The Dark Side, Devilution, and Event Horizon (V16).
Think of North America’s most iconic and trafficked bouldering destinations.
In all likelihood, one or all of the following came to mind: Yosemite, Bishop, and Squamish
They have all the components. Laden with mind-melding, iconic media from Rampage to Reel Rock, generation-defining testpieces such as Midnight Lightning (V8), Evilution Direct (V11), and The Singularity (V15), a high-density of problems, awe-inspiring scenery, and convenient camping—each generation has seen unique testpieces in these enormously popular crags.
To be more specific, Camp 4, The Buttermilks, and The Grandwall areas have ushered in, decade over decade, the cutting edge of difficulty, highballs, and style.
Across a 3 month span in the winter of 2023/2024, 3 of perhaps the last greatest projects in these areas, and therefore in America, fell to 3 very dedicated climbers. In this blog, we will discuss each of these climbs, discuss the problems in detail with two of the first ascensionists, and question if this is the end of an era for these zones, or if the next career-defining ascents still lay in wait.
We will go chronologically through what I believe to be three of the most significant ascents in recent years, and arguably the most impactful 3 months in North American bouldering ever.
1. The Dark Side (V16) FA by Carlo Traversi | December, 2023
2. Devilution (V16) FA by Sean Bailey | January, 2024
3. Event Horizon (V16) FA by Andy Lamb | February, 2024
The Dark Side and a Brief History of Iconic Incredible Shit in Yosemite
The Dark Side needs little introduction, nor does Carlo Traversi. I will summarize quickly here, but realistically, just about everything you need to know about the history of this project and this climber is well encapsulated in Carlo and Black Diamond’s recent movie: The Dark Side
Midnight Lightning (V8) | Ron Kauk, 1978
Camp 4 has been a proving ground for cutting edge power-tech and highball bouldering for many decades now. Ron Kauk’s May, 1978 ascent of Midnight Lightning truly put American bouldering on the map and became the most famous, iconic, and sought after boulder problem in the world.
Thriller (V10) | Ron Kauk, 1984
Thriller once again raised the bar in bouldering.
KAYA’s CEO David Gurman climbed the famous problem back in 2007 and here is what he had to say:
“It felt amazing to climb a rock with so much history with that epic old tree watching over the boulder. I’d just come back to climbing after finishing grad school and a pretty epic back injury so it was a dream to use this climb to return to the Valley. I used a top rope to learn the top moves, I was scared of wrecking my back again falling from the lip at 18 feet. I was hanging on the rope at the top and Ron Kauk, the original first ascensionist, walked around the corner and called up to me, “hey, how’s it going?” I saw Ron and was in awe, my hero walking in right as I was getting ready to climb. I was also embarrassed about using the rope but Ron was so nice and supportive. He told me how he’d piled stuff like leaves to soften the landing. Maybe he just said that to make me feel better about my tactics. IDK. After a brief rest I pulled on and sent and it felt so good to climb Thriller with Ron Kauk encouraging me. Such a power spot in the universe. I’ll forever love visiting that boulder and sitting under that tree.”
The Dominator (V13) | Jerry Moffat,
Climbed by visiting British phenom Jerry Moffat, who went to extreme lengths to finish the extremely physical problem.
The progression in grades from their gets a bit murky due to some distinct sandbagging, but problems like Mark Heal’s the Abattoir or Carlo Traversi’s Cold Snap continued the progression in Yosemite. Pablo Hammock’s Love Will Tear Us Apart became the first V15 in The Valley in 2021.
The Dark Side (V16) | Carlo Traversi
Lying in wait for decades beside some of Camp4’s most iconic problems, The Force and Thriller, sat The Dark Side Project. Carlo finished the project after many years of effort in December 2023. We asked him some questions about the problem and it’s significance:
Devilution and a Brief History of the Sharp and Often Pants-Shittingly Tall Highballs of the Buttermilks
Evilution (V11) – Jason Kehl, December 2002
This problem was widely regarded as slamming open a new window into bouldering-at-height.
Jason, known universally for his anarcho-punk-nightmare style and creativity pushed the limits of highballing with this groundbreaking FA.
Rastaman Vibration (V12) – Jared Roth, 2002
The stand start to what would become Lucid Dreaming 8 years later. Jared Roth had this to say about the ascent:
“I figured eventually someone would send the obvious sit start, but I should make sure the top 65 feet go before I made it any harder. I only was able to do the stand because my girlfriend at the time went and got food stamps so we could stay another couple weeks. I never got back out there till probably 20 years later or so.
I was mostly shocked when the sit went and everyone kind of forgot a stand start had existed there… it seems the ground under the problem had eroded away over the years because the holds are like a foot and a half higher than they were when I did it, so I can see the kids thinking it isn’t really a stand start because they can’t reach the holds anymore.
It was the coolest thing I ever climbed.”
Lucid Dreaming (V15) – Paul Robinson, March 2010
Lucid is shrouded in it’s own unique story and controversy, and as with most of these historical testpieces listed throughout the article, could very well warrant it’s own lengthy write-up. To put it briefly, Lucid Dreaming, when established at V16, was considered a contender for the hardest boulder problem in the world. Shortly after it was downgraded to V15, but many recent ascentionists have speculated it may be harder. Regardless of the grade, it has stood the test of time as a brutally finger-y and condition dependent testpiece.
The Process (V16) – Daniel Woods, January 2015
Bishop guide author Dan Beall had been battling this imposing project which was an extension to the drop-off Blood Meridian (V13) for years. Him and Daniel Woods battled out for the FA of this incredibly tall and powerful problem. Only in the last couple of years has it seen repeats from Zach Galla, Adam Shahar, Sung Su Lee, and Austin Hoyt.
Devilution (V16) – Sean Bailey, January 2024
The long-standing sit-start project to Evilution, completes the boulder. Evilution and Evilution Direct necessitate a pad or rock stack to begin the problem, which is far less pure than starting from the dirt. Tried over the years by pros like Carlo Traversi, Jimmy Webb, Dan Beall, Keenan Takahashi, and many others, Sean Bailey brought the next-generational talent and finger strength to do the problem. While his ascent was quite fast relative to that of The Dark Side and Event Horizon, it is no less impressive.
Event Horizon a Brief History of Crystal Whispering Wizardry in Squamish
The third icono-proj to be taken down in the Winter season of 23/24 was also the least hyped. Climbed by Northeast legend (and brother to Katie who has been making her own big history) Andy Lamb, the first ascent of Event Horizon still has not been sprayed about. We will get into that more in the interview, but first, let’s talk about the classics aided by guidebook author and historian, Peter Michaux.
Gibb’s Cave (V8) – Nick Gibbs, 1996
“In the spring of ’95 when Nick checked it out, he found what became Gibbs’ Cave (V8) and that really inspired him. He recognized the whole place as a bouldering area, but it was specifically the boulder problem, Gibbs’ Cave, that had him super excited. He didn’t say a thing to us for the whole year. We were climbing together multiple times per week throughout all of the fall of 1995, and he didn’t say anything. The winter of 1995–96, he went to Hueco again. In March, he came to Squamish and found it dry. That’s when he did Gibbs’ Cave and developed three clustered areas. That was essentially the beginning of the modern Squamish Boom.
After one or two weeks, he came back to Victoria and called me on the phone, super excited. He told me, “it’s going to be bigger than Camp 4! There’s going to be over 500 boulder problems!” That just blew my mind. 500!! I couldn’t believe it. Now, if you counted everything, there might be 5,000!”
The Proposal (V12) – Chris Sharma 1999
“Chris Sharma’s visits and the Rampage video had significant impact. The Proposal, in particular, was an early hard test piece. Modern ascents use foot holds far to the left or right and so avoid the original harder beta.”
The Reckoning V14 | Tim Doyle, 2010
“Tim Doyle reigned as king for a very long time. He has so many hard first ascents.”
The Singularity (V15) – Tim Clifford 2007
“Singularity was important. Unfortunately, Tim Clifford’s ascent is surrounded by controversy as he started what some consider one move in and standing on pads. Many regard Nalle’s 2017 ascent as the first ascent, but Nalle was a gentleman about it. Maybe some controversy is good. Life isn’t black and white anyway.”
Event Horizon (V16) | Andy Lamb, 2024
Sitting just beside Singularity and just under the famous Chris Sharma route Dreamcatcher (5.14d), the full Room Service project was stared at, tried, and theorized by local Squamish climbers and visiting professionals like Nalle Hukkataival for decades. Finally, in February 2024, lowkey software developer Andy Lamb, brother to Katie Lamb, finally climbed the problem after roughly 50 attempts. Check out the full footage below:
We sat down to chat with Andy about the nitty gritty details of his ascent, and what it may mean for the broader climbing community. Listen to the full interview here:
So What’s Next?
In the last year David Fitzgerald put down the famous Shield Low project, dubbing it Last Line of Defense (V16). Aidan Roberts has been putting dozens of sessions and multiple seasons of effort into a next-level project in the heart of Camp 4, the Six Degrees Project. Ethan Salvo has started publicizing the beginnings of his siege with the Living Large of Squamish–a massive and stunning tech arete. And.. rumor has it Bishop has seen yet another Peabody line go down from lowkey Californian, Pablo Hammock…but more on that later!
Final Thoughts
It’s pretty goddamn incredible isn’t it? That these zones have yielded so much? Climbers have been exploring far and wide and gone to great lengths in search of “what’s next,” but remarkably, “what’s next” has been in front of us for generations, and maybe it continues to be…
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your time and please drop me a line if you have any questions or feedback: eric.jerome@kayaclimb.com
