Solomon Kemball ticks Isles of Wonder Sit 8C (+)

Solomon Kemball, who has three 8C ascents under his belt, has repeated Aidan Robert's Isles of Wonder Sit (8C) in Ogwen valley, going with the FA 8C+ grade. "Absolute warfare on this one, 3 [individual] month-long trips and a year and a half of training. 8B for the bottom section is a joke 20+ sessions to get through that. I think the sit section has to be around 8C and the lowest it could be top end 8B+.

Can you tell us more about your process and how it all came together?
I started trying it I think last February when I did the stand which took me around 30 minutes. I immediately got hooked as it's such a striking bloc in a beautiful location but knew I wasn't strong enough at the time so I spent a few months training specifically for it with a couple weekend trips up to see how it was getting on. And then I dedicated the whole month of may to trying to do it which I got close to getting through the sit section but after my best session I slipped on the walk back down and subluxed my shoulder which was probably due to having annihilating it on the boulder 10 minutes previously. That cut the first trip short and then was back to training over summer to come back in autumn which was abruptly ended again this time due to lower back issues. It twisted the beta I used so it became sore and a big drop off of a highball a day after tweaked it and had to crawl back to my car. I tried to let it heal and carry on but tweaked it a second time a few days later and ended the trip there.

Then back to training and rebuilt my board so it was steeper to make a replica of isles which I then trained on once a week mixed in with other specific training till I went back in May 2024 giving myself another month to try, not get injured and actually send it.

By this point I think I have had around 15 sessions on the real thing and once I got on it even with all the training it felt no closer than when I first started trying it. Fortunately after I think 4 sessions I got back into the swing of things and fell on the last move of the sit section which was a new high point, however the next day I came down with food poisoning or a stomach bug and then proceeded to have the shittest 3 sessions not being able to link any of the moves.

Fortunately my mate Dom came up with my the next session which I had in my mind might be the last of the trip as it was starting to aggravate my knee and I wasn't getting anywhere and he brought the psyche and a lot of video analysis which meant I somehow put of nowhere managed to get through the sit section for the first time and drop the last move of the bloc but after 4 hours already there that was the session over.

We came back two days later and I couldn't get through the sit section again my knee was minced and I only had a few days left I thought this would be my last session and it wasn't going to plan. The next day it looked like a storm was coming through so I borrowed a tarpaulin and went back up in the morning to rig one over the top in an effort to keep it dry. The storm lasted two days but gave my knee enough time to heel up enough to give it one more session.

We went up in the afternoon to find the tarpaulin having been ripped off in the storm but some what dry I spent an hour drying it up and then we headed back down the hill to see Dom send his proj. and came back up for around 5 a long warm up and drying the rest of it up and first go found my way to the last move and catching the hold but coming flying off. It was on.

Big rest and it's done another go and I'm back at the last move but again flying off. Another and again last move and off. It just didn't feel right when I was in the position for that last move by this point we had been there for 3 hours and I was feeling done but was just going to stay there until I couldn't get to that last move no matter how tired I was or ruined my knee got. Next go I found myself at the last move but this time it felt right and I knew it was done and shortly found myself on top of the bloc.