The Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life is a 21-metre (69 ft) long sandstone bouldering route on the roof of the Hollow Mountain Cave in the Grampians of Australia. When first solved, it was graded at 8C+ (V16), one of the world's first-ever boulder routes at that grade. With subsequent repeats, it was graded at 8C (V15), and some consider it to really be a sport climbing traverse route, at the sport grade of 9a (5.14d).

For the films, see The Wheel of Life (1929 film) and The Wheel of Life (1942 film).
The Wheel of Life
Climber on the Cave Man V9 (7C) section of The Wheel of Life V15 (8C) route
Map showing the location of The Wheel of Life
Map showing the location of The Wheel of Life
LocationGrampians National Park, Australia
Coordinates37°12′28″S 142°23′59″E
Climbing AreaHollow Mountain Cave
Route TypeBouldering
Vertical Gain21 metres (69 ft) (length of roof)
Grade8C (V15) (as boulder route); 9a (5.14d) (as sport climb)
First ascentDai Koyamada, May 12, 2004

History

The sandstone roof of the Hollow Mountain Cave in the Grampians attracted some of the leading boulderers, including Austrian Klem Loskot, Swiss Fred Nicole, and Dutchman Toni Lamprecht, who had created a web of hard bouldering routes. In 2000, when Nicole solved Sleepy Hollow at V12 (8A+), it opened up the possibility of linking up a chain of all the routes across the roof of the cave, namely: Loskot's X-treme Cool V9 (7C), Nicole's Sleepy Hollow, Loskot's Cave Man V9 (7C), Loskot's Dead Can't Dance V11 (8A), and finally exiting via Loskot's Rave Heart V8 (7B/7B+).[1]

Japanese climber Dai Koyamada traveled to the Hollow Mountain Cave in April 2004, with a plan to spend over 50 days bouldering in the area and working on the full link-up. As well as repeating and creating many new routes in the area, he linked up Sleepy Hollow, Cave Man and Dead Can't Dance into a route he called Sleepy Rave and graded at V15 (8C).[1] On May 12, 2004, Koyamada completed the full 70-move link-up and called it The Wheel of Life and proposed a boulder grade of V16 (8C+), which would have made it the world's first-ever boulder at that grade.[1]

It took three years for the first repeat, which was by Australian climber Chris Webb Parsons in 2007.[2] On the recovery path from a serious injury, American climber Ethan Pringle made the third ascent in 2010 and suggested that the significant length of the route made it more akin to a sport climbing route, which he felt could be at sport-grade 9a (5.14d).[3] American climber Dave Graham made the sixth ascent in 2012 and said that "For myself, it's not possible to compare it to other boulder problems, due to its length. I must regard it as a [sport] route", and that "The breakdown of the climb puts it in a league above 9a's that I have climbed, which makes me believe its 9a+".[4][5] In 2013, American climber Daniel Woods made the ninth ascent and felt that it was no harder than V15 (8C) as a boulder route, or 9a (5.14d) (Ewbank 35) as a sport climbing route, because of the rests between sections.[6]

Wood's grading became the consensus for the route,[7][8] and by 2016, the additional development of kneepads that can be used for extended knee bar rests between the sections, has if anything slightly further softened the consensus grade.[9]

Variations

In November 2012, Australian climber James Kassey linked The Wheel of Life to Amniotic World V9 (7C), and called it The Wheel of Life Direct.[10] Kassey's variation was repeated in 2015 by Dutch climber Jorg Verhoeven, who felt that it did not change the then consensus grading of V15 (8C) (as a boulder route) or 9a (5.14d) Ewbank 35 (as a sport climbing route).[7][8]

Ascents
Climber on the Rave Heart V8 (7B/7B+) section of The Wheel of Life, about to leave the cave

The Wheel of Life has been ascended by:

Filmography
  • Documentary on Koyamada's the first ascent: Naito Naoya (Director), Chie Sasak (Director) (2004). The Wheel of Life – Dai Koyamada (Motion picture). Frontier Spirit Productions. Retrieved 5 August 2023.

See also

References
  1. MacDonald, Dougald (17 May 2004). "Koyamada Completes V16". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  2. MacDonald, Dougald (15 October 2007). "Second Ascent of V16 Boulder". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  3. Fox, Amanda (24 June 2010). "The Wheel of Life 3rd Ascent: Interview with Ethan Pringle". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  4. Larssen, Jens (13 June 2012). "Graham comments The Wheel of Life". 8a.nu. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  5. "Dave Graham chains 'The wheel of life' in the Grampians" [es]. Desnivel (in Spanish). 11 June 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  6. "Daniel Woods: "The Wheel of Life is a 9a track without plates"" [es]. Desnivel (in Spanish). 23 August 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  7. "Jorg Verhoeven repeats 'The wheel of life' 8C and compares it with 'The nose'" [es]. Desnivel (in Spanish). 6 November 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  8. "Jorg Verhoeven Sends Wheel of Life V15". Gripped Magazine. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  9. Berry, Nathalie (6 June 2016). "Wheel of Life 8C for Alex Barrows". UKClimbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  10. Pohl, Bjorn (16 November 2012). "James Kassay Gets FA of Wheel of Life Direct, Australia". Rock & Ice. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  11. Pohl, Bjorn (27 June 2013). "The wheel of life direct, ~8C+". UKClimbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  12. Brunkhorst, Chelsea (15 December 2014). "Spotlight: The Double Life of Chris Webb Parsons". Rock & Ice. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  13. Fox, Amanda (17 August 2011). "Ethan Pringle on The Wheel of Life (V16/5.14d)". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  14. Fox, Amanda (8 September 2011). "Wheel of Life (V16/5.14d) Repeated by Kassay". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  15. Parker, Chris (27 June 2023). "Video: James Kassay on the First Ascent of The Wheel of Life Direct (V16)". Rock & Ice. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  16. Fox, Amanda (5 July 2012). "Ian Dory Climbs The Wheel of Life". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  17. "Alex Megos Sends The Wheel of Life (V15)". Rock & Ice. July 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  18. Climbing Desk (26 October 2013). "Alexander Megos on the Wheel of Life (V15)". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  19. "Alex Megos chains 'The wheel of life' in the Grampians in a couple of days" [es]. Desnivel (in Spanish). 11 July 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  20. Climbing Desk (31 July 2023). "Woods Repeats Wheel of Life (V15/5.14d) in Grampians". Climbing. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  21. Halloran, Thomas (31 October 2017). "Tom O'Halloran Sends The Wheel of Life (8C/V15) – Grampians". Rock & Ice. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  22. "Jake Bresnehan Going Round and Round on "The Wheel of Life" (V15)". Rock & Ice. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
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