Yannick Flohé flashes Foundations Edge (Font 8C), Fionnay
- Friday 11th July 2025
Ahead of competing at the Chamonix Lead World Cup, German climber Yannick Flohé has flashed Dave Graham’s 2013, Fionnay test-piece, Foundations Edge (Font 8C).
Since Graham’s first ascent, Foundations Edge has seen numerous ascents - Vertical Life suggests about 20 repeats so far - and although accepted as one of the easier of the grade, the grade has been confirmed. Assuming the grade remains, Flohé’s flash will go down in history as the first ever flash of a Font 8C. Most recently in 2018 Jakob Schubert famously flashed Chris Sharma’s Catalan Witness the Fitness; subsequently however, this was down-graded to Font 8B+.
Posting on Instagram, Yannick described his preparation and thoughts behind his flash of Foundations Edge saying:
"Yesterday I flashed my hardest boulder ever. I knew for a while that this is probably the most flashable 8C in the world, so I waited patiently for the right moment. I climbed most of the other lines in Fionnay first and waited for a day with good conditions and good skin.
My flash attempt went perfectly. I hit every hold just right and felt in great physical and mental shape this day.
To be fair, I don’t really think this is a proper 8C, even though no one has ever downgraded it and there’s for sure some softer ones out there. But grading is always tricky especially when you flash something so I will take the soft 8C like all the other greedy grade hunters on this one.”