Nicolai Užnik Tops a Will Bosi V16 in an Hour
After making such quick work on the crimp problem, he believes it might be deserve a downgrade to V15
Yesterday, Austrian climber Nicolai Užnik had a very successful session of bouldering in Magic Wood, Switzerland. After sending Mystic Stylez V14 in only a few attempts, he topped Will Bosi’s Brain Rot V16. The crimp problem is found on a bloc to the left of the Jack’s Broken Heart, a classic V12 in the area. The difficulty of Brain Rot essentially boils down to three-move crimp sequence, where holding tension is key. The problem was discovered by Dave Graham, who also introduced Bosi to the line.
“Finally back outside with an amazing first day in Magic Wood!” said Užnik via Instagram. “Sent Mystic Stylez within a couple of tries and shortly after found myself on top of “rain Rot as well, which I think is the 5th ascent now! Since it took me more or less only an hour to climb it, I personally don‘t think it‘s [V16], even if it suits me really well. Nevertheless super happy with today and psyched for the next days.”
Brain Rot has now seen four repeats since Bosi’s FA in April. Tamas Zupan made the second ascent, Simon Lorenzi the third, and Sam Weir the fourth. Like Bosi, Zupan and Lorenzi called the problem V16 but Weir suggested a downgrade to V15.
Užnik has said he doesn’t believe the line is V16, but interestingly, he still took V16 for the grade on his 8a.nu, although he did mark it as “soft”. Upon his first ascent, Bosi was also unsure about the grade of Brain Rot, believing it to be soft V16 or hard V15. “Grade wise it’s definitely far harder than any of the [V14s] I’ve done this trip and suits me well so I’m sure it’s either [V15] or [V16],” he said at the time on Instagram. “I decided to go for the plus but time will tell.”
