Ben Hanna speed climbs Grand Illusion (8C+)

Ben Hanna, foremost a route climber with four 9a’s and harder to his name, has completed Grand Illusion (8C+) in Little Cottonwood. The 20 hand moves and 24 foot moves are done in 53 seconds and here is his speed climbing video.

”Quite possibly the best piece of Climbing I have done in my life. I spent 5 years trying thinking the 13 [the higher 8B start]. It was impossible for me, and then it just clicked a few weeks ago. I thought coming from the ground would feel a lot harder but l found that the 13 was just about the same whether I was pulling on from the ground or coming from the bottom. Felt like I could do the 13 1/10 times so it was just a game of attempts from bot.”

Can you tell us more about the process behind the ascent?
I started climbing in the cave right from the beginning when Drew [Ruana] first started trying GI in 2020. I was able to do the 12 start but the 13 was to hard for me. I ended up putting 20+ sessions into the 13 over the last 5 years and finally did it 3 weeks ago. A week after I decided to start trying GI but as I was getting closer the season started to end, I fell going to the Crimp Wednesday and new I could do it. Sunday was my last day to send before my season was over and the pressure was really on. I was pretty sure I only had one attempt for the day which meant I only had one more attempt of the season. I genuinely think that try was the best climbing I have ever done in my life.

What about your speed climbing tactics?
Because of all the spray wall training I have done in the past I realized it was actually more of a 20 move circuit and should be climbed that way. Which is fast, no chalk no shaking since you don’t face to stop and clip/ and there is no where to actually rest it’s best to just sprint it.

It was something I thought a lot about! Most of my process for this boulder was pacing and body position focused.