Milne flashes Bewilderness (Font 8B+) at Badger’s Cove
- Monday 19th August 2024
Max Milne has flashed Bewilderness (Font 8B+) at Badger’s Cove in the Peak District. This is the first time the grade has been flashed on UK soil and Max becomes the 13th person in history to flash the grade.
Bewilderness, originally climbed by Dan Varian, has become a benchmark Font 8B+ and Badger’s Cove has become a home for hard Peak limestone bouldering including Will Bosi’s Font 8C+ Honey Badger.
Commenting on the flash, Milne said: “It was quite surreal. I obviously knew I could do it but I'm really chuffed and it was cool that I had to fight. On this one [Bewilderness], a lot of the moves felt fairly at my limit so I had to lock in to get it done. I am proud to have said I was going to do it and then back up what I said with my actions”.
Max was climbing with Will Bosi at Badger’s Cove who is no stranger to hard climbing as well as flashing Font 8B+. On climbing with Will, Max commented: “I have looked up to Will for many years and we know each other fairly well but for me, it is always super special to climb with him as it’s not that often we do get to train or climb on rock together. I have looked up to him for many years ever since I was a kid and I still do now too. So it was quite magical to have him there and help me through the whole process of flashing Bewilderness from the beta, spotting, encouragement and the good vibes. For me, one of the best parts of flashing a bloc isn’t just the challenge itself but is the fact that it’s not just you”.
Despite Max’s primary focus being competition climbing, this year has seen Max turn his attention to flashing hard blocs outdoors with his flash of Jerry Moffatt’s The Ace (Font 8B) at Stanage Edge, becoming the second person to do so after Adam Ondra.
Max’s attention now turns back to competitions with the upcoming IFSC European Championships in Villars and the remaining rounds of the IFSC Bouldering World Cup season.
Max is the 13th person to have flashed the grade of Font 8B+/V14 including:
Daniel Woods
Jimmy Webb
Adam Ondra
Ned Feehally
Florian Wientjes
Aidan Roberts
Will Bosi
Tomoa Narasaki
Vadim Timonov
Kokoro Fujii
Moritz Perwitzschky
Jakob Schubert