10 Climbing Stories to Follow in 2024
Sport, bouldering, and competitions – 2024 is going to be a big year in the world of climbing
Return of the Sleepwalker V17
Established by Daniel Woods in 2021, Return of the Sleepwalker was the first V17 in the Americas. It is yet to be repeated, but Will Bosi is currently looking to change that. He recently sent Jimmy Webb’s Sleepwalker (the stand start version of the problem), downgraded it to V15, and has begun working on the full ROTSW. If he sends, will he call it V17? It would be his third problem of the grade after repeating Shawn Raboutou’s Alphane and Nalle Hukkataival’s Burden of Dreams. Noah Wheeler sent Sleepwalker in early January and made some solid progress on ROTSW. We’ll have to wait and see if he returns to try the problem again.
B.I.G. 5.15d
One of the biggest climbing news stories of 2023 was Jakob Schubert making the first ascent of Adam Ondra’s “Project Big” in Flatanger, Norway. Naming the massive line B.I.G., Schubert suggested a difficulty of 5.15d, which makes the climb the third route of the grade in the world. Ondra gave the route some solid effort last year but didn’t manage to send. Will he be back this year to claim the second ascent? I think we’d all like to see the likes of Stefano Ghisolfi or Seb Bouin give the line an honest effort as well.
The Olympic Qualifier Series
There are a bunch of top-tier climbers who have not yet qualified for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris – Adam Ondra, Brooke Raboutou, Alex Megos, Miho Nonaka, Sean McColl, and Alannah Yip, just to name a few. They’ll all have one final chance to qualify for the Olympics at the IFSC Olympic Qualifier Series this spring. Held in Shanghai in May and Budapest in June, 10 spots will be awarded in both gender categories for the Boulder & Lead discipline. This is super exciting for the world of comp climbing but it also means these climbers will be taking time away from rock climbing as they train for the Series.
Excalibur 5.15c
In February last year, Stefano Ghisolfi made the first ascent of Excalibur 5.15c near Arco, Italy. The line is short, steep, and powerful. It works its way up a series of sharp micro edges and small awkwardly-positioned pockets to a fierce boulder problem up high, requiring an extremely technical heel hook. Many other top climbers have been gunning for the line including Ondra, Schubert, Bosi, and Shawn Raboutou. Ondra walked away from the line last year after deeming a fingery sequence too dangerous. In late 2023, Bosi put in 15 projecting sessions but the send eluded him. Will Excalibur see its second ascent in 2024?
Female V16 Ascent
In July, Katie Lamb made the first female ascent of Box Therapy V16. With this send, she became the first woman ever to climb the grade. In October, Brooke and Shawn Raboutou repeated the problem and suggested a of grade V15, which first ascensionist Daniel Woods agreed with. Until more climbers send the problem and a new grade consensus is reached, Box Therapy will sit in the nebulous slash-grade zone of V15/16. I think it’s safe to say we’ll see another female V16 ascent this year, with Lamb and Raboutou being top candidates for the send.
Stefano Ghisolfi mega-projects
After making the first ascent of Excalibur in February, Stefano Ghisolfi spent much of the rest of 2023 tackling mega-projects – arguably the hardest sport climb and the hardest boulder ever. He’s taken multiple trips to Flatanger to try for the second ascent of Ondra’s Silence 5.15d, the world’s first of the grade and perhaps the most coveted second ascent up for grabs. He also spent time working Burden of Dreams V17 in Finland. Not known for his bouldering, Ghisolfi shocked many with his progress on the problem. What will 2024 look like for Ghisolfi? Will this be the year Silence finally gets repeated?
The Paris Olympics
This summer, we’ll all get to witness climbing’s second appearance at the Olympic games. This year’s format is leaps and bounds better than the one used in Tokyo in 2021. Rather than speed, lead, and boulder all being grouped together in an awkward and confusing format, in Paris speed is being contested in a completely different discipline than boulder & lead. While fans of comp climbing are excited to watch many of the world’s best climbers compete for Olympic gold, it does mean that many of the sport’s biggest names will be mostly away from the rock for the first half of 2024.
Sitting six months out from the games, Janja Garnbret and perhaps Jakob Schubert look to be the favourites heading in. However, you can’t count out rising stars like Toby Roberts, Sorato Anraku, and Ai Mori. Long-time top competitors like Natalia Grossman, Brooke Raboutou, Adam Ondra, and Tomoa Narasaki will also surely put up a fight.
New 5.15+ routes
Over the past couple of years, Spanish climber Jorge Díaz-Rullo has cemented himself as one of the world’s top sport climbers. In 2023, he made the first ascent of Mejorando la Samfaina 5.15c and repeated Alex Megos’ Bibliographie 5.15c. He currently has one of the longest-term projects of any top sport climber – the unclimbed Café Colombia in Margalef. Last spring, Díaz-Rullo finished up his third season and his 120th day on the route. He played around on the project again in Fall 2023, but we’ll have to see if he gives it another proper siege in Winter or Fall 2024. The grade is anyone’s guess, but it’s definitely going to be one of the world’s most difficult climbs once completed.
Seb Bouin is arguably the best sport climber on the planet right now. His 2022 season was unprecedented, making FAs of DNA 5.15d, Supreme Jumbo Love 5.15c, and Nordic Marathon 5.15b/c and repeats Jumbo Love 5.15b, Iron Curtain 5.15b, and Adam Ondra’s Change 5.15c. Last year, he repeated Bibliographie 5.15c and put up a number of 5.15b’s. He’ll be working some hard unclimbed routes this year including Wolf Kingdom in Pic Saint Loup, which is likely a 5.15c. He also has another unclimbed route on his radar called Insouciance in Russan.
Terranova V16?
Czech climber Jana Švecová has a long-term project: Adam Ondra’s Terranova V16. Located at the Holstejn crag in the Moravsky Kras area of Czechia, Ondra made the first ascent of the line back in 2011. Now 12 years old, the problem has yet to see a repeat. Švecová did all the moves of Terranova in isolation after only two sessions. Because she’s much shorter than Ondra, she’s come up with new beta for key sequences. She’s continued to make links but hasn’t been able to send the nails-hard problem just yet. In June, she made the first ascent of a Terranova variation, which she called Nova V14. After making the second ascent, Will Bosi upgraded it to V15. Bosi himself has spent multiple trips trying Terranova and has come up short of the send. He has hinted that it might indeed be harder than V16. How will Švecová and Bosi fare in 2024?
The World Cup Season
With the Olympic Qualifier Series in May and June and the Paris Olympics in July/August, this year’s World Cup season is sure to be a bit of a strange one. Many top climbers will sit out events in order to prepare for the the Olympic Qualifiers and the Olympics themselves. The 2024 World Cup season will be the perfect opportunity for climbers not in the Olympics to showcase their skills. The three post-Olympic World Cup events at the end of the season are sure to be bangers, with World Cup breakout athletes competing against the Paris Olympians.
