Gripped Magazine
Paul Robinson Climbs a V15 He Said is “One of the Best!”
Paul Robinson, who climbed his first V15 back in 2008, has recently sent Unison in Brione, Switzerland, a boulder he described as “one of the best!” Unison was first climbed by Aidan Roberts in 2023 and has been repeated only a handful of times.
“I tried Unison back in November of 2024,” Robinson said on 8a.nu. “I was immediately blown away by its aesthetic and pure difficulty. That trip I was not able to complete it and vowed to return as soon as I could. This February, I made my way back to Ticino with the goal of climbing Unison. I felt like I was in much better shape than the previous year and began making big links really quickly. It’s been a warm and humid spring so getting good conditions was tough but thankfully, I managed to find a window and send. Looking forward to enjoying my last week here in Europe and getting home back to Freak Show [V15] in Coal creek.”
Over the course of his storied climbing career, Robinson has climbed two V16s, redpointed more than two dozen V15s, and flashed up to V13. In 2020, he reached the milestone of climbing 1,000 problems graded V11 or harder. He broke into the V11 grade at just 15 years old with the classic boulder The Egg in Squamish.
For those keeping track, here are all the V15s that Robinson has climbed: Unison, Sound of Violence, Turpentine (Post Break), G-Master, Dicktopia, Traffic, Delirium, The Pirate’s Code, Noise vs Beauty, Topaz, In the Depths of Solitude, The Nest, White Noise, The Ice Knife, The New Chapter, Paint It Black, Meadowlark Lemon, Angama, The Story of 2 Worlds, Trip Hop, From the Dirt Grows the Flower Left Top-Out Varian, Dreamtime, Ill Thrill, Monkey Wedding, Lucid Dreaming, and Terremer. The V16s that Robinson has climbed are REM and Karoshi.
One of Robinson’s most epic first ascents to date was Lucid Dreaming V15 in Bishop. After his FA, he said, “Twelve days, over two years time. this one is for you dad! by far the hardest thing i have ever done. A perfect culmination of power, technique, and finger strength. A mind game for so long. to say this is the same difficulty as Terremer or any 8C [V15] I have done would be wrong IMO. It feels like another level up from them and another step up for me in my own climbing. Proud to call this one mine!”
One of the most recent ascents of Lucid Dreaming was by Zach Galla, who called the line, “Perfection.” It was also recently climbed by Ben Burkhalter, who said, “Lucid is, and forever will be, the testpiece of a generation.”
Check out Robinson’s send of Unison, along with a 2010 profile on him, below.
Unison V15 Send
2010 Profile on Paul Robinson
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