The 29-year-old is the second Japanese woman to successfully complete a bouldering problem of this difficulty level. Who are the other women in the 8C club?
“PIG”: Kotake repeats new line by Stefano Ghisolfi
Mei Kotake has only been climbing at the Gotthard Pass for a few days – yet she has already managed to complete several difficult routes in the high-alpine Swiss bouldering area in a very short time. On her second afternoon, the 154 cm tall Japanese climber repeated both "Quiet Storm" (8B+) and "Hazel Grace" (8B+). A day later, she also reported the ascent of "PIG" (8C), one of the hardest routes in the area.
Kotake had already attracted attention in previous years with difficult ascents. In 2024, she completed the Magic Wood classic "New Baseline" (8B+), and in 2025 she repeated "Caricature" (8B+) on Mount Horai in her home country of Japan. Kotake competes exclusively in lead climbing on the World Cup circuit; in 2024, she won gold in Briançon and bronze in Chamonix.
Her hardest boulder problem to date, "PIG," is a relatively recent first ascent by Stefano Ghisolfi from the summer of 2026. In September, Jorge Díaz-Rullo repeated the line and confirmed the grade. Mei Kotake is the tenth woman to have successfully climbed a confirmed 8C boulder problem.
My first boulder problem at this grade and the hardest boulder problem I've ever completed. Totally my style!
Mei Kotake
These women also climbed 8C.
Mei Kotake's ascent has brought the number of female 8C boulderers into double digits. Since 2016, ten women have solved a boulder problem of this difficulty – listed here in the overview.
Note: We only count an ascent if the climber in question has also graded the boulder 8C herself, or if the boulder's grade is still 8C today. Examples: Oriane Bertone's first ascent of "Satan I Helvete Low" from 2020 is now graded 8B+ instead of the original 8C. Allison Vest repeated the boulder "Ebony and Ivory" in 2026 but downgraded it to 8B+.
Ashima Shirashi – “Horizon”
She was the first woman in the world to climb an 8C boulder: in 2016, the American climber repeated Dai Koyamada's mega-roof "Horizon" (8C) in Hiei, Japan. Shirashi's age at the time of the ascent was also remarkable: she was only 14 years old. Since then, she has repeatedly climbed 8B+ routes, but has increasingly withdrawn from the public eye in recent years.
Katrin Lehmann – “Kryptos”
A German woman is among the first women in the world to have successfully climbed an 8C route. In 2018, Katrin "Kaddi" Lehmann made the ascent of "Kryptos" in the Swiss Jura Mountains. The line was first climbed by Franz Widmer in 2009, and the first repeat ascent was achieved by Fred Nicole.
Mishika Ishii – “Byakudo”
In 2019, Mishika Ishii repeated the boulder problem "Byakudo" on Mount Horai in her native Japan. At 13 years old, she was even younger than Ashima Shirashi was when she climbed "Horizon"—a record she still holds as the youngest woman to climb an 8C boulder. Ishii's repeat was the last 8C ascent by a woman in the 2010s. It would be four years before the next one.
Katie Lamb – “Box Therapy”
In 2023, the American Katie Lamb A repeat of Daniel Woods' "Box Therapy" in Rocky Mountain National Park, which was originally rated 8C+. Brooke and Shawn Raboutou later downgraded the line to 8C, a decision with which the first ascensionist, Woods, also agreed.
The Raboutou downgrade retroactively makes "Box Therapy" Lamb's first 8C. She earned her first 8C+ in 2025 with "The Dark Side" in Yosemite Valley – this time the grade was meant to hold. To this day, Katie Lamb remains the only woman to have repeated a confirmed 8C+. She has also since made an 8C first ascent: "130 BPM," also in Yosemite. With a total of four 8Cs, Lamb holds the record for the most ascents of this grade.
Brooke Raboutou – “Box Therapy”
Just four months after Katie Lamb's ascent, another Brooke Raboutou Together with her brother Shawn, she climbed the boulder problem "Box Therapy". Despite the downgrade from 8C+ to 8C, Raboutou became the fifth woman and third American to have climbed a route of this difficulty. In 2025, Raboutou also became the first woman ever to climb a 9b+ with a rope, "Excalibur" in Arco.
Jana Švecová – “Nova”
In 2023, the Czech climber established the boulder problem "Nova" in Holštejn, initially graded it 8B+. A few months later, 9A boulderer Will Bosi repeated the line and suggested it be upgraded to 8C. In 2026, Švecová established two more 8Cs in the Czech Republic: "Tokyo Drift," another first ascent, now repeated by Adam Ondra, and Ondra's "Drift," which is a confirmed 8C. With a total of three 8Cs, she holds the second-most ascents of this grade after Katie Lamb.
Janja Garnbret – “Iron Sit”
In the spring of 2024, it also appeared Janja Garnbret She joined the club of 8C female boulderers. She was the first woman to repeat "Bügeleisen Sit" in the Maltatal, Austria. Because she didn't like the video of her ascent, she climbed the line again afterward. Garnbret is also one of only three women worldwide to have climbed a 9b+ with a rope – along with Brooke Raboutou and Laura Rogora.
Marine Thenevet – “Juneru”
French climber Marine Thenevet secured the first female ascent of "Juneru" in Albarracín, Spain, in October 2024. She had almost completed the boulder the previous year but fell on the top. The line was first climbed by Rubén Díaz Torres in 2020 and has been climbed many times since. In 2026, Thenevet also repeated "Méithra," an 8C in Valais. At 35, Thenevet was the oldest of the ten female climbers who completed her first 8C ascent.
Michaela Kiersch – “Dreamtime”
She is one of the strongest female boulderers in the world: In November 2024, she repeated Michaela Kiersch as the first woman to climb the iconic boulder “Dreamtime“(8C) in Cresciano. With her ascent of Fred Nicole's Ultra-Kingline, Kiersch also became the first woman to both boulder 8C and climb 9a+. In total, Kiersch's tick list includes more than 20 boulders graded 8B or 8B+, as well as five routes graded 9a and two routes graded 9a+.”
Mei Kotake – “PIG”
The tenth in the group: In 2026, Kotake became the second Japanese woman to boulder an 8C with "PIG" at the Gotthard Pass. Previously, she had already completed four boulders in the grade 8B+.
That might interest you
- Brooke Raboutou is the first woman to climb 9b+ | Excalibur
- Katie Lamb makes climbing history again: She is the first woman to boulder 8C+
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Credits cover photo: Mei Kotake Instagram