Midnight Lightning (climb)

Midnight Lightning
Midnight Lightning
	Climber holding the "lip" on Midnight Lightning, preparing for the mantel-move
Location	Yosemite National Park
Coordinates	37°44′30″N 119°36′07″W
Climbing Area	Camp 4 (Yosemite)
Route Type	Bouldering
Vertical Gain	7.62-metre (25.0 ft)
Rating	V8 (7B/7B+)
First ascent	Ron Kauk, May 1978

Midnight Lightning is a 7.62-metre (25.0 ft) high granite bouldering route on the Columbia Boulder in Camp 4 of Yosemite National Park. When first solved in May 1978 by American rock climber Ron Kauk, it was graded at V8 (7B/7B+), which was the world's second-ever boulder route at that grade, and the first in North America. Even today, the route is still considered a "hard" V8 grade. Midnight Lightning is the most notable bouldering route in climbing along with Dreamtime, and its ascent is considered an important moment in the history and the development of bouldering as a sport in its own right.

History

It is believed that bouldering pioneer John "Yabo" Yablonski (the inventor of the sit start) discovered the line of a potential new bouldering problem on the Columbia boulder while wandering around Camp 4 in a drug-intoxicated state in early 1978. Yablonski showed it to Yosemite's two leading rock climbers, Ron Kauk and John Bachar. Bachar later recounted: "It was Yabo [John Yablonski] who actually 'found' Midnight Lightning. He was sitting in front of it one day and came over to me and Ron Kauk and said he found a new boulder problem. He said it would go. We laughed and said it was impossible. We thought there was about as much chance of doing it as there was the chance that a lightning bolt could strike at midnight (like in the Hendrix song Midnight Lightning), so I drew a bolt on it in chalk. That's it—pretty stupid, huh?"

Kauk and Bachar set to work attempting the route, and while making good early progress, continuously failed to execute the awkward mantel-move needed to overcome the "lip" which is at a height of almost 5 metres (16 ft). Eventually, in May 1978, Kauk overcame the mantle and completed the first ascent, with Bachar making the second ascent shortly afterward. After completing his ascent, Bachar drew the chalk lightning bolt on the boulder. The route repelled all other attempts to repeat Kauk and Bachar's ascent for over 5 years, despite the pair being able to repeat it continuously, and often to an audience, with Kauk recounting: "We always waited until as many people as possible had gathered, then it was showtime".

Kauk and Bachar graded the route at V8 (7B/7B+), which was the first V8-graded boulder route in North America, and their ascent would be recognized as only the second-ever ascent of a 7B+ (V8) graded boulder in history. Their grade assessment has been upheld over time and even today, Midnight Lightning is regarded as a "hard" V8 route. The first female ascent was by Lynn Hill in 1998, although it was not the first-ever 7B+ (V8) ascent by a female (that was by Catherine Miquel in 1989 on Le Carnage). The second female ascent was by Lisa Rands in 2001.

In 2002, Kauk's son Lonnie ascended the route, which he attributed to being the "key" that unlocked his path into professional adventure sports.

Lightning bolt removal

In May 2013, the chalk-drawn lightning bolt was scrubbed off the boulder, by climber and Climbing magazine contributor James Lucas, who claimed the image had lost its magic, and was now more of a trademark or tourist attraction. The bolt was re-drawn in the same location a few days later. Since then, there have been other incidents, but Kauk and others have regularly restored the chalk bolt image.

Route

Sam Moses, writing in Sports Illustrated said the most difficult move on Midnight Lightning is a "spider-monkey swing 15 feet (4.6 metres) off the ground. The climber must suspend themself by the fingertips of their left hand, swing around a ledge of rock, and propel themself far enough up, about four feet, to grab a precarious fingertip hold with their right hand. To do that they have to create momentum from stillness."

Legacy

Midnight Lightning is often called the world's most famous bouldering route. In a 2009 article on the famous V15 boulder, Dreamtime, PlanetMountain called it: "... one of the most famous boulders in the world, second perhaps only to Midnight Lightning ...". In a similar vein in 2015, Climbing called Dreamtime: ".. arguably the first internationally famous boulder problem since Midnight Lightning".

The first ascent was not only an important part of Yosemite climbing history, but was also a major milestone in the development of bouldering as a sport in its own right, with one of the hardest known bouldering routes in the world – and the first consensus V8 route – now established in the middle of Camp 4, which was one of the most important gathering places for the world's leading rock climbers. The ascent led to a dramatic increase in interest in bouldering as a standalone sport, and an increase new bouldering technical and grade milestones.

In 2021, when the American Alpine Club awarded the Underhill Lifetime Achievement award to Kauk, their citation read: "Perhaps Ron's most iconic climbing achievement is a boulder problem right in the middle of Camp 4 known as Midnight Lightning". In a 2017 documentary on his first ascent, Kauk said that: "... to this day [it] has had an effect on my personal sense of place and history, within the climbing community, throughout the world".

Ascents

Midnight Lightning has been ascended by:

1st. Ron Kauk in May 1978.
2nd. John Bachar in May 1978.
3rd. Skip Guerin in 1983.

4th. Kurt Smith, the “General”, in 1984.

5th. Scott Cosgrove in 1984, very soon after Kurt climbed it.

6th. Jerry Moffatt in 1985; first ascent in a day.

7th. Celso "Finuco" Martínez in June 1986.

First female free ascents (FFFA):

1st. Lynn Hill in May 1998.
2nd. Lisa Rands in January 2001.
3rd. Angie Payne in 2004.
4th. Ally Dorey in May 2006.
5th. Andrea Szekely in November 2009.

Filmography

Documentary with Ron Kauk, David Sjöquist and Caro North on Midnight Lightning: The Classics Boulder Episode 1 Midnight Lightning (Motion picture). Mammut. June 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2022.