The Mandala
In the sport of rock climbing, The Mandala is a high bouldering problem (a difficult but short climb completed without a rope) in the Buttermilks, a popular bouldering area near Bishop, California. It is one of the most widely known boulder problems in the world, and is graded . History. The problem climbs a steep overhanging prow on a large granite boulder that for many decades was considered too difficult and futuristic to solve. In 2008, "Climbing" magazine recounted a story from the 1970s where John Bachar and Ron Kauk reportedly joked the line would one day fall to  John Gill's grandchildren, and describing it as a boulder that "to this day remains one of the most coveted and storied problems in American bouldering". It was first climbed by Chris Sharma in February 2000. Sharma's ascent received much acclaim in the climbing community, however he did not assign a grade the problem. The boulder was repeated by other climbers several months later in quick succession, the first being Dave Graham, secondly by Jared Roth, and thirdly by international boulderer Fred Nicole, and with subsequent ascents by others the grade was consolidated at . Since the first ascent, several  holds have broken including one of the crux holds. In 2002, Tony Lamiche completed the first flash of the route. In January 2008, Lisa Rands made the first female ascent, and in 2011, Alex Johnson made the second female ascent. Contemporary ascents are still covered in the climbing media. Variations. In 2002, a sit-down-start (SDS) was added by Tony Lamiche, which is graded at , and is somtimes referred to as "The Mandaloin", or "The Mandala" SDS. In 2007, Jeff Silcox added a more intimidating direct finish (avoiding the left escape near the top of the prow), to create  The Mandala Direct, still graded . Later in 2007, Paul Robinson, added the sit-down-start to Silcox's route, making the first ascent of "The Mandala Direct Assis", graded .