Daniel Woods has repeated Austin Purdy's alpine boulder on Mount Blue Sky in Colorado. It is reportedly the fourth ascent, and Woods confirms the grade of 8C+ (V16).

Sword of Damocles is a granite boulder high on Mount Blue Sky, formerly known as Mount Evans. Austin Purdy made the first ascent on 26 October 2024 after about 15 sessions. In 2024 the road closed as early as September because of the planned two-year closure, so he carried on alone and biked more than ten miles in for his final sessions. He called it likely the hardest thing he had ever done. The name refers to the looming two-year road closure. According to Climbing History, Simone Tentori made the second ascent and suggested 8C/8C+, and Liam Andrews-Bancroft did the third.

Woods sent it in October. He told 8a.nu that weather and the toll on his body meant he could only try about once a week. The road closes to cars every October, so he bought an e-bike, which added a ten-mile ride to the approach. The hike itself takes around 45 minutes in and 90 minutes out over steep, loose talus. He made about 20 trips, roughly half of them alone, some of them also for Gateway (8C/V15). He kept falling at the crux with what he called "stick issues". Then it finally snowed in the alpine, conditions turned cold and slightly humid, and the boulder went.

Woods broke the problem down himself on Instagram. It climbs a 57-degree overhang in ten moves, starting panel-style and finishing with compression. In his reading, an 8B start leads into an 8A move that depends on friction, then a 7C move and an easy top-out. He told 8a.nu it is "a perfect balance of tech and power" that reminds him of "an old school friction nightmare test piece". Climbing History notes that he felt it was harder than Insomniac and Creature from the Black Lagoon, which Owen Whaley ticked as his third V16, though he added that grades are personal.

Woods is 37, and according to 8a.nu and Gripped he won eight consecutive US national titles and one World Cup. 8a.nu counts 146 boulders between 8B+ and 9A on his list, along with 16 routes of 9a or harder. For more at the sharp end of bouldering, Sam Weir climbed Permanent Midnight Low (8C+) in Fionnay, and Noah Wheeler's ascent of Burden of Dreams is now on film.

Sources: 8a.nu, Gripped, Climbing History, MNTN, 8a.nu (Purdy), Instagram (Daniel Woods)

Cover: Daniel Woods in the Hanshelleren cave in Flatanger, Norway, 2016. The photo is not from this boulder or this ascent. Photo: Petzl Sport, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.