Aidan Roberts Makes V15 First Ascent in Ticino
The top British climber is back in Switzerland sending hard lines
British climber Aidan Roberts, 24, recently made the first ascent of Unison V15 (8C) in Ticino, Switzerland. He first noticed the line during his first-ever trip to Ticino around a year ago, but the holds were dirty and the landing was sketchy. He’s now back in Ticino and decided to give the boulder a shot, cleaning the holds and building a better landing out of logs.
After working the problem with James Pearson, Giuliano Cameroni, and others, Roberts was able to sort out the beta and get the send quickly. “It felt hard, the edges are small and required a lot of precision, the feet are similar and yet the true difficulty feels to lie in coordinating use of the two,” he said, via Instragram. “I’d say the style suits me almost perfectly and after a good rest I was able to climb it on my first try from the beginning.”
Regarding the grade, Roberts noted: “It’s hard to gauge the difficulty, especially when this suits me so well. But consensus was that it was perhaps 8C. Hopefully future ascents will shine more light on it. But with the memories around this boulder, it feels not to matter so much and I hope others enjoy it similarly. ”
Roberts, 24, has accumulated an impressive list of hard bouldering ticks. He was the first to repeat Shawn Raboutou’s Alphane V17, and he’s put up several V16 first ascents, including the U.K.’s first two V16’s: Superpowers and Isles of Wonder Low. You can watch his FA of Unison V15 below.
Unison V15 First Ascent
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