Will Moss: The Climbs and Falls of a Rising Star in the Climbing World

“The most viewed video of me climbing is of me falling,” Will Moss tells me. “I was in Indian Creek after trying Kokanee Corner late that night, and I got on the Carbondale Short Bus the next morning. But I guess they got a good video out of it.”

“It was not that big, just a small fall, but it got some views for some reason.” He means the video from 2023 racked up 2 million views, says the 19-year-old sponsored climber out of New York City.

When he was 18 and still in high school, he ticked off the FA of the 5.14d R Best Things in Life are Free in the Gunks. “It’s unrepeated,” he says.  “I had to climb upside down out a roof and risked a gnarly fall,” he says, adding he was 25 feet out above a number 6 stopper.  That created the danger, as the further you are out the overhang, the more you risk falling into the less overhung wall below.”

This season in Yosemite, he ticked off a huge list of 5.13 big wall-free climbs.

During his first year at CU Boulder, Colorado, he tried to do as many 5.14 trad routes as possible in Colorado. This included sending Cheating Reality, 5.14a R, Vice Roy, 5.14b R/X (“I got the second ascent of that. That was my proudest one last year”). Vice Roy at Castle Rock in Boulder Canyon is where Brad Gobright and Molly Mitchell broke their backs on it, he says. “Brad was trying the whole thing, Molly the first pitch, but they both broke their back on the first pitch. It’s bolted, but it’s doable on trad gear, as Matt Wilder established in on trad gear.” To send it, Will bouldered out the V9 start as a highball – 25 feet until his first piece —  skipping the dubious gear placements that he saw in Safety Third and didn’t want to whip the gear out.

After Vice Roy, he ticked China Doll 5.14 R, saying he thinks he was the first person to do it without clipping the fixed pin. “On single-pitch trad climbs like that, I only like to clip the gear I place. It feels like a purer send.”

He also did Kill Switch, 5.14a, at Gross Reservoir, outside the Flatirons. Then he sent Kokanee Corner, which Hayden Kennedy put up; Kennedy also did the FA of Carbondale Short Bus.

Moss arrived in Yosemite right after his finals ended, showing up on May 9. So far he’s ticked Wet Lycra Nightmare in two days, after getting thunderstormed off it the first day. “It was within 12 hours of the second day.” The 5.13d big wall on Leaning Tower is known for its huge roof and five 5.13 pitches, one 5.13d and one 5.12c. He led the climb, falling twice on the first day, splitting his finger open. On day two, he fell once on the slab, once on the boulder problem (5.13d roof), and once on the 5.13a stemming layback pitch. The last pitch, a chicken wing chimney took him five goes. As Will climbed inverted, his knees spit out blood, and he ground his bones into the wall to fight his way through. Eventually, on his last go, he taped his knees so he wouldn’t slide out of the crack due to his blood.

Back at my office. Taking a break for a moment, I look over at Will. His knees are scraped, and it looks like scabs have recently come off his knee caps. His hands are covered in gobies, and his toes are covered in thick callus.

This season in Yosemite, he also did the 5.13b, nine pitch Final Frontier on Fifi Buttress. He fell once on the 5.12d stemming pitch but fired the rest on sight. He then flashed Romulan Warbird, 5.12c, also nine pitches and on Fifi. Up next was Nexus, 5.13a/b, a stacked 10-pitch route which he did with one fall due to a broken hold.

Then came Mahtah on Liberty Cap, a rarely climbed fifteen pitch 5.12d that was overgrown and was in the sun all day, so he and Stu Grossman climbed it at night. Pitches were oozing with slime and dirt, plus water, plants, bats, frogs, and spiders. “I onsighted it,” he says.

“It was sick, a total adventure,” Stu says from my living room. “It was unbelievable that Will sent.”

“I also did the Phoenix,” Will adds, hardly mentioning sending the first 5.13 in the world. “Then I onsighted Dream Team, 5.13a, ten pitches in Fifi. That’s what these knee scrapes are from, the 5.12 chimney. I’m not the best chimney climber in the world.”

This is Will’s second season in Yosemite. Last year, over a week, he onsighted the Westie Face of Leaning Tower, 5.13a A0, nine pitches, with his dad belaying and cleaning pitches. Before that, he onsighted Astroman, which is ten pitches and 5.11c.

“What’s next,” I ask.

“I want to do two 5.14 trad climbs over the summer in Colorado. One is Orangutang Overhang, 5.14a at Independence Pass, and the other is the Full Dunn-Westbay Direct, which is close to 10 pitches, including an 80-metre 5.14a at 13,500 feet.”