Carlo Traversi Sending The Big Island V15
The American climber adds another classic boulder to his tick list
On April 1, Carlo Traversi repeated The Big Island V15 (8C) in Fontainebleau. Established by Vincent Pochon in 2010, the problem is one of the most popular and famous of the grade in the world, featuring power and technical moves on picture-perfect slopers. The Big Island is a low start to The Island V14, a line put up by Dave Graham in 2008. The sit-start version of the problem is called Soudain Seul, a V17 from Simon Lorenzi. Traversi recently released footage of his send, which you can watch below.
“I was always drawn to the line, dating back to my first visit in 2012,” said Traversi. “Attempting the original beta then, I was quickly shut down. On each successive return to Font over the years, I always took a day to dabble on it trying a variety of different betas and ideas that would hopefully help open it up to me. Nothing seemed to click.
“This past month I did the same. The combination of beta refinements that I had seen from other shorter climbers and some newer shoe tech opened the gates and I managed all the moves for the first time. From there I expected it to go down quickly, and it almost did, but in some ways it was better that I had to take those extra sessions to finally top it out. There were important lessons to be learned.”
Traversi is one of the most well-rounded climbers on the planet. He’s bouldered V16, with a repeat of Creature of the Black Lagoon in Rocky Mountain National Park and a first ascent of The Dark Side in Yosemite. He’s sport climbed 5.15a/b, sending Tommy Caldwell’s Flex Luthor at The Fortress of Solitude in 2021. And he’s trad climbed 5.14c including Meltdown and Magic Line in Yosemite.
Carlo Traversi on The Big Island V15
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