Jimmy Webb: A Climber Who Excels at Flashing Boulders
Contents
- Bio
- Stats
- Notable Climbs
- 2019-2022
- Sleepwalker (V16) – 2018
- Repeat of Font’s Newest Proposed V16 – 2016
- L’Alchimiste – 2016
- The South’s First V15 – 2015
- Defying Gravity (V15) – 2014
- Speed of Sound (V14) and Many More in New Zone in South Africa – 2014
- Flashes Sky (V13/14) – 2013
- V14 First Ascent in Switzerland: La Rustica – 2013
- Flashes King of Sonlerto (V13) – 2013
- Sources
Bio
Jimmy Webb is an American rock climber and boulderer from Tennessee who’s well known in the climbing community for his impressive number of first ascents and flashes. He is widely regarded as one of the best flash boulderers in the world, and he is one of the few climbers who has climbed the grade V16 (8C+).
He grew up in Maryville, near Knoxville, Tennessee. According to a 2020 Climbing magazine Q&A, he started climbing at 16 through the Maryville High School climbing team.
He was soon making regular trips to the Obed, a sandstone crag in Tennessee, and the movement and problem-solving clicked right away. Within about a year of first stepping into the gym, he had climbed V8.
Table Of Contents
Stats
Hometown: Maryville, TN Hardest Grade: V16
Jimmy became the southeast’s strongest boulderer, but his efforts weren’t limited to the area. He sent hard problems in Hueco Tanks, Bishop, and Colorado, and he also had great success in South Africa, Switzerland, and France.
As for competition climbing, he won the Southeast’s Triple Crown Bouldering Series overall title three years in a row. He also won the men’s final at the inaugural Psicobloc Masters in Park City, Utah, in August 2013, edging out Daniel Woods.
He has been supported by sponsors including The North Face and Tenaya.
Notable Climbs
2019-2022
Since the accomplishments below, Jimmy Webb has kept sending hard boulder problems around the world, including more first ascents, and he has spent much of his time climbing around Lake Tahoe. To keep up to date with him, you can follow Jimmy on Instagram.
Sleepwalker (V16) – 2018
On December 15, 2018, after 11 days of effort, Jimmy claimed the first ascent of Sleepwalker (V16), one of the hardest boulders in the country at the time. It sits in Black Velvet Canyon at Red Rock, Nevada, and was first tried by Nalle Hukkataival, who called it the “Dry Nightmare” project.
Daniel Woods made the second ascent and agreed with the V16 grade, according to Climbing magazine. You can watch a video of his ascent here.
Before Sleepwalker, he had made the third ascent of Daniel Woods’s Creature from the Black Lagoon (V16) in Rocky Mountain National Park. In March 2019, he added the first ascent of Ephyra (V16) in Chironico, Switzerland. Earlier in 2018, he had also established what was billed as Tahoe’s first V15.
Repeat of Font’s Newest Proposed V16 – 2016
Shortly after Guillaume Glairon-Mondet claimed the first ascent of Le Pied à Coulisse and proposed V16 (8C+), Jimmy Webb and Charles Albert both repeated it. The problem is at Rocher Gréau in Fontainebleau, France. Jimmy disagreed with 8C+ and suggested V15 (8C), and the grade has been debated ever since. You can see his Instagram post here.
L’Alchimiste – 2016
Early in a 2016 trip to France, Jimmy Webb completed L’Alchimiste, a long-standing Fontainebleau test piece. Grade opinions have ranged from V13 to V15, and it took Jimmy only a few tries.
The South’s First V15 – 2015
In late 2015, Jimmy put up what was reported as the South’s first V15 with The Matriarch at Rocktown, Georgia. He spent several days working the moves and falling off the last hard move before he finally topped it out. You can watch an old video of his ascent here. Around the same time, he also added several other hard new problems in the Southeast.
Jimmy on The Matriarch (V15). Photo by John Weseley.
Defying Gravity (V15) – 2014
In November 2014, Jimmy Webb made the second ascent of Defying Gravity (V15) at Thunder Ridge, Colorado. Daniel Woods had made the first ascent about a year earlier. The problem ends with a big jump, and Climbing reported that Webb called it the lowest-percentage single move he had ever done.
Speed of Sound (V14) and Many More in New Zone in South Africa – 2014
In July of 2014, Jimmy and a crew of professional climbers spent some serious time hiking, exploring, and establishing new problems in a new area of Rocklands, South Africa. Between the whole crew, they established dozens of new problems in an area known as “The Saddle.”
One of those lines was Speed of Sound (V14), which was the most difficult one from their efforts. Jimmy claimed the first ascent and said it “was a rad experience to find, develop, and give something back to this amazing place.” You can see his Instagram post here.
Flashes Sky (V13/14) – 2013
Jimmy’s trips abroad in 2013 were particularly productive. In late June, on a trip to Rocklands, South Africa, he flashed Sky, a Daniel Woods problem from 2008 that was graded V14. Jimmy suggested V13 and credited his height, saying “8B+ [V14] flash sounds nice but this is just not the case. At least for my height.”
On the same trip he also flashed The Vice (V13), as Climbing magazine reported.
V14 First Ascent in Switzerland: La Rustica – 2013
In April 2013, on a trip to Europe, Jimmy Webb made the first ascent of La Rustica in Valle Bavona, Switzerland. He graded it V14 (8B+), but later repeaters, including Nalle Hukkataival and Daniel Woods, suggested V15 (8C), making the climb even more significant.
Flashes King of Sonlerto (V13) – 2013
King of Sonlerto is a boulder in Ticino, Switzerland, that has both sit and stand starts. The original problem was established by Dave Graham in 2005, and he suggested 8B+ (V14). The stand start is usually graded V13. Jimmy Webb flashed it from the stand because the lower holds were soaking wet.
Cover photo by Sam Armanino.
Sources
- The Climbing Q&A: Jimmy Webb, Climbing
- Jimmy Webb Makes the First Ascent of Sleepwalker (V16), Climbing
- Jimmy Webb Flashes Rocklands V13, V14, Climbing
- Psicobloc returns to Utah Olympic Park, The Park Record