Paint it black 8C by Nick Bradley

Nick Bradley, who previously has done four 8B+', has sent his first 8C, Paint it black in RMNP. "Best boulder I’ve done in Colorado so far. Such a cool line." (c) Michael Montella

Could you please say something about your climbing background and the process taking it down?
8C is a grade that I’ve dreamed of climbing since I was a little kid. I never actually thought it would happen though because I only really sport climbed when I was younger since that was the only discipline that I did well in youth competitions. It was only after I aged out of youth (about 6 years ago) that I started focusing exclusively on bouldering. I had a few years of very slow progress, but eventually I started feeling stronger and was able to do my first 8B+ in 2019.

This past winter season I had decided to put my full effort into the hardest climb I’ve ever tried, The Game (8C), and I surprised myself by making big links over the course of 3 months. Unfortunately I just couldn’t quite put it together before conditions were too warm, but the silver lining was that trying something that hard for so long got me really fit. I had tried Paint it Black a few days in 2020 and had done all the moves but wasn’t really close. This year, I felt significantly stronger on it and was able to do all of the moves very consistently. The day I sent, I barely needed to warm up, and I had this feeling that I’d just do it, so I set up video on my phone, and did it first try of the day.