His Third V17! Simon Lorenzi Repeats Burden of Dreams
He's the first climber ever to tick three boulders of the grade
Yesterday, Belgian climber Simon Lorenzi made the third ascent of one of the most difficult boulders in the world, Burden of Dreams V17 (9A). Located in Lappnor, Finland, the line was first climbed by Nalle Hukkataival back in 2016. He proposed V17 for the problem, making it the first of the grade in the world. Hukkataival spent four years of on-and-off projecting before his eventual send.
Burden of Dreams is a five-move crimp line on an 45-degree overhanging face that resembles board climbing. Everything about the problem is difficult. The holds are small and faced in awkward directions, requiring very specific finger and thumb positions. The moves are long, especially to the final three-finger crimp, necessitating powerful, dynamic movement. And the foot holds are lousy demanding an immense amount of body tension. Adding complexity is the fact that the problem is located in an obscure location with a short climbing season and finnicky conditions.
With only a handful of moves and a grade of V17, Burden of Dreams may contain the most challenging series of moves on any established boulder problem in the world. Hukkataival said it has the hardest starting move he had ever attempted. The climb went unrepeated until April this year, when Scottish climb Will Bosi made the coveted second ascent. He famously trained for the problem on a plastic replica and livestreamed his projecting sessions.
Burden of Dreams is Lorenzi’s third V17. In February 2021, he made the first ascent of Soudain Seul near Fontainebleau, spending over 25 sessions projecting the bloc. Nico Pelorson claimed the second ascent, instead suggested a grade of V16. The problem was then repeated again by Camille Coudert, who felt V17 was correct. In December last year, Lorenzi nabbed his second V17 with a repeat Shawn Raboutou’s Alphane. The most repeated V17 in the world, four climbers have climbed Alphane since Raboutou’s FA: Aidan Roberts, Will Bosi, Simon Lorenzi, and Jakob Schubert.
Lorenzi has sent many other hard boulder problems including the legendary Off the Wagon Low V16 in Switzerland and Big Conviction V16 and La Révolutionnaire Assis V16 in Fontainebleau. On top of all of his outdoor bouldering sends, Lorenzi is an accomplished comp climber, winning gold at the Boulder World Cup in Brixen in 2022.
Simon Lorenzi projecting Burden of Dreams V17
Will Bosi’s second ascent of Burden of Dreams V17
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