Luca Rinaldi 8B boulder flash at Brione in Switzerland

If you consider the fact that the hardest boulder problem ever flashed is 8B+, then it’s easy to understand why Luca Rinaldi's has just made a remarkable ascent at Brione in Switzerland. After cleaning the holds, the Italian climber needed just a few seconds to dispatch 'Blinded by the light', an 8B problem flashed by America’s James Webb earlier this year. Brione happens to be where the world’s first 8B flash took place, namely Ganymede Takeover flashed in February 2007 by James Pearson. Later that year the Brit also flashed the Ticino 8B’s The Great Shark Hunt and Schule des Lebens.

Blinded by the light 8B flash by Luca Rinaldi

It was completely unexpected... and not expecting anything definitely influenced my state of mind. Before going to Switzerland I watched the video of Jimmy Webb bouldering in Switzerland, because even though I planned on climbing Nike, I also wanted to climb a whole bunch of things and not get stuck on a single problem. I’d never climbed in this part of the forest, it is very intimate and quiet.

I often watch the videos of Jimmy and Jan Hojer climbing, we’re similar physically and our climbing styles are pretty much the same, and so problems that they manage to do quickly suit me well. I cleaned the problem because it was very dirty. The temps were good, I felt in great shape and my skin was good too.

This time I followed a rule I’d neglected of late: always try to flash a problem! You only ever have one flash attempt… Well, this time everything went smoothly, and didn’t let myself be influenced by anything, by the grade, the tension...

Another thing I'm trying to do is change the style of climbing. Every boulder, every section, every move and even every foothold has it’s ideal pace and rhythm. I imagined Blinded by the light as follows: position yourself at the start, burly and precise moves, then accelerate through the second section, grit your teeth, regardless of how stylish or fluently you’re climbing. And this is how it turned out to be ... exactly as I’d imagined it beforehand.

This isn’t the first time I’ve done a good flash ascent, in 2013 on Never Ending story, then Shosholoza. Succeeding on a hard flash is another type of climbing, it’s about climbing something completely new just as if you’d tried it again and again. Everything unfolds just like you’d imagined it to, everything has to be perfect, perfect in your mind even before you do the actual moves. And then of course you need a good dose of luck... ;-)

Link: Mammut, Luca Rinaldi FB, Luca Rinaldi Instagram

Jimmy Webb, Blinded by the Light 02:52