On the 3rd of December, Nathan Phillips made the first ascent of his hardest boulder to date, Deep Fake (f8C+)

In doing so, Nathan became the fourth British climber to have climbed a boulder at the grade, and just the third, after Aidan Roberts and Will Bosi, to have established a boulder at 8C+ or harder.

Describing the boulder in his UKC logbook, Nathan wrote 'FA. Just pure hard moves in a straight line. What more could you want'.

With roughly one hundred sessions invested into the project, split evenly between the boulder itself and a replica that Nathan made, the ascent was the culmination of more than six years of work. We got in touch with Nathan to find out more about his first impressions of the boulder, to ask about how it breaks down, and to talk about an incredible year of climbing: 

Congratulations on your FA of Deep Fake, 8C+! You described the ascent on social media as 'six years of effort in one moment' - can you tell us a bit more about how you first encountered the boulder, and what your first experiences on it were like?

So I first tried the boulder in 2018 on my first trip to the area. I didn't know about it at the time, and Brione didn't even have a guide book at that point. 

During that trip I tried the stand start (Fake Pamplemousse (f8A)) which is a great boulder, but starts in a slightly unobvious place.

Immediately, I think even before I tried the stand, I noticed the huge ledge down at the bottom and couldn't really believe that it hadn't been climbed from there. It was just so obvious. After doing the stand I got stuck straight in and very quickly realised why it hadn't been done… it was really hard!

I had two sessions that trip and it took me eight in total before I had managed all the moves.

Deep Fake has been a well-known project for some time, can you tell us a bit about the history of the boulder?

It's in the middle of probably the most popular face in the whole of Brione, five minutes walk from the parking, so everyone that goes there can clearly see that it's a project. 

I know a few people have tried over the years including Giuliano Cameroni and his brother Diego, who also told me Jimmy and Daniel had tried it (though I don't know how seriously), so some strong people have at least had a go, and I know of a couple of others who were trying it a bit more seriously too.

How does the boulder break down, and what is the hardest thing about linking it all together? From an outsider's perspective, it looks incredibly sustained!

It's actually not that sustained, at least when you've done the stand around two-hundred times it doesn't feel like it! All the difficulty is in the three moves before you get into the stand (two hand moves and a foot move).

The first three moves are around 7A then you have the first of the hard moves into the undercut, which is probably 8A on its own to get the hold well. 

Then comes the foot move which, with all three methods, felt to me like an 8A+ move, until Diego unlocked new beta early last year and it dropped it down to around 7C+. 

Then the final hard move before the stand is physically the hardest, and is probably an 8A+ move in isolation. This move on its own became quite trivial towards the end, but doing any moves into it made it feel almost impossible. This is for sure the red point crux.

Then you just have to not mess up the powerful 8A boulder to finish. It's probably 8C/+ to get into the stand.

Tell us a bit more about the replica you made - was it a full replica, or was it more to focus on individual moves within the boulder? How much benefit did you see from working on the replica when you returned to the real thing?

My replica was just from a move in to the start of the stand. The first hard move and the difficult foot move probably weren't quite as hard as the real thing, but the final hard move was actually harder than the real thing, which made that move on the real thing feel totally controlled, and being able to practice it after doing moves that weren't as hard made so much difference.

Your ascents of Trance (f8C) and Beautiful Mind (f8C) seemed like perfect training for Deep Fake, steep and fingery! Was that a conscious part of preparing for Deep Fake, or is that just a style of boulder you enjoy generally?

I didn't actually know I'd be going to Switzerland until after I did Trance. I started training for Deep Fake again alongside trying Beautiful Mind, but it wasn't part of my specific training, it was just something I wanted to do and it helped to keep my motivation high for training in the gym.

I do think Limestone is a great finger workout, though, and those two have some of the nicest holds around for limestone.

You had an incredible 2024, making your second and third ascents at 8C, as well as your first boulder at 8C+! When you look back across the year, is there anything that you can put this progress down to?

I honestly think it's just having the time to keep turning up. Now I don't have comps to focus on I can spend a lot more time at the crag, and also adapt my training to suit the boulders I'm trying much more easily. I also have a lot more patience than I used to, I'm happy to keep going back for as long as it takes.

Finally, talk us through the successful attempt:

The session was actually going really badly. I had basically written it off for the trip, thinking I had become too weak on the throw to the undercut. I decided to revert back to an old subtle beta change for one last-ditch effort before packing it in, and suddenly found myself through the start and onto the last hard move before the stand feeling like I had only just pulled on.

I knew it was my chance, I'd never felt this good at this point. I executed the move and let out a surprise power scream. In shock a little, my forearms started to tighten, which meant I only had a certain amount of time before my fingers would give out. I focused up and tried to stay calm. I got to the final slap to the lip and completely missed the hold. 

In that moment I thought I'd blown my chance, and couldn't believe I had just dropped it there… but I hadn't dropped it, I had somehow held it anyway, even though my foot had come off the foothold which had never happened before. I panicked to find the now blind foot, and dunked the finishing jug to my complete amazement. All that was left was the very easy but very wet top out. I mantled over the lip without slipping, let out a roar of pure joy, and all the pressure of six years of effort just washed away. It was truly the best feeling I've had from climbing.

I just want to thank all the people who tried with me, chatted with me at the boulder, carried pads, kept telling me I could do it. And especially Tara Hayes, who kept turning up to sit in the cold and actually convinced me to try it that day when I wasn't going to.