Nathaniel Coleman Climbs Legendary American V15
The Olympic silver medalist gets a rare repeat of Daniel Woods' Defying Gravity V15 in Thunder Ridge, Colorado
In November 2013, Daniel Woods established Defying Gravity V15, a wildly dynamic problem that features one of the single hardest starting moves in the world. Clocking in at around V14, the problem’s first move is a coordinated jump sequence between two glassy rails. A few different betas have been discovered for sticking the rail, but each one is as difficult as the next. After moving to a higher set of rails, a huge, shouldery V10 deadpoint follows – with climbers cutting feet and coiling their body into a Janja-esque scorpion in order to hold the position.
A few days after Woods climbed Defying Gravity back in 2013, Jimmy Webb made the second ascent. “Felt so nice to connect with that first move,” said Webb on his 8a.nu after his send. “Such a heinous jump from one glassy rail to the next. What a strange problem…and putting it all together may be one of the lowest percentage things I’ve ever done.”
The problem then went unrepeated for nearly 10 years until Noah Wheeler made the third ascent last month. “[I used the] campus-board beta because my span is slightly too short to keep good tension on the low feet,” said Wheeler on his 8a.nu. “Amazing how there’s so many different ways to do the boulder dependent on one’s body type, each providing similar difficulty and top-tier nuanced movement. Proudest send so far.”
Shortly after the long-awaited third ascent from Wheeler, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Nathaniel Coleman picked up the fourth ascent of Defying Gravity. Mellow just dropped a new film detailing Coleman’s ascent, which you can watch below. Defying Gravity is another proud tick on Coleman’s climbing resume. On top of his comp climbing accomplishments, Coleman has sent some of the very hardest climbs in United States including Grand Illusion V16 and Empath 5.14d/15a.
Nathaniel Coleman Sends Defying Gravity V15
Daniel Woods Defying Gravity FA
Jimmy Webb Defying Gravity Second Ascent
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