Katie Lamb has made the first female ascent of The Rookery, 8B+, in Yosemite, California, USA.

Like Lamb's recent ascent of Equanimity, The Rookery was first climbed by Carlo Traversi.

Upon establishing The Rookery in December 2023, Traversi described it as 'one of the best boulders' that he had ever climbed, writing 'Spotted this line more than 10 years ago, but took some serious crew motivation to bring it to light. Felt very unlikely for me, but somehow pulled it together with some small box beta. Big, powerful, techy, and incredibly fun climbing'.

Beyond Lamb's recently reported ascent, the boulder has seen just one other repeat, at the hands of Aidan Roberts, who recently traveled across the Atlantic in order to spend an extended period climbing in the USA.

Writing on Instagram, Lamb - who actually made the ascent late last year - said:

'I was sure I would do this boulder last season. But I didn't, and had to come back at the end of 2024. The first move was hard for me (and easy for others)'.

'I'm in a similar place now to where I was last year with The Rookery - still in Yosemite, only a different bloc. Despite feeling over it with my current project, I do think that good scaling is done slowly - it's not a convenient, packaged experience. It's cold and wet and tedious and often lonely. It's at odds with its very hype online representation'.

'So yeah, The Rookery took me many sessions and was harder for me than the grade reflects. You don't always need to rook by the book y'all'.

Indeed, Lamb's reluctance to 'rook by the book' has led to five ascents at 8B and above in 2024 alone, all of which were first female ascents, and many of which required her to deviate significantly from the established beta. The Rookery is Lamb's ninth boulder at 8B+. She has three further ascents at 8C, and is the only female climber to have multiple ascents at the grade.