In Kalymnos, September 23rd, 14 year old Kitty Wallace from London became the youngest British female to redpoint a confirmed 8a on rock, with an ascent of Daniboy.
The hardest redpoint from a British junior prior to this was Leah Crane's ascent of Orion, also in Kalymnos. This was originally graded 8a, but was subsequently downgraded to 7c+, which nonetheless was still the hardest to date. There is no chance of Daniboy being downgraded and it is widely regarded as being a very hard 8a.
The route is 20 metres high and overhangs continuously. The climbing style is powerful moves between reasonable but widely spaced handholds. Kitty worked it over 2 days and did it first redpoint on her third day.
Perhaps more astonishing was that in the same day she also onsighted Spartacus 7b+ and The Beginning at the End 7c! The 7c onsight is also the hardest by someone her age in Britain.
Kitty was participating in one of Neil Gresham's coaching trips although Neil was quick to point out that he was thinking of asking her for a few tips himself! Neil also commented that Kitty's ascent was all the more remarkable seeing as she can count her total number of days on rock prior to the Kalymnos trip on both hands!
In one trip, Kitty has proved herself to be the most accomplished British junior rock climber and we look forward to following her progress, both indoors and outdoors in the future.
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