{"id":16499,"date":"2023-09-14T20:43:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T20:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climbinghouse.com\/?p=16499"},"modified":"2023-10-26T21:42:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T21:42:21","slug":"katie-lamb-interview-first-woman-v16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climbinghouse.com\/katie-lamb-interview-first-woman-v16\/","title":{"rendered":"Katie Lamb Exclusive Interview: First Woman to Send V16 with \u201cBox Therapy\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The 25-year-old American made history this summer, becoming the first female boulderer to tackle the V16 grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, American climber Katie Lamb, 25, announced a surprising late-summer achievement<\/a>. On July 28th, she\u2019d topped the pristine alpine boulder Box Therapy<\/em> (V16) in Rocky Mountain National Park. In doing so, Lamb has jumped over the V15 grade entirely, and become the first woman in history to solve a V16 (8C+) boulder problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Box Therapy<\/em>, put up by Daniel Woods in 2018, has seen only two other repeats, from Drew Ruana<\/a> and Sean Bailey. It\u2019s not just a hard boulder to climb though. It\u2019s a hard boulder to get to, sitting at an elevation of 10,500 feet (3,200 meters) over six miles from the nearest trailhead. Lamb told Climbing House <\/em>she hiked out and back to the problem for seven sessions. In total, she estimates she clocked over 90 miles while working the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what does this achievement mean for Lamb? What did the process look like? Why did she wait a month to tell everyone? Read on for an exclusive interview with the first woman to send V16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor’s note: Brooke Raboutou<\/a> repeated Box Therapy in October 2023<\/a> and “felt like V15 is an appropriate grade.” Will V16 stand? We’ll need a few more repeats to find out.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, for me it can feel that way any time I do a boulder of the next level or I do my hardest, proudest accomplishment. I actually did <\/em>[Box Therapy] in July. So, for the month of August, it definitely felt like that.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But since telling the world, it’s taken on a different tone. I’m really glad that people feel inspired by it and are genuinely happy and supportive. That’s been awesome. That’s always the best part about sharing climbing accomplishments for me\u2026 connecting and meeting new people and feeling like you can contribute something.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Climbing V16 or being the first woman to climb V16 was not the reason that I started trying <\/em>[Box Therapy], but it’s a happy side effect. Just being able to contribute to the climbing world and community in some way <\/em>[via this send] feels like the best part.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It had been on my radar since Daniel did the FA, but now the timing was right. I was going to spend the summer in Colorado and I’d done a lot of the stuff that I want to do there already. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [Box Therapy] is also extremely beautiful. It’s stunning when you get there. It’s in this super lush meadow, a giant boulder with a really obvious line of crimps. It\u2019s really rare for hard boulders to have good rock and also tiny crimps. It\u2019s a great style for me. It\u2019s a combination of the amazing quality of the line, the beautiful setting, and the timing was right. I felt ready.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think in order to do <\/em>[the boulder], there’s an aspect of needing to fully disassociate from the hike or be grateful for it. If you can’t come to terms with the hike, it’s really hard to do the boulder. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So I don’t know if I was tricking myself and using it as a defense mechanism, but I started liking the time as a way to talk to friends, or if I was alone, a way to just be alone. When it was feeling heinous, I would put headphones in and listen to podcasts. There were some coping mechanisms. But ultimately, maybe it was helpful because I found a pretty good headspace <\/em>[once I got to the boulder].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, but I think for some people it can add an element of pressure. Like, \u2018Oh, I walked all the way out there and I’m having a bad session.\u2019 But in other ways, it forces you to stay and to keep learning and manage frustration. So it definitely adds a different mental game than a roadside boulder. But for me, I coped best by being grateful that I got to spend huge days outside and walk up to this magical little meadow and see a part of the mountains that not many people do.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSo Katie, I feel this is one of those sends that can get shanghaied by flashy titles like \u2018First Woman to Send V16.\u2019 That\u2019s unavoidable, and it\u2019s honestly probably what the title of this interview will be. But I bet this can also put you in a box (no pun intended). So I\u2019d like to start by asking, what\u2014to you\u2014<\/em>is meaningful about this achievement?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So what about Box Therapy<\/em> was so intriguing? Why\u2019d you go after it?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Did the long approach give you a mental edge? The space to work through stuff in your head? Or was it just more like, \u2018This is a pain in the *ss\u2019?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I imagine once you get all the way out there, you’re like, \u2018Well, I better put it all in, I hiked out here six miles\u2026 It\u2019s go time.\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n