Kaddi Lehmann Sends V15, Second Woman to Climb The Grade
Katrin "Kaddi" Lehmann has sent Kryptos (8C/V15) in Basler Jura, Switzerland, becoming the second woman ever to send a boulder problem of that grade
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“In middle of May 2018 I could climb the boulder Kryptos graded [8C],” German climber Kaddi Lehmann reported on Instagram. Kryptos was established by Franz Widmer in 2009, and Fred Nicole snagged a repeat later that year. Lehmann’s is the third overall ascent, and she is now the second woman in history to send 8C (V15).
Lehmann reportedly first approached the problem over a year ago, but was initially stumped. “When I first tried it, I couldn’t do much on it—just hold some positions and most of the moves felt impossible,” Lehmann said of Kryptos in an Black Diamond Instagram post. -Owen Clarke
“At the end of 2017,” Lehmann said, “I had the idea of seeing this boulder as the ultimate goal with all other climbs like small steps towards that goal. And I thought, if not now, then maybe never.” So Lehmann trained and trained and took her small steps. In the middle of May, she went and sent the thing, marking her name in the annals of climbing history.
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Two years ago, the American climber Ashima Shiraishi became the first woman to boulder 8C (V15), with the second ascent of Horizon, a longtime Dai Koyamada testpiece in Mount Hiei, Japan. Shiraishi later went on to send Sleepy Rave (8C/V15) in the Grampians, of Australia. Of her V15s, Shiraishi said in a Rock and Ice interview, “I think Horizon was harder because it was a lot more powerful and the moves were harder.”
Lehmann, a Black Diamond ambassador, previously climbed 8B (V13) with a send of Fragile Steps in Rocklands. She’s been on a roll recently, with a send of Pura Vida (8B/V13) in Magic Wood, Switzerland, just a few days ago.
Check a video of the first ascent of Kryptos below.
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Ashima Shiraishi on Horizon (V15), Sleepy Rave (V15) & “Young Guns”