While walking all done to Camp 4 , John Yablonski nicknamed 'Yabo' one of the early pioneers of Bouldering and the inventor of the sit start...

He discovered a new line in the heart of the Columbia Boulder, a granite boulder 8 meters high in the center of Camp 4, Yosemite.

Excited about the new discovery, he immediately notified Ron Kauk and John Bachar, two legendary climbers in the valley.

Once you see the line They laughed at it, saying that it was IMPOSSIBLE , that lightning would more likely strike a rock at midnight, as the Jimi Hendrix song Midnight Lightning went.

THIS IS HOW MIDNIGHT LIGHTNING WAS BORN!

We are in the 1978 , those who today know as climbing legends, at the time were just teenagers, they had no idea they were sitting on the rock that would write the history of world bouldering.

They were unknowingly taking bouldering to the next level, according to Ron instead “ It was just the next thing to do. ”

They were in the right place at the right time!

“Midnight Lightning was our soundtrack, imagine 3 teenagers with that kind of music, immersed in this place, where there is nothing but these huge walls, these rocks and the flowing waterfall, We were deeply inspired by nature ,” says Kauk.

After 4 months of trying, always falling on the overturn with 5 meters of air under your feet and no crash pad to cushion the impact (at the time they hadn't been invented yet),

Ron made the first ascent of the boulder in May 1978.

This led to a clash with Bachar who accused him of stealing his first free climb, for a couple of attempts, rumours say they fought it out in the parking lot…

After repeating the second climb, John Bachar drew the famous lightning bolt with magnesite.

For 5 years they were the only ones to climb the boulder and they repeated it continuously, Ron admits “ we waited on purpose for people to gather to start the Show! ”

46 years ago climbing this boulder was like climbing Burden of Dreams today… It was the hardest boulder ever!

Kauk and Bachar graded the line 7b+, still considered a “ HARD ” V8 today!

It was America's first V8 and the world's second.

The first female ascent had to wait 20 years, it was done by the legendary Lynn Hill, in 1998.

Two years ago in 1996 something happened INCREDIBLE …

A Young Man Pietro Dal Prà arrives at the mantel or to the overturning on the first lap , unfortunately he doesn't trust himself to put all his weight on the precarious foot, he looks down and throws himself, there was no crash pad waiting for him…

He flew 5 meters before being picked up by his friends.

After almost making the Flash block, he climbed it on the second lap , which for the time was a CRAZY level, but it doesn't end there!

Pietro was not used to training on artificial walls, he trained directly on the rock going up and down, in Erto he descended from an 8b by climbing downwards, he also managed to downclimb Il Somaro 8aa in Lumignano Classica.

“ Downclimbing is a great workout, everyone should do it ”

So why not try to do the same with The Impossible?

He was the first person to UNCLIMB Midnight Lightning, you read that right…

He climbed the block and then scrambled down it.
On the third attempt he managed to put his feet on the ground in a static manner, the last movement going down was the hardest of all.

When he achieved this feat, his friend Ron Kauk was present and said: “ WOW, this is impressive! ”