In early March, Tommy Caldwell flashed Hydrophobia, a sport route at Mont Sant, Spain. "It's an amazing route, it's super long and super steep," said Caldwell, "I was really psyched to flash it. Nick [Sagar] said he'd go up there and work out all the beta for me and he did that." Sagar was also able to savor the fruits of his labor, as he nailed a quick redpoint of the route.

Since Katie Brown flashed it in mid-October, Hydrophobia's rating has hovered between 13d and 14a. Of the rating, Caldwell said, "It's probably pretty soft. I thought probably, really actually a 13d. It's hard to tell. Whenever you flash something, it always feels easier." This ascent at least equals Caldwell's hardest flash and likely exceeds it.

Hydrophobia was just a part of Caldwell's extended trip to Europe with Sagar. "We went to Mont Sant and Siurana, which are right next to each other," said Caldwell, "We were in France most of the time, actually. There, we went to Buoux, Fountainbleu and Ceuse." While in France, he ticked a route that had been on his must-do list. "I did La Rose [La Rose et le Vampire, 13d] at Buoux," said Caldwell, "mostly because it's such a super classic route, one that I've always been wanting to do."

In other news, Chris Sharma recently established a hard new boulder problem, dubbed The Mandala, at the Buttermilks in California. In keeping with his philosophy, Sharma left the problem unrated. Others speculate the problem is V13.

Chris Linder of San Diego, California, recently redpointed a long-standing 5.14 project at Mount Potasi, near Las Vegas. Mount Potasi is notorious for its manufactured routes. The route, named Annihilator, was bolted by Joe Brooks and is estimated to be 14c. If the rating is confirmed, Linder will join the elite group of Americans who have redpointed 14c. Currently, that group consists of Chris Sharma, Tommy Caldwell and Jason Campbell, who have all climbed Necessary Evil.

— Matt Stanley, MountainZone.com staff