Jakob Schubert Climbs Alphane V17
This is the fifth ascent of Alphane, one of the world's hardest boulder problems
Jakob Schubert finishes 2023 with the fifth ascent of Alphane V17. Already this year, Schubert made the first ascent of Big 5.15d and qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Alphane was first climbed by Shawn Raboutou in spring 2022 and was given the proposed grade of V17. It was then repeated by Aidan Roberts, Will Bosi and Simon Lorenzi. Veteran boulderer Daniel Woods, who made the first ascent of Return of the Sleepwalker V17, also spent several days working on Alphane over the past few years.
Bosi, who in 2023 made the second ascent of Burden of Dreams V17, said this about Alphane: “Is it 9A? Honestly, I don’t know and as I gain more experience of climbing around this grade range I may have a better view, but it is a fantastic line established by Shawn and I look forward to seeing more experienced climbers comment on where the grade sits.” And Lorenzi said, “The boulder for me is an addition of an 8C and an 8B without rest, followed by an end in 7B+ traverse. The grade of 9A [V17] therefore seems very coherent to me. And indeed it seems to me a good step above all the 8C+ [V16] that I have done or tried.”
This is the first time that one climber has ticked 5.15d, V17 and qualified for the Olympics in one year. Congrats to Schubert for having such an insanely impressive few seasons.
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