach:
What a day! Since our flights are quite late we decided to stop at Cova del ocell before heading to the airport.
I already thought this boulder would fit me very well (steep climbing on crimps) and I was right. With the perfect support from @janhojer and @marcojubes I was able to flash it, thanks a lot buddies 🙌 This boulder has been called fb 8C in the past but as nice as a 8C flash sounds I can't agree, guess it is more like low end 8B+.
The Austrian is not the first to flash a problem graded ~8C. In late November, Daniel Woods flashed Fred Nicole's Entlinge at Murgtal, a problem which, at the time, was considered ~8C. The consensus now seems to be ~8B/+ or so, Whether the grade of Catalan Witness the fitness will go down the same path of course remains to be seen.
Jakob is obviously in excellent shape after a vacation where he managed to climb both 9b and 9a+.
Comments
Having just rewatched Sharma on the crux, I’m filing that one under seriously impressive.
Totally agree this really is impressive
Didn't know Howard Moon climbed
Still the laziest naming ever!
Wad like effort though!
Of course hes a climber!
Do you not remember 'The Power of the Crimp'?