Janja Garnbret has become the seventh woman to climb 8C, with her ascent of Bügeleisen Sit (f8C), in Maltatal, Austria.

The boulder, first climbed by Nalle Hukkataival in 2014, has seen a total of just six ascents, with Janja's being the only female ascent.

The six metre boulder was originally climbed at 8B+ from standing, beginning with the hands above head height, and with feet at roughly shoulder height. The stand start then climbs through a series of crimps on a 50° face, before coming out to a hold on the lip of the boulder, and requiring a mantle to finish. 

When Klem Loskot made the first ascent of the stand-start in 2001, there was only one boulder in the world - Dreamtime, 8C - that was considered to be harder. Janja climbed the stand-start in 2022, in what was her first ascent at 8B+.

The sit-start begins on a sloping rail and a poor undercling, and adds four hand moves and five foot moves before joining the stand, all of which target the exact muscles you need to be fresh for the upper section.

At the time of Hukkataival's first ascent of the sit, it was his longest standing project. Hukkataival labeled the boulder 'one of the best boulders in the world', and said it was 'potentially the hardest thing I've climbed', whilst also saying that he felt at the 'total limit' during the ascent.

In contrast, Janja's ascent seems to have come with relative ease. Writing on social media, she said:

'Dream boulder done. Two years have passed since I sent the stand start of the boulder and was just waiting for the right time to come back and get my revenge on the sit start. Today was the day!'

'Came back way stronger and moves felt a lot easier than they used to. Took me less than half an hour to get the moves dialed in and send the boulder. Proud to be the first woman to get this one done!'

'Funny side-note: wasn't happy with the video Roman took of my ascent, so I actually went for another go and climbed the whole thing again'.

The fact that Janja was able to climb the boulder twice in a single session, as well as her statement that the moves felt relatively easy, suggests that 8C - despite being the hardest grade that any woman has climbed to date - is far from the limit for Janja.

Janja's ascent comes shortly after she climbed all of the Fontainebleau Big Five in a day, and makes her just the second woman in the world, after Ashima Shiraishi, to have climbed a route at 9a as well as a boulder at 8C.

Later this year, she will join a host of other Olympic hopefuls in Paris, where she will attempt to defend her status as Olympic champion.