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Tom Herbert, 51, Sends Midnight Lightning V8 in Yosemite

He's one of the oldest climbers to get the tick and used nearly 20 pads

Tom Herbert, 51, has climbed the famous bouldering problem Midnight Lightning V8 in Yosemite. Tom’s dad, TM Herbert is a legendary Yosemite rock climber who opened a number of lines in the 1960s. In 2020, Tom climbed the Muir Wall, which TM made the first ascent of, in a record time. Read about it here.

Midnight Lightning is on the Columbia Boulder in Camp 4 that has been described as the world’s most famous bouldering problem. The first ascent was by Ron Kauk in 1978 and the first female ascent was by Lynn Hill in 1998.

The chalk lightning bolt was drawn by John Bachar in 1978, while attempting the problem with John Yablonski and Ron Kauk. In May 2013, the chalk lightning bolt was scrubbed off the face of the boulder. The bolt was re-drawn in the same location a few days later.

 

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