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''Midnight Lightning'' is a high
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...
route on the Columbia Boulder in Camp 4 of
Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...
. When first solved in May 1978 by American
rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...
Ron Kauk Ron Kauk (born 23 September 1957) is an American rock climber. Kauk is associated with Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley, where he lived for decades, now a resident of El Portal, California. In 1975, he made the first free ascent of the east face of W ...
, it was graded at , which was the world's second-ever boulder route at that grade, and the first in North America. Even today, the route is still considered a "hard" V8 grade. ''Midnight Lightning'' is the most notable bouldering route in climbing along with ''
Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...
'', and its ascent is considered an important moment in the history and the development of bouldering as a sport in its own right.


History

It is believed that bouldering pioneer John "Yabo" Yablonski (the inventor of the sit start) discovered the line of a potential new bouldering problem on the Columbia boulder while wandering around Camp 4 in a drug-intoxicated state in early 1978. Yablonski showed it to Yosemite's two leading rock climbers,
Ron Kauk Ron Kauk (born 23 September 1957) is an American rock climber. Kauk is associated with Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley, where he lived for decades, now a resident of El Portal, California. In 1975, he made the first free ascent of the east face of W ...
and
John Bachar John Bachar (March 23, 1957 – July 5, 2009) was an American rock climber. Noted for his skill at free soloing, he ultimately died during a free solo climb. A fitness fanatic, he was the creator of the climbing training device known as the Bac ...
. Bachar recounted: "It was Yabo ohn Yablonskiwho actually 'found' Midnight Lightning. He was sitting in front of it one day and came over to me and Ron Kauk and said he found a new boulder problem. He said it would go. We laughed and said it was impossible. We thought there was about as much chance of doing it as there was the chance that a lightning bolt could strike at midnight (like in the
Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
song ''
Midnight Lightning ''Midnight Lightning'' is a posthumous compilation album by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It was released in November 1975 by Reprise Records in the US and Polydor Records in the UK. It was the second to be produced by Alan Douglas and T ...
''), so I drew a bolt on it in chalk. That's it—pretty stupid, huh?" Kauk and Bachar set to work attempting the route, and while making good early progress, continuously failed to execute the awkward mantel-move needed to overcome the "lip" which is at a height of almost . Eventually, in May 1978, Kauk overcame the mantle and completed the first ascent, with Bachar making the second ascent shortly afterward. After completing his ascent, Bachar drew the chalk lightning bolt on the boulder. The route repelled all attempts to repeat Kauk and Bachar's ascent for 5 years, despite the pair being able to repeat it continuously, and often to an audience, with Kauk recounting: "We always waited until as many people as possible had gathered, then it was showtime". Kauk and Bachar graded the route at , which was the first V8-graded boulder route in North America, and their ascent would be recognized as only the second-ever ascent of a graded boulder in history. Their grade assessment has been upheld over time and even today, ''Midnight Lightning'' is regarded as a "hard" V8 route. The first female ascent was by
Lynn Hill Carolynn Marie Hill (born January 3, 1961) is an American rock climber. Widely regarded as one of the leading competition climbers, traditional climbers (and particularly big wall climbers), sport climbers, and boulderers in the world during ...
in 1998, although it was not the first-ever ascent by a female (that was by in 1989 on ''Le Carnage''). The second female ascent was by
Lisa Rands Lisa Rands (born October 21, 1975) is an American rock climber. She is known for her bouldering for which in 2002, she became the first American female to win IFSC World Cup bouldering competitions, and topped the IFSC world boulder rankings i ...
in 2001. In 2002, Kauk's son Lonnie ascended the route, which he attributed to being the "key" that unlocked his path into professional adventure sports.


Lightning bolt removal

In May 2013, the chalk-drawn lightning bolt was scrubbed off the boulder, by climber and ''
Climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...
'' magazine contributor James Lucas, who claimed the image had lost its magic, and was now more of a trademark or tourist attraction. The bolt was re-drawn in the same location a few days later. Since then, there have been other incidents, but Kauk and others have regularly restored the chalk bolt image.


Route

Sam Moses, writing in ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' said the most difficult move on Midnight Lightning is a "spider-monkey swing off the ground. The climber must suspend themself by the fingertips of their left hand, swing around a ledge of rock, and propel themself far enough up, about four feet, to grab a precarious fingertip hold with their right hand. To do that they have to create momentum from stillness."


Legacy

''Midnight Lightning'' is often called the world's most famous bouldering route. In a 2009 article on the famous V15 boulder, ''
Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...
'', ''PlanetMountain'' called it: "... one of the most famous boulders in the world, second perhaps only to ''Midnight Lightning'' ...". In a similar vein in 2015, ''
Climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...
'' called ''Dreamtime'': ".. arguably the first internationally famous boulder problem since ''Midnight Lightning''". The first ascent was not only an important part of Yosemite climbing history, but was also a major milestone in the development of bouldering as a sport in its own right, with one of the hardest known bouldering routes in the world – and the first consensus V8 route – now established in the middle of Camp 4, which was one of the most important gathering places for the world's leading rock climbers. The ascent led to a dramatic increase in interest in bouldering as a standalone sport, and an increase new bouldering technical and grade milestones. In 2021, when the
American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 26,000 members. The club is housed in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) in Golden, Colorado. Through its members, the AAC advocates for American climbers d ...
awarded the Underhill Lifetime Achievement award to Kauk, their citation read: "Perhaps Ron's most iconic climbing achievement is a boulder problem right in the middle of Camp 4 known as Midnight Lightning". In a 2017 documentary on his first ascent, Kauk said that: "... to this day thas had an effect on my personal sense of place and history, within the climbing community, throughout the world".


Ascents

The first ascents of ''Midnight Lightning'' include: *1st.
Ron Kauk Ron Kauk (born 23 September 1957) is an American rock climber. Kauk is associated with Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley, where he lived for decades, now a resident of El Portal, California. In 1975, he made the first free ascent of the east face of W ...
in May 1978. *2nd.
John Bachar John Bachar (March 23, 1957 – July 5, 2009) was an American rock climber. Noted for his skill at free soloing, he ultimately died during a free solo climb. A fitness fanatic, he was the creator of the climbing training device known as the Bac ...
in May 1978. *3rd. Skip Guerin in 1983. * 4th. Kurt Smith (the "General") in 1984. *5th. Scott Cosgrove in 1984, very soon after Kurt climbed it. *6th.
Jerry Moffatt Jerry Moffatt (born 18 March 1963), is a British rock climber and climbing author who is widely considered as being the best British rock climber from the early-1980s to the early-1990s, and was arguably the best rock climber in the world in the ...
in 1985; first ascent in a day. *7th. Celso "Finuco" Martínez in June 1986. The first female free ascents ( FFFA) include: * 1st.
Lynn Hill Carolynn Marie Hill (born January 3, 1961) is an American rock climber. Widely regarded as one of the leading competition climbers, traditional climbers (and particularly big wall climbers), sport climbers, and boulderers in the world during ...
in May 1998. * 2nd.
Lisa Rands Lisa Rands (born October 21, 1975) is an American rock climber. She is known for her bouldering for which in 2002, she became the first American female to win IFSC World Cup bouldering competitions, and topped the IFSC world boulder rankings i ...
in January 2001. *3rd. Angie Payne in 2004. *4th. Ally Dorey in May 2006. *5th. Andrea Szekely in November 2009.


Filmography

* Documentary with Ron Kauk, David Sjöquist and Caro North on Midnight Lightning:


See also

*
History of rock climbing In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines – bouldering, Pitch (climbing), single-pitch climbing, and big wall climbing, big wall (and multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch) climbing – can trace their origins to late 19th-ce ...
*
List of grade milestones in rock climbing In rock-climbing, a first free ascent (FFA) is the first redpoint (climbing), redpoint, onsight or flash (climbing), flash of a pitch (ascent/descent), single-pitch, multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch or bouldering, bouldering climbing route that ...
*''
Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...
'', famous boulder in
Cresciano Cresciano is a former municipality in the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017, the former municipalities of Iragna, Lodrino, and Osogna merged into the new municipality of Riviera. History Cresciano is ...
, Switzerland *''
The Mandala ''The Mandala'' is a high granite bouldering route in the Buttermilks, a popular bouldering area near Bishop, California. Considered a "next generation" problem in the 1970s, the route was first solved by American climber Chris Sharma in Februar ...
'', famous boulder in
The Buttermilks The Buttermilks, or Buttermilk Country, is a well-known bouldering destination near Bishop, California. It comprises the western edge of the Owens Valley, in the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Buttermilk Country is renowned for its large ...
, California *''
The Wheel of Life ''The Wheel of Life'' is a long sandstone bouldering route on the roof of the Hollow Mountain Cave in the Grampians of Australia. When first climbed, it was graded at , one of the world's first-ever boulder routes at that grade. With repeats, ...
'', famous boulder in the
Grampians The Grampian Mountains () is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends northeast to so ...
, Australia


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Midnight Lightning V8 7B: The world's most famous boulder
''Hard Climbs'' (2023)
Rock Stars: 10 of the Most Famous Boulder Problems in the World
''99Boulders'' (2021)

''PlanetMountain'' (2011)
VIDEO: The Classics – Midnight Lightning (V8), interview with Ron Kauk
''
Rock & Ice ''Rock & Ice'' is a magazine published by Outside focusing on rock and ice climbing. The first issue came out in March 1984. The first publisher was Neal Kaptain. George Bracksieck worked for him, beginning in January 1984, and the two became e ...
'' (2017)
Adam Ondra: Climbing the Americas, Midnight Lightning
''
Climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...
'' (2018) {{Yosemite National Park Boulder climbing routes Yosemite National Park Climbing in the United States