Switzerland has been the scene of a number of top-end bouldering ascents, with James Pearson, Yannick Flohé, and Elias Iagnemma all making hard repeats of rarely climbed boulders in the region of 8C - 8C+.

First up is James Pearson's ascent of Mystic River (f8C) in Brione, a boulder that was first climbed by Guiliano Cameroni in December 2021, with Shawn Raboutou making the second ascent on the very same day. 

James had been trying the boulder for roughly ten sessions across two years. He described the boulder as 'one of the best I've ever tried - and a pleasure to be able to keep returning to! An amazing set of holds and moves up some truly beautiful rock'.

In an email sent to UKC, James told us about his process on Mystic River:

'My last long-term boulder project was 'The Buttermilker' in Bishop, California, back when I had just turned 18. I think I spent around 10 days on that problem. After that, my attention was diverted to other types of climbing and I haven't invested that amount of time in a boulder since. When I first saw footage of Mystic River a couple of years ago, I remember being amazed by the beauty of the rock and the complexity of the moves. I remember saying to myself how I would love to try it one day… I had no idea how big of a part of my life it would actually become'.

'I first looked at the boulder on a family bouldering trip in Switzerland. I'd not been back to Ticino for 15 years, and I was excited to explore some of the new developments, in the hope of finding a project to work on. I tried a lot of really nice boulders on that trip, including 'Unison', 'Poison The Well', and even 'Alphane', but it was Mystic River that really grabbed my attention. Back, then the landing was pretty bad. There was very little sand and pebbles, just a gentle slope of river washed, granite, leading into a cold deep pool. It was difficult to try the boulder without a spotter, and I remember thinking that if I wanted to try this seriously, I might need to get creative'.

'We returned the following year and this time I started to invest serious time into Mystic River. I was already making good links on the boulder and hoped I might finish it. The river had deposited a nice beach of sand and pebbles underneath, and I started to feel confident trying it on my own. There were still a couple of exciting moments, where I would spontaneously dry-fire horizontally off the boulder when I tried to build my feet up high for the crux move, but I never quite made it to the water'!

'By the end of that trip, the skin on my left hand was destroyed from the singular sharp crux crimp, and my right heel was throbbing from the intense hooks! I had started to regress and knew I'd have to come back for it. Yet, by the time I could get away again, I had some friends send me photos of the river, which was already way too high! From that point, my obsession with this boulder really began. Sending messages to anyone I knew, who was in Brione, who could potentially check the height of the river for me, planning ways that I could potentially build up the landing, so I could try it again, even if the water might be unseasonably high'.

'In January of this year, I took the chance to head down for a couple of days on my own. Normally the height of the river swells during the summer months and decreases over winter, but as I arrived in Brione, I could see that the river was high, and as I made my way down to the boulder, I found the remnants of a tiny landing. Perhaps enough to try a couple of the moves with a spotter, but no way near enough for me to try on my own.

'Luckily, the river had left a huge bank of sand and pebbles just on the right, so I grabbed a small spade from the van and in a couple of hours I'd fashioned a nice flat landing. I had one great session on the boulder, where I fell on the last move and made it consistently through the first half of the problem. By the end of that visit, I knew I could do it… I just needed a bit more time'.

'I don't enjoy being away from Caro and the kids, yet I was so invested in this boulder, that I was desperate to go back. My plan was to go back to Ticino just before the school holidays began so I could finish it off, and be back in time to do some fun things with the kids. I said goodbye and drove the 10-hour journey to Ticino, alone. I headed directly to Mystic River, and found the lovely flat landing I had left behind, on my last visit, now submerged under 20 cm of water!'

'Two days of digging later, I managed to move enough rock and sand from elsewhere in the riverbed to make a small beach just big enough for my crash pads! It was backbreaking work, but the only option… well, actually, the sensible choice might have been to enjoy any one of the thousands of other amazing boulders in Ticino, but by this point it might be clear that my relationship with this boulder was anything but sensible'.

'For the next week I lived and breathed Mystic River as I tried to unravel its mysteries. Some sessions felt great, and in others I could barely pull on. Some attempts I fell on the last move, and on the next go I would fall off the first or second. Never have I tried a boulder that is so hard to climb! Whilst the individual moves themselves are not particularly difficult (at least in comparison to other boulders around this grade) they are all, without fail, extremely easy to fall off of. The river polished granite allows for no mistakes in placement or movement, and dry fires and foot slips are never far away. Little by little, I whittled away and began to feel like I could do it, but it was almost time to get back to France and I had to make every session count'.

'The session I climbed, Mystic River was a perfect example of everything. I love and hate about this boulder. When I arrived at the Boulder, I'd all but decided not to climb as I thought the conditions would get better later in the day. Then randomly, a young Italian climber named Pietro Vidi, turned up and asked if I minded if he tried it with me. I still wasn't convinced by the conditions, but thought it was worth a try anyway, as it would be nice to actually climb with someone else for a change'.

Pietro is a great climber. He's in his early 20s but has already bouldered several 8C+ boulders, and repeated Tribe, one of the world's hardest traditional routes. He also happens to be great at knee-bars, and I was pleased to watch him discover a more secure way of using the crucial right knee-bar, that made the middle section feel a little more controlled. I made a really good first try, falling on the final move and a then a few more goes, falling with an unexpected hand or foot slip each time. Everything started to fall to pieces. I spent four or five attempts falling on the first or second move, incapable of making the right heel hook stick'.

'I thought this might be the end of the session… Perhaps the conditions had changed, or perhaps, I was just simply too tired after almost a week of trying the same moves. I almost gave up, knowing that this would probably be my final session of the trip, but decided to take a long rest, change my shoes, and try a few more times… Then I did it on my next go!'

'The successful attempt wasn't any different to many of my previous attempts. I didn't feel particularly solid, or locked in, but either from luck or practice I made few mistakes. Still, it was almost a surprise to actually catch the hold on the last hard move, and you can even hear my delayed scream in the video when I realise I'm still hanging on. Really happy I practised the last slab because even though it's not very hard, I could imagine falling up there with legs as shaky as mine were. I topped out the boulder in a state of disbelief. I'm not sure if the amount of work I had to put in to climb this thing was objectively worth it… But it sure made that moment feel pretty amazing!

The boulder is James' second at 8C, after his ascent of Juneru in 2022.

Second on the list is Yannick Flohé's ascent of The Story of 3 Worlds (f8C+) in Cresciano.

First climbed by Shawn Raboutou in 2022, the boulder saw its second ascent in early January at the hands of Jakob Schubert, before Flohé made the third ascent last weekend.

The boulder is an extension to the low start of  The Story of Two Worlds (f8C). Originally established by Dave Graham in 2005, The Story of Two Worlds was thought of as the 'new standard' for 8C bouldering.

Dai Koyamada then established a slightly lower start, adding a difficult move and bumping the grade up to 8C+ for the low start.

The Story of Three Worlds adds a long and technical sequence before the bulk of the climbing of The Story of Two Worlds, with ten moves before the two boulders meet at the crux move of The Story of Two Worlds.

Writing on Instagram, Flohé said:

'Yesterday I made the third ascent of this fun boulder by Shawn Raboutou. It adds a super cool roof climb into The Dagger and features one of the most unique moves on rock'.

'I tried it for a few sessions on my last trip but couldn't handle the cold and kept numbing out. This time felt way better with some sun and after falling once on the Dagger I took a long rest and sent it an hour later'.

The boulder is Flohé's fourth at 8C+, one of which is our final boulder on the list.

Ephyra (f8C+), in Chironico, was first climbed by Jimmy Webb, and is the most ascended of the three climbs, with a total of six in the six years since it was established in 2019 - the most recent just yesterday, by Elias Iagnemma.

The boulder is a crimpy test-piece, with a wide and dynamic crux move, favouring taller climbers - or those with bullet-proof shoulders. Whilst it has retained its grade of 8C+, almost all of its ascensionists - including Webb himself - have remarked that it is low in the grade.

Iagnemma, who took nine sessions to climb the boulder, is in fine form, having made the fourth ascent of Burden of Dreams (f9A) last year, and the first ascent of a new 9A boulder, Big Slamm just last month.

Speaking of his ascent of Ephyra, his third at 8C+, Iagnemma said:

'What great emotions these days in Switzerland!'

'For Ephyra I needed nine sessions in total (three sessions in almost prohibitive conditions humidity 99%, but the rock is very solid and I had no problems trying it)'.

'Yesterday on my third attempt from the ground I managed to climb this King Line. This climb gave me beautiful sensations.
What moves!'

'What I thought when I climbed it was: Wow I did it, incredible, but how extreme was The Big Slamm'.

Iagnemma is now heading to our shores, presumably to put in the hours on some of the hardest boulders that Britain has to offer. Watch this space...