Phoebe Kenderdine ticks Venus in Furs (8c)

Phoebe Kenderdine, with two 8b+’ under her harness, has done the first repeat of Venus in Furs (8c) in Fyfe River Gorge.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
It was bolted 14 years ago and got its first ascent at the end of last year. I was the second ascent. It took 5 weekend trips/9 sessions. For 4 of the sessions it was too damp to really try properly! It's a really cool line, 30-45 degrees overhanging and 20-25 meters long, it feels like 4 moonboards on top of each other.

It's the hardest climb I've tried, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to do all of the moves when I first tried it, but managed to get it in just one hang on my third session which was pretty encouraging. It took the rest of the sessions to find the beta that works for me, which involved some fun heel hooks, kneebars, and very small crimps. It's a really unforgiving climb, if you make a small mistake you'll come off, so in the end, I think it was just finally having a good sequence and doing every move exactly right.

What is your climbing background?
I have been climbing for about 10 years, I started as a competition climber at the start of high school (age 13), competed for about 5 years, then started outdoor climbing and quickly fell in love with outdoor sport climbing, which I’ve been doing for about 4 years now.

I’ve done most of my climbing in Wānaka, where I got my first first ascent (Caffeine, 8b) in 2024. The past couple of years I’ve been exploring more of the crags in New Zealand, like Little Babylon, and I’m excited to go to Ceuse later this year.