Shawn Raboutou Climbs Hukkataival’s Highball “Livin’ Large” in Rocklands
Third ascent after Hukkataival and Webb. V16??
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Shawn Raboutou has sent the highball boulder problem Livin’ Large, in Rocklands, South Africa. At over 25 feet high, the boulder is one of Rocklands’ hardest and headiest.
Nalle Hukkataival made the first ascent, grading the problem 8C (V15). Jimmy Webb made the only prior repetition to Raboutou’s, recording it as V15 on his 8a.nu scorecard. Raboutou, in the Instagram caption accompanying a clip of him topping out the boulder, calls it V16.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SI6aGjNV9/
Hukkataival needed 12 days to make the first ascent back in summer 2009. In a blog post describing the projecting process on Livin’ Large, he wrote that the “the last move is actually the redpoint crux.” He took the big fall from that spot at least one time.
He described his thoughts about the problem’s difficulty, too: “Livin’ Large is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever climbed and I feel confident saying that it’s a proper 8C. Before this, I believe the most time I’ve invested into a single problem is 5 days. Another interesting thought that crossed my mind is that Livin’ Large took me more days than Jade took me tries. That being said, the crux on Jade is a very powerful yet simple move, whereas the movement on Livin’ Large is anything but simple.”
Another testament to the problem’s difficulty: Jimmy Webb invested more than 10 days of work into Livin’ Large before sending it in 2015.
Raboutou has climbed a number of V15s and V16s in the past two years, including The Finnish Line (V15), Creature from the Black Lagoon (V16) and Off the Wagon Sit (V16, FA).