Dreamtime is a 10-metre (33 ft) long gneiss bouldering route in a forest in Cresciano, Switzerland. When first solved in October 2000 by Swiss bouldering pioneer Fred Nicole, it was graded at 8C (V15), making it the world's first-ever boulder route at that grade. With subsequent repeat ascents, it was regraded to 8B+ (V14), but after the breaking of a key hold in 2009, its grade is now considered closer to 8C (V15). Dreamtime is the most notable bouldering route in climbing history along with Midnight Lightning, and is renowned for both its beauty and its challenge.

Quick Facts Location, Coordinates ...

Dreamtime
Dreamtime boulder showing two routes; the Dreamtime (V15) route is the diagonal light green line, and Return of Dreamtime (V16) is the blue line
Location	Ticino, Switzerland
Coordinates	46.283211°N 9.009392°E / 46.283211; 9.009392
Climbing Area	Cresciano
Route Type	Bouldering
Vertical Gain	10 metres (33 ft) (length)[1]
Grade	8B+ (V14) (pre hold-break); 8C (V15) (post hold-break)
First ascent	Fred Nicole, 28 October 2000.

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In early 2000, Swiss bouldering pioneer Fred Nicole began projecting Dreamtime, envisaging a 10-metre (33 ft) long right-to-left diagonal route from a sit-start that took about 21 movements.^[2][3][4] After traveling to Australia and then to South Africa, Nicole returned to the route in the autumn and solved it on 28 October 2000.^[2][3] Nicole felt it was the hardest route he had ever done and proposed a grade of V15 (8C),^[2] which was the first-ever boulder route at that grade.^[3] Nicole recounted: "We had been in Australia over the summer, so I felt that this name was a good fit. For the Aborigines, 'dreamtime' means a kind of half-dreaming trance, somewhere between dream and reality, or a dream that becomes reality. When I saw the line for the first time, I thought: Wow! Is that even possible? And then it finally happened. Dreamtime was a very special time for me, a highlight in my climbing life".^[3]

In 2001, Austrian climber Bernd Zangerl [fr] made the first repeat and agreed with the V15 (8C) grading. In 2002, American climber Dave Graham made the third ascent but used a heel hook that he felt softened the grade to V14 (8B+). The following year, American climber Chris Sharma made the fourth ascent, and using Graham's new beta agreed with Graham's grading. There was concern that holds were "overcleaned" (or even chipped) since Zangerl's ascent,^[5] which might have contributed to the softening of the grade.^[6][7] In 2003, the situation was further complicated when Christian Core made the fifth ascent and said it was the hardest boulder he had ever climbed, supporting a V15 grade. Over the next 5 years, Dreamtime became one of the most desirable boulder routes for leading climbers and repeats by Dai Koyamada, Nalle Hukkataival, Daniel Woods, Kilian Fischhuber and Adam Ondra (who was only 15 and solved it in 4 hours), led to a consensus grade of V14 (8B+).^[6][7]

In November 2009, Italian climber Michele Caminati [fr] discovered that the crux pinch hold had broken off, thus changing the route.^[6] In December 2009, Nalle Hukkataival repeated the damaged route and logged on the climbing database, 8a.nu, that the "standing start" version was now 8B (V13), and that Nicole's "sit start" version was "a real 8C now".^[8] After repeating the route a few days later, Ondra felt it was a "hard 8B+", but not 8C.^[9] With further repeats, the consensus is that the grade is now closer to 8C, with Jan Hojer saying in 2013, "Much harder than any 8B+ (V14) I have ever tried".^[10]

In February 2023, German climber Yannick Flohé create a direct finish that starts with Dreamtime, but at the crux goes right and directly up the boulder following the line of Jimmy Webb's Somnolence V13 (8B). He named this variation Return of the Dreamtime, and proposed a grade of V16 (8C+).^[17][18]

In a 2009 article on Dreamtime, PlanetMountain said: "So beautiful and important, the Dreamtime immediately did as its name suggests, it made everyone dream and, in doing so, it became a reference point for cutting-edge problems, one of the most famous boulders in the world, second perhaps only to Midnight Lightning, freed by Ron Kauk in 1978 at Camp Four in Yosemite.^[3] Others have also labeled Dreamtime as being the world's most famous boulder route,^[19] often along with Midnight Lightning, and credited it for promoting the development of the sport.^[5]

In 2015, Climbing, listed Dreamtime and The Story of Two Worlds, in their "Climb of the Century" for the bouldering category, saying: "In 2000, Fred Nicole gave the world its first 8C (V15) boulder with Dreamtime—arguably the first internationally famous boulder problem since Midnight Lightning. The Story of Two Worlds (Dave Graham, 2005), on the same boulder, became the new standard for V15 after Dreamtime was broken and downgraded."^[20]

In a later 2017 piece, PlanetMountain said: "But the one that more than any other captured the imagination of climbers at the beginning of the new millennium was most certainly Dreamtime..".^[3] Repeating Dreamtime became a rite-of-passage for every major boulder climber.^[3][5] In 2017, Outside listed the ascent of Dreamtime in its "12 Great Moments in Bouldering History".^[7] In 2020, when leading German climber Alex Megos repeated Dreamtime, he wrote on his Instagram page: "This one has definitely been on the bucket list! DREAMTIME. Possibly the most famous boulder problem in the world!".^[1]

Dreamtime has been ascended by (and their proposed grade):^[21]

• History of rock climbing
• List of grade milestones in rock climbing
• Midnight Lightning, famous V8 (7B/7B+) boulder in Camp 4 (Yosemite)
• The Mandala, famous V12 (8A+) boulder at The Buttermilks
• The Wheel of Life, famous V15 (8C) boulder in the Grampians, Australia