BURSTNina Arthaud recently finished up a bouldering trip to Bishop, California. Her highlight of the visit was a send of Direct North V14 (8B+). Established by Shawn Diamond way back in 2009, Direct North is huge highball line found on the famous Grandma Peabody boulder. It’s been topped by many of the United States’ top climbers including Carlo Traversi, Drew Ruana, Keenan Takahashi, Jimmy Webb, Zach Galla, Katie Lamb, Melina Costanza, Brooke Raboutou, and Noah Wheeler, among others.
“Stoked to have stood on top of this huuge bubble,” said Arthaud on Instagram. “A [very] sick line that starts sitting on the ground and takes you all the way up. Already missing this special place but my heart is full.”
While in Bishop, Arthaud also completed The Swarm V13. The famous problem is hard for the grade, with some believing it to be V13/14 or V14. “Trying The Swarm has been a dream of mine since day one,” said Arthaud. “After drooling over all the videos of it, finally discovering this massive rock in the middle of nowhere for the first time was both exciting and intimidating. This boulder consists of two powerful moves on tiny crimps with sketchy feet, followed by some climbing on a perfect flake that leads to an easier (but scary!) final slab section. Did it on a crazy ‘last day-best day’ after too many days stressing out if it was going to happen or not ahah. Pure joy to be at the top!”
Direct North is Arthaud’s second of the grade. In October last year, she completed Compass North V14 in Fionnay, Switzerland. She has many other double-digit boulders to her name, including Versace V13, Great Shark Hunt V12, Pura Vida V12, and Jack’s Broken Heart V12, among others. She competed in Lead World Cups from 2018 to 2021.
Melina Costanza climbing Direct North V14
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