Anak Verhoeven repeats 'Rainshadow' (9a) at Malham Cove, England

Anak Verhoeven has made the first female ascent of Rainshadow, the 9a at Malham Cove in England freed by Steve McClure in 2003. The iconic route - Steve McClure's third 9a at the time after Northern Lights at Kilsney in  2000 and Mutation at Raven's Tor in 1998 (upgraded to 9a+ by Will Bosi in 2021) - is the continuation of Raindogs and was first repeated by another visiting climber, Adam Ondra, in 2011.

Verhoeven first visited Malham in November 2024 when she made a hugely impressive flash ascent of Raindogs. This über classic 8a holds huge historical significance, because it is on this route that the late Rachel Farmer became the first British woman to climb 8a back in 1990. In a sign of how much standards have progressed in the last 35 years, Verhoeven sent the route on her 5th redpoint attempt after having worked in on and off over a few weeks.

Verhoeven has previously repeated routes up to 9b and made the first ascent of routes up to 9a+. Her redpoint of Rainshadow on 5 May is only the second 9a climbed in Britain by a woman. The first to achieve this feat was Emma Twyford, who in September 2019 successfully redpointed Big Bang at Lower Pen Trwyn in North Wales.

Link: anakverhoeven.be, Petzl, La Sportiva