Solly Kemball Dorey has made an ascent of Dave Graham's classic Val de Bagnes boulder, Foundations Edge (f8C).

Solly, who has climbed a further three boulders at 8C, as well as Isles of Wonder SDS (f8C+), set himself the ambitious goal of climbing the boulder across just four sessions. We caught up with him earlier in the week to hear more.

Congratulations on your ascent of Foundations Edge, and for managing to get it done so quickly! You said on Instagram that every session on the boulder went about as well as it could have, can you talk us through your approach to projecting the boulder, and what you did each session?

When I'm projecting boulders I will try to set a goal for each session. For Foundation's Edge, fortunately each session I completed every goal.

The first session I just did all the moves, linking a few of them together. The second session was to link the crux six moves in two overlapping halves. The third session was to link the whole boulder in two overlaps, and finally the fourth I sent.

I knew when we broke the trip down I would only get four sessions on it, as me and Eliot were alternating day on day off each, which left very little margin for error.

What was it that drew you to Foundations Edge specifically?

My goal of the trip was to either do Foundations Edge or Solitary Daze (f8C), which is also 8C, to try and challenge myself and see if I was capable of climbing at that grade in a short period of time, but there were a few things that drew me to Foundations over Solitary.

The holds are very skin friendly which allowed for less logistics, the moves are reasonably easy to work off stacked pads, but mostly the aesthetic to me was much more eye catching, with more of a prominent line.

The boulder was first climbed by Dave Graham, which tends to mean high quality climbing - how does Foundations Edge rank amongst boulders you've climbed in terms of quality?

In terms of quality it has to be up there with some of the best. It's got lovely holds, good movement, and is big, so you have a little bit of an added scare factor. However, Dave's list of 5 star boulders is endless, so it isn't much of a surprise.

Tell us about the successful attempt - did everything go to plan, and how did it feel when it all came together?

Just before the send go I decided to slightly change the beta on the section I had been falling off the most from the ground, just moving my foot a couple inches to the right. This then led to a pretty flowy ascent, until the very last move which I almost fell off due to pump and numb fingers. But, overall, the climbing went as well as it could have.

Did you manage to have a look at the lower start, Fuck the System (f8C+), and if so, what were your thoughts on it?

I didn't take a look at the lower start, but is something I would consider coming back for in the future. However, it looks like it climbs very differently, as it climbs into Foundations Edge from underneath the face.

What's next on the list?

The list keeps expanding, so I haven't thought too much about what is next, but if I had to pick the next right now it would either be, Off the Wagon (f8B+) or Bügeleisen Sit (f8C).

Check out Solly's video diary from his time in Switzerland, featuring footage of (most of) his ascent of Foundations Edge.