Yosemite Valley Gets its First V16
Carlo Traversi has made the first ascent of The Dark Side in Camp 4
Carlo Traversi has made the first ascent of The Dark Side V16 in Yosemite, establishing what is now the hardest problem in the valley. He spent seven years and over 50 sessions projecting what he now calls his most difficult climb to date. Yosemite got its first V15 in 2021 – read more here.
“This past weekend I climbed one of my lifetime projects in Yosemite,” said Traversi. “I call it a lifetime project because when I started trying the line, it seemed so unfeasible that I imagined it taking a lifetime to finish. More importantly, it’s such an inspiring line that I accepted the fact that I’d keep trying it for the rest of my life regardless of the mounting failures.”
Traversi is one of the most well-rounded climbers on the planet. He’s bouldered V16 – Creature of the Black Lagoon in Rocky Mountain National Park. He’s sport climbed 5.15b – Flex Luthor at The Fortress of Solitude. And he’s trad climbed 5.14c including Meltdown and Magic Line in Yosemite. This year, the 35-year-old focused more on bouldering, with highlights including sends of From Dirt Grows the Flowers V15 in Chironico, Old Man Winter V14 and Echo Chamber V14 in Tahoe, and The Rookery V14 in Yosemite.
About The Dark Side, he said, “It sits smack in the middle of Camp 4 on the left side of the Thriller boulder. It was there when Ron Kauk made the first ascent of Thriller in 1984 and when Jerry Moffatt made the first ascent of The Force in 1991. It was there in 2003 when I first saw the boulder, incapable of climbing either of those legendary lines. I couldn’t see it until 2013 on my first trip back to the Valley after a long stint away. Then it popped right out of the wall and I haven’t been able to take my eyes off it since.”
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