SUPER futuristic climbing

What do a carefully laid siege and a casual afternoon stroll have in common?
Apparently, a V17 send.
Welcome to Thunder Ridge, Colorado—home of No One Mourns the Wicked, a line that doesn’t just test your finger strength but maybe your whole understanding of how projecting works.
Two climbers, two wildly different approaches, same result: top-out.

Nathaniel Coleman: The Tactician
When Nathaniel Coleman (yes, Olympic silver medalist, American slab whisperer, the man with the mythic jaw line) decided to try extending Defying Gravity (V15) into a new line, he didn’t mess around.
Eight sessions just to crack the crux.
Eight more to link it all together.
That’s sixteen days of methodical precision—rehearsing moves, tweaking beta, battling fatigue, and probably talking to the holds like they owed him money.
And it paid off. He bagged the FA of No One Mourns the Wicked (V17) in December 2024.
This was a climb that demanded strategy. Respect. Time. Blood. Tape. Probably some therapy.

Hamish McArthur: The Freestyler
Now fast-forward to May 2025. British phenom Hamish McArthur flies in, hikes up, touches the holds, and casually sends Defying Gravity—a V15—as his warm-up.
Then, for fun, he gives No One Mourns the Wicked a try.
Sticks the crux.
Figures out the sequence.
Sends the whole thing.
One. Session.
Read that again. ONE SESSION.
It was the kind of day most climbers have dreams about—except for Hamish, it was real life. Like a jazz musician riffing his way through a masterpiece, he just… found the flow. And stuck the landing.

The Point Isn’t How Long—It’s Why
This isn’t a post about whose approach was better. (Spoiler: they were both brilliant.)
It’s about what climbing allows: multiple routes to the same peak—not just physically, but philosophically.
Nathaniel mapped the terrain like a cartographer. Hamish rolled in like a comet. Both wrote history.
At SUPER futuristic, we’re obsessed with this kind of contrast. Because in climbing—and maybe life—there’s no single right way to greatness. Sometimes it takes sixteen sessions. Sometimes it takes lunch and a little magic.
Either way, the summit doesn’t care how you got there!
It just echoes your scream when you top out!