Aidan Roberts Reflects on Spots of Time, Offers Grade Assessment
The line is one of two long-term projects Roberts completed this winter
In February, British climber Aidan Roberts made the first ascent of his longstanding Helvellyn Project in the U.K.’s Lake District, naming the line Spots of Time. For months, he left the problem without a specific grade, although he did discuss its difficulty. It took Roberts around 10 sessions to complete all the moves of Spots of Time and over 30 sessions to achieve his eventual send. “I think it’s the experience I’m most proud of, and I feel like it’s really special to have found that so close to my home,” said Roberts on the Careless Talk Climbing Podcast.
Today, Roberts offered more thoughts on the grade of Spots of Time, suggesting a grade of V17 (9A), currently the highest bouldering grade in the world. This makes Spots of Time Roberts’ second V17, his first being Shawn Raboutou’s Alphane, which he repeated back in October 2022.
“It took me quite some time to reflect on the difficulty of this line,” said Roberts about Spots of Time on Instagram. “I feel that the landscape of grading is an easy place to get lost in right now and I preferred to take time to reflect and appreciate my commitment to this boulder independent of validation from others. I do feel there is a value of grades for relating difficulty to others and between places though with this comes the potential personal incentives of climbing ‘big numbers’. For sake of this latter point, it’s felt important to consider this carefully to ensure honesty, as much to myself as to everyone else too.
“So I can only share my opinion based on my own experience. Indeed, most of my time climbing here was solitary and I slightly lack input from others. I will however propose the grade of [V17], feeling that it compares in difficulty to others which I have tried, and harder than the confusing blurry pot of [V16] lines I’ve sampled. At this level, where style becomes specific and finer details so important, it feels at best a good guess and I feel open to be humbled by missed methods or simple overconfidence in my own ability.”
After completing Spots of Time, Roberts made the first ascent of another ultra-hard, long-term Midnight Project in Chironico, Switzerland. As he did for Spots of Time, he’s currently left the problem ungraded. He worked the line during two trips in 2022 and two trips in 2023. He specifically trained for the Midnight Project over the winter and managed to make the first ascent in March. Although it’s currently ungraded, Roberts did say it was harder for him than Alphane V17.
In October 2022, Roberts was the first climber to repeat Shawn Raboutou’s Alphane V17. He was also the first British climber to tick the grade. He’s put up numerous V16 first ascents, including Vecchio Leone Sit and The Lion’s Share in Switzerland and Superpowers and Isles of Wonder Sit in the U.K., the first two of the grade in the country.
Aidan Roberts projects Spots of Time
Will Bosi tries Spots of Time
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