Australian climber James Kassay of the legendary boulder problem Wheel of Life on Wednesday, eight years after he first attempted the route. Completed by Japanese climber in 2004, Wheel of Life links up four diffficult problems graded from V12 to V14 in the Hollow Mountain Cave in Australia’s Grampians National Park. Kassay began trying the problem in earnest in 2003. “If anyone else wants to give me a hard time then they are more than welcome to come, complete the problem in a shorter amount of time, and then I’ll listen to what they have to say,” Kassay wrote on his blog. Koyamada originally gave the linkup the unprecedented grade of V16, but some climbers, including Ethan Pringle, have since suggested that a route grade would be more appropriate for the 60-plus-move climb. Kassay says he now has his sights set on the as-yet unclimbed direct finish to the problem, which adds several moves and climbs to the highest point in the cave.
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