<b>Kehl solos The Fly 9a</b>

On November 7, Jason Kehl soloed/bouldered The Fly, 9a/8B/+. If considered a solo, this is the hardest ever, the previously hardest being Dani Andrada's ropeless ascent of Archipel, 8c+. After spending some weeks at Rumney this fall working it on a self-belay TR system during cold times of the day, Jason felt solid enough to approach the problem as a high boulder. With help from local climbers, the base was leveled out for many crashpads. On his second day and after 3 or 4 falls from the finishing moves (!), Kehl sent route/problem in the purest style to date. Onlookers were impressed by his cat-like ability to land on his feet squarely on the pads. While a fall from the opening moves lands you on a boulder ledge, falls from higher drops you down an additional 1.5 meters over a step. This was the 5th ascent of the route and the 1st without pre-clipping the 2nd second bolt (and TRing the difficulties). While perhaps not quite rising to the level of a solo, this is certainly a bold high-ball boulder ascent, which is already inspiring repeats in a similar style