3/21/12 – Ashima Shiraishi has climbed her hardest boulder problem yet with Crown of Aragorn (V13), in Hueco Tanks, Texas. This makes her very likely the youngest person in history to repeat that grade, and also one of very few females to climb a solid V13.

Ashima, 10, caught our attention in spring 2010 with an ascent of Power of Silence (V10). Last year during a visit to Hueco, she sent Chablanke (V11/12), Roger in the Shower (V11), and several other difficult boulders. She also came painfully close to sending Right Martini (V12), which had not seen a female ascent, but she couldn’t control a foot swing into a tree that apparently invalidated the ascent.

This news will likely spur some controversy on the grade (not that it’s a new topic). Nalle Hukkataival, who flashed Crown of Aragorn in December (watch that video here) called the problem the benchmark for the grade.

Click here for a gallery by Julien Jarry of Ashima climbing in Hueco from 2011.

Date of ascent: March 20, 2012

Source: Obe Carrion