The Hardest Boulder Problems in the World (2018 Update)

Last updated: Oct 15, 2018. If you notice any omissions, broken links, or other errors, leave a comment below letting us know.

V16 (8C+) boulder problems are finally starting to become more common. In the first update of 2018 alone I added six V16 ascents to this list.

Creature of the Black Lagoon has now been sent by six climbers, all of whom suggested a grade of V16 (8C+), further solidifying the bloc’s spot in bouldering history as the first consensus V16 boulder problem.

What follows is a sortable list of all the hardest boulder problems in the world. The lower cutoff grade is V15, or 8C on the Font Scale. Many of the problems do not yet have a consensus grade, so I came up with a formulaic way to assign one to each based off the existing grade suggestions.

I’ve tried my best to be as comprehensive as possible with this list. However, I’m still human. If I’ve made any mistakes or left off any problems or people you think should be added, let me know in the comments and I’ll take a look at it during the next update.

Highlights from the Latest Update

• Kaddi Lehmann sent Kryptos, V15 (8C), in May 2018 to become the second woman to ever climb the grade.
• South Africa sending spree: By our count top boulderers have sent a collective total of 16 boulder problems graded V15 or higher in Rocklands and Three Corners so far this year.
• We added a new chart in the Grade-Chasing section showing how many different climbers have climbed problems of each grade. The numbers are intriguing: 128 climbers have sent a V15 (8C), 11 have sent a V15/V16 (8C/8C+), 11 have sent a V16 (8C+), and 1 has sent a V17 (9A).

» MORE: The Hardest Sport Climbs in the World

The World’s Hardest Boulder Problems

The World’s Current Hardest Boulder Problem

Based solely on grade, the world’s hardest boulder problem is currently Burden of Dreams. It was the first problem — and is still the only — to ever receive a proposed grade of V17 (9A). Nalle Hukkataival has the first and only ascent.

List Criteria & Grading Guidelines

• The grade had to be V15 (8C) or higher. In other words, problems graded V14/V15 (8B+/8C) and lower were left off the list. For the remainder of the article, I will refer to problems graded V15 (8C) or higher as “hard” problems.
• For problems with no consensus grade, I averaged the V Scale translation of the grade suggestions. If the average had a remainder less than ⅓, I rounded down. If the average had a remainder between ⅓ and ⅔, I treated it as having a slash grade. If the average had a remainder above ⅔, I rounded up. I also averaged slash grades: V14/V15 was treated as 14.5, for instance. For example, let’s consider the problem Khoikhoi. Currently, three climbers have sent it. Jimmy Webb proposed a grade of V14 (8B+). Nalle Hukkataival and Shawn Raboutou both proposed a grade of V15 (8C). I averaged the V Scale translation of these grades (14, 15, 15) to get 14⅔. Since the remainder is ⅔, I treated Khoikhoi as having a slash grade of V14/V15 (8B+/8C) and thus left it off the list. If one more climber were to send it and propose a grade of V15 — or if Jimmy Webb were to bump his suggestion up to V15 — I would add it.
• I did not take into account anything other than the proposed grades. Some climbers are known for grading hard. Some problems are considered soft for their grade, while others are considered hard. I didn’t consider any of this. I just considered the proposed grade(s).

Notes on Specific Problems

• Gioia: Many people think of Gioia as a V16 (8C+) boulder problem. However, I have listed it as V15/V16 (8C/8C+). Why? It currently has two grade suggestions: V15 from Christian Core, V16 from Ondra. (Nalle didn’t propose a grade after nabbing the third ascent.) With these two to go off of, following my grading guidelines I listed it with a slash grade.
• Wintertime Love & Drop a Line: Pirmin Bertle has stirred up grading controversy before by proposing world-class grades on routes like Meiose. To make matters more complex, Drop a Line is a traverse and Wintertime Love could be as well, yet Bertle suggested a bouldering grade for both. I decided to respect his grade suggestions and have included both problems at their proposed grades.
• Bokassa’s Fridge – Assassin, Monkey and Man: I have left this problem off the list because Jens Larssen from 8a.nu brought to my attention that it is an “elimination boulder” — a problem where the climber doesn’t climb the natural line but instead creates the difficulty by avoiding certain holds.

Who Is the Best Boulderer Ever?

Here are two charts based on the data in the above list showing who has sent the most hard boulder problems and who has racked up the most hard boulder first ascents (FAs).

Dai Koyamada and Daniel Woods are neck and neck for number of hard boulder sends and are first and second, respectively, in number of hard boulder FAs. Nalle Hukkataival is third in both categories and has the first and only ascent of the world’s first proposed V17 (9A). One could make the case for any of them as the world’s best boulderer.

Sheer volume of hard sends and FAs is admittedly not the only way to assess a boulderer’s ability. At the very least, these three are the most prolific outdoor boulderers of their time.

Grade-Chasing

The first boulder problem to ever receive a suggested grade of V15 (8C) was Dreamtime, which Fred Nicole put up in 2000. Dreamtime has since been downgraded, but in 2002 Nicole climbed Black Eagle SD and Monkey Wedding which both currently stand as consensus V15s.

Put another way, it took just two years from the time the V15 grade was first proposed for a problem to be put up whose V15 grade would hold after multiple repeats.

(There is another V15 that was put up before Black Eagle SD and Monkey Wedding. But the problem, Gossip, has only two grade suggestions and is therefore still at risk of being downgraded.)

The story is different for the V16 (8C+) grade. The first problem with a proposed grade of V16 appears to have been Tonino ’78, first sent by Mauro Calibani in 2004. It wasn’t until 12 years later, in 2016, that Daniel Woods would put up Creature of the Black Lagoon, the world’s first consensus V16.

Assuming Creature of the Black Lagoon’s grade continues to withstand the test of time, it has taken a decade longer for the V16 grade to go from suggestion to consensus than it did V15. That’s a staggering, and intriguing, difference.

Interestingly, well over one hundred different climbers have climbed a V15 (8C) problem. Then comes quite a drop-off. Only 11 have climbed a V15/V16 (8C/8C+). 11 have also climbed a V16 (8C+). Just one person has climbed a V17 (9A).

Downgrading of V16 problems is still quite common. For example, in 2016 Alberto Rocasolano proposed a grade of V16 for La teoría del todo after getting the first ascent. A few months later Rubén Díaz Torres got the second ascent and proposed a grade of V15. Then in 2018 Jonatan Flor Vazquez claimed the third ascent and proposed a grade of V14.

It’s easy to wonder what’s going on. Why all the downgrading? Shouldn’t there be more V16s? Nalle wrote a blog post way back in 2010 detailing his thoughts on why this apparent stalling of grade progression happened.

Though V16 sends have remained elusive, as I updated this article throughout 2017 and into 2018 I sensed that start to change ever so slightly. Sure, downgrading still happens regularly, but top climbers are proposing V16s more and more often.

Of course, a proposed V17 (9A) also exists. Nalle climbed Burden of Dreams in October 2016, just a month after Woods climbed Creature of the Black Lagoon. If history is any indicator, it’s likely that Burden of Dreams will be downgraded by future ascensionists. As for how long it will take for a consensus V17 to emerge…well, that’s anyone’s guess.

Where in the World Are the Hardest Boulder Problems?

There’s a map for that:

And a chart:

Currently, only 21 countries are home to a hard boulder problem. And it’s quite incredible to realize:

• 14 of those countries are in Europe
• There is only one country from Africa and South America on the list (South Africa and Brazil)
• There are only two hard boulder problems in all of mainland Asia: Hymn and Eternal Sunshine, both located in South Korea. (Whiplash is located in the European part of Russia.)

Bouldering’s global potential remains largely untapped. As the sport matures one can only imagine all the new crags and problems that will arise.

When to Project vs. When to Train, Backed by Data

Finally, for fun I charted the ascents of all the hard boulder problems by month for both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Most of the hard boulder sends in both hemispheres came in the coldest months of the year. At the very least, these charts can give you some insight on when to tackle your projects and when to focus on training.

I have to give a special shout-out to 8a.nu and HardClimbs.info. Both sites were instrumental in putting together this article. It wouldn’t exist without these incredible resources.