Mellow has released a video of Sean Bailey making the first ascent of his hardest problem to date, Shaolin in Red Rock, Nevada, for which he proposes V17.
Previously known as the Trieste Project (it sits on the same boulder as the popular V14 Trieste), Shaolin saw its first true salvo of efforts from Daniel Woods, Jimmy Webb, Drew Ruana, Shawn Raboutou, and Sean Bailey in the winter of 2020—when Daniel Woods was in the middle of his 80-day siege on the nearby Return of the Sleepwalker. The problem was later featured in a video called “The Hardest I’ve Ever Tried” on Shawn Raboutou’s YouTube channel.
The problem begins with a five-move V13 sequence directly into the crux move, which can be done statically (Raboutou’s method, which took him five days to stick in isolation) or as a “low percentage and physical” jump (Bailey’s method) to a sloping slot. This leads to a heartbreakingly hard-to-stick jump to a sloper, where Bailey fell multiple times from the ground.
After narrowly failing to secure a ticket to the Paris Olympics last fall, Bailey, who was already the only American to climb both V16 and 5.15c (Bibliographie), turned his attention back to the rocks. For the past 12 months, he’s been on a tear, flashing Slasher (V13) in Joe’s Valley, doing the first ascent of Doors of Perception (V15), repeating Lucid Dreaming (subtly proposing a re-upgrade to V16), making the first ascent of Devilution (V16), repeating Eye in the Sky (V15) in Switzerland, and making promising links on Burden of Dreams (V17). Now, he’s become the first American to climb both V17 and 5.15c.
5.15d, here he comes?
I’d put money on it.
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