Piotr Oleszczuk flashes two 8B’s

Piotr Oleszczuk had a great start of his trip to Rocklands by flashing two 8A’s and Hipster Whale (8B). Yesterday, he sent one 8A+ and four 8B’s including a flash of Moon shadow (8B).

Can you tell us more about the 8B flashes and your trip?
I came to Rocklands for a month. For the first 5 days, the weather wasn't on our side, and climbing was more about finding dry and climbable rocks. Fortunately, the weather improved a bit, and we could start climbing the classics. Hipster Whale was one of the boulders I had my eye on.

That day, I simply warmed up as usual, checked out what I could from the ground, and then tried from the bottom to test the first few moves, which seemed the hardest. I didn't set up any camera because I didn't expect I'd be able to flash an 8B. It turned out that the initially difficult moves seemed easier than I thought, and shortly after, I found myself on top of the boulder. :)

Three days later, on a rainy day, I went to The Coop sector, where the only dry boulder was Moonshadow. This time, I recorded all my attempts. Regarding this boulder, I had a feeling it might suit me, because crimps, long moves and heel-toe jams are the style I feel best at, so this time in the back of my head I wanted my first go to be as good as possible. I warmed up again on the dry parts of the surrounding rocks, checked what I could from the ground, gave it a try, and did everything just as I planned.

I watched videos. I have a phone full of screen recorded YouTube uncuts with beta for every boulder I want to try in an area, so I only used that 😅. My friend also gave it a few tries before me to tell me how it feels :)

During the attempt, to make it more interesting, it started raining again. So, when I got past the difficult part, it was raining on my face, the holds on the top slab were damp, and an unprotectable tree awaited below. Fortunately, I managed not to fall on the 6B topout and did the whole thing on the first try. This ascent was the beginning of what turned out to be the most successful day in my climbing career so far. By the end of the day, I had completed three other 8Bs (one of them almost flashing again) and one 8A+.