Ron Kauk on Midnight Lightning, Yosemite

Midnight Lightening in Yosemite is arguably the most famous boulder problem in the world. Located on the Columbia Boulder in Camp Four, when it was established in 1978 at V8 it was considered the hardest in the world. Ron Kauk was the first to continue past the lightning bolt hold and reach the top and he wrote later "After 4 months of off and on effort, I was the first one to pull over the lip and complete the climb, which to this day has had an effect on my personal sense of place and history, within the climbing community, throughout the world."

The first woman to send the problem was, unsurprisingly, Lynn Hill in 1998 and while crashpads have nowadays made the high exit a different proposition, the small, polished crimps at the start mean the problem remains a formidable test for generations to come.