[1] The Fly was bolted by Mark Sprague in 1995 as an open project but did not see a first free ascent until David Graham, an 18-year-old American climber from Maine, climbed it in April 2000, who graded it 5.14d (9a) or V14 (8B+).

[2] David Graham made the first free ascent (FFA) on April 7, 2000.

[3] At the time, David Graham and Luke Parady proposed the tentative grade of 5.14d (9a).

After further ascents and fine-tuning of the beta (choreography) needed to climb it, the consensus has settled to approximately 5.14c/d  using the Yosemite decimal system or 8B/+ in the Font bouldering grade.

The route is quite short by sport climbing standards, essentially a rope-protected highball boulder problem, with its two protection bolts being placed before the now common use of many stacked 'crash pads' to protect the dangerous landing.