Will Bosi Climbs New 5.15c with King Capella
If confirmed, he will become only the sixth climber in the world to climb the grade
Photo by: Band of Birds of King Capella FA
Scottish crusher Will Bosi, 22, has made the first ascent of King Capella at Siurana in Catalonia, Spain and proposed the grade of 5.15c. If confirmed, it would make him the first British climber and only the sixth climber ever to climb the grade.
Bosi has been in Spain since December 2020 as a part of his preparations for the 2021 competition season and longer-term preparations for the next Olympic cycle. In addition to two other first ascents of a 5.15b, a 5.15a and an V15 (cleaned by Dave Graham) during his time in Spain, he also amassed a ticklist with notable repeats including First Ley 5.15a, Ley Indignata 5.15a (third ascent) and Estado Critico 5.14d.
Bosi climbed La Capella 5.15b in the same sector in early 2020 which made him the first Brit to climb the grade abroad and during this trip added La Furia de Jabali 5.15b (bolted by Beto Rocasolano) and Last Night 5.14d (bolted by Dani Andrada) but King Capella, bolted by David Brasco, represented a significant step up in difficulty according to Bosi.
He said, “King Capella has the same style of the area with a series of boulder problems stacked on top of one another however this route was another level for me. For comparison, it took me three sessions to complete La Capella, whereas it took me three sessions to unlock the first sequence on King Capella.”
As well as the intense, fingery and powerful climbing typical of the area, the middle of the route was unlocked by Bosi with an explosive dynamic move before moving straight into another tough sequence. “With powerful moves that don’t let up and having big all points off moves, King Capella was like I got to be Chris Sharma for a day, it was amazing!”
Bosi added, “After Moscow [European Championships], the purpose of the training trip was to firstly reset after a long and tough Olympic campaign and secondly to put in a base level preparation for the upcoming IFSC World Cup lead season. Spain as the some of the highest concentration of hard sport climbing, and I was also able to project first ascents in order to force myself to try unconventional beta to solve hard problems which is similar to what appears in World Cups.”
King Capella starts left of La Capella at the edge of the scooped wall into a set of bouldery sequences before the pressure finally relents. It took Will 10 sessions to make the first ascent.
Bosi is now back in the UK in quarantine before resuming training for the GB Climbing lead selection. At 17, he became the youngest Brit to climb 5.14d at the time with Rainshadow at Malham Cove. Since then, Bosi has become one of the leading lights of GB Climbing. In 2018, he reached the final of IFSC Chamonix Lead Climbing competition which was the first time a male had reached a lead final since 1998. In 2020, Bosi became the first Brit to climb 5.15b abroad with his ascent of La Capella.
The other climbers to send 5.15c, include Adam Ondra, Chris Sharma, Alex Megos, Stefano Ghisolfi and Jakob Schubert.
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