Janja Garnbret Climbs V15 in Austria, Twice

Janja Garnbret has climbed the Austrian test-piece Bügeleisen Sit V15 (8C) in Maltatal. As Garnbret noted after her send, this was the first female ascent of the problem. It’s also her first of the grade.

“Two years have passed since I sent the stand start of the boulder and was just waiting for the right time to come back and get my revenge on the sit start,” she said. “Today was the day. Came back way stronger and moves felt a lot easier than they used to. Took me less than half an hour to get the moves dialed in and send the boulder. Proud to be the first woman to get this one done!”

Nalle Hukkataival made the FA of the bloc in 2014 and its since seen repeats by Austrians Jakob Schubert and Nicolai Užnik, among others. Klem Loskot established the stand-start version of the problem way back in 2011, which clocks in at V14. At the time, it was one of the most difficult problems on the planet, with only Fred Nicole’s Dreamtime V15 being graded harder.

Hukkataival said it was one of the “best hard boulders in the world” after his send. It follows a 50-degree wall for 12 to 15 moves. “Funny side note,” Garnbret said, “I wasn’t happy with the video Roman took of my ascent, so I actually went for another go and climbed the whole thing again.”

 

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With this ascent, Garnbret joins a small group of women who have climbed V15. In 2016, Ashima Shiraishi was the first to tick the grade with Horizon V15 at Mount Hiei in Japan. Two years later, Kaddi Lehmann climbed Kryptos V15 in Switzerland. The following year, in 2019, Mishka Ishi climbed Byaka-dou V15 in Jorai, Japan at just 13 years of age. Oriane Bertone was the next to climb the grade with the first post-break ascent of Satan I Helvete Bas in Fontainebleau. She initially proposed V15 for this low variation but subsequent ascensionists moved the grade down to V14, which Bertone agreed with.

Jana Švecová comes next in this timeline with her first ascent of Nova in June 2023. She originally graded the problem V14 but Will Bosi upgraded it to V15 upon his second ascent. In July 2023, Katie Lamb climbed Box Therapy V16 in Colorado. Brooke Raboutou repeated the problem shortly afterwards, instead suggesting V15, a grade first ascensionist Daniel Woods agreed with.

While most know Garnbret for her unmatched Boulder and Lead comp climbing accomplishments, she’s been amassing an impressive resume on rock over the past few years. In 2022, she made the first ascent of Bügeleisen V14. In late 2023, she redpointed New Base Line V14 on only her second day of work. She also flashed Jack’s Broken Heart V12 and Left Hand of Darkness V12.

In April this year, she climbed the “Fontainebleau Big 5” in a day – three V9s, one V10, and one V11. On a rope, she’s redpointed up to 5.14d with Seleccio Natural and La Fabela por la Enmienda in Santa Linya. She’s flashed 5.14b multiple times with Fish Eye in Oliana and Rollito Sharma Extension in Santa Linya.

Nalle Hukkataival’s FA of Bügeleisen Sit V15