12 February 2022

The Game 8C by Milburn and Burkhalter

Nicholas Milburn and Ben Burkhalter have done The Game in Boulder Canyon (CO). It was put up by Daniel Woods in 2010 as possibly the first 8C+ in the world. Later new sequences have been found and also some holds have grown possibly due to extensive brushing, as Daniel has commented before.

Milburn: "The first time I went to The Game was back in 2013 when Kerry Scott "sent". Since then it's been in my mind, but has also been beyond me. It doesn't play well to my strengths and it's pretty damn hard. I dabbled on it over the years, but never even did all the moves until this season. I finally committed to trying it and saw a perfect linear progression. I got reacquainted with the boulder, did all the moves, honed in on the beta, made links, punted, then sent. I'm proud."

Burkhalter, in the picture: "OH. MY. GOD. I cant even fucking believe it!! Words can't begin to describe the pure adrenaline, satisfaction, and sheer happiness I feel right now. I have always viewed myself as a pretty one dimensional climber – crimping on a board – so doing something that antistyle and that notoriously hard seemed unfathomable. I always told myself “Im gonna do The Game before I finish college” but I never could've expected this. When I started trying, to my surprise, I was making nice linear progress! Each session I improved and felt stronger and more consistent. Then last sesh I spiked the progress by sticking the crux from the bottom, but my foot picked! After that go I realized I could do it, but had no clue when I would. The boulder is so dependent on accuracy and raw strength/tension. If you don't grab every hold right, stay tight in the feet, and feel damn strong – you fall. “A lot has to come together to send.. sticking the crux was sick but don't get nervous, it's not going down anytime soon.” That's what I told myself. 2 days later, I went back with Nick B and Liam. Somehow with expectations low, fingertips numb, and muscles sore I sent!! Totally surreal, 5 days of effort… un...real."
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