Will Bosi Climbs First V16 in Peak District
Will Bosi and Drew Ruana have climbed everything in this last year. Bosi's latest ascent joins the 20+ videos Ruana uploaded this weekend
Will Bosi completed the first ascent of what may become recognized as the U.K.’s most challenging boulder problem. After the most successful season of the 23-year-old climber’s career, Bosi continues to push the limits by developing the hardest boulder problem in the peak district. He is not alone. American Drew Ruana published several incredible ascents to his Youtube channel yesterday.
While many climbers have drifted to South Africa for the summer season, Bosi and Ruana have stayed closer to home, pushing in their local areas. Bosi’s ascent of Honey Badger 8C+ comes after a V14 flash of Charizard, and 18 ascents of boulder problems graded 8A+ and harder on a trip to Moravský Kras in Czechia.
At 17 Bosi became the youngest british climber to send 9a with his ascent of Rainshadow. In 2020, Bosi became the first Brit to climb 9b abroad with his ascent of La Capella. This problem would be the UK’s third problem with a proposed difficulty of 8C+. It joins Aidan Robert’s Superpower and Isles of Wonder Sit.
Honey Badger 8C+ (V16) First Ascent
The Peak District’s Badger Cove was originally developed by Dan Varian and Ned Feehally around 2010. In 2020, Bosi repeated the hardest lines in the area, and this year, he returned to develop low starts to some of the area’s classics.
Bosi established Trance 8C (V15) and Beautiful Mind 8C (V15) on the steep limestone edges that describe the area. In a video released on August 12, Bosi said he wanted to create his own independent line.
“I was keen to put up my own independent line. There was still space at part of the crag to do that,” Bosi said. Badger Cove had a dry season allowing for Bosi to pull on a portion of rock that is normally too damp for enjoyable climbing. Bosi and Feehally cleaned the line up and begin working the powerful boulder problem.
“The boulder starts right at the back of the cave which means it climbs through the steepest part, which is like an 80-degree roof maybe. The climbing is super powerful. Although the holds are a relatively okay size at this point, the moves are really difficult. Not only is it powerful, but it’s also pretty technical, which is cool, and this section sort of ends after about seven moves.”
The more difficult climbing follows, moving directly into a move Bosi found so difficult that he described it as near the limit of what was possible. The second section goes into an 8A+ – 8B boulder, before moving into a 7c, “kinda highball.”
After organizing a big crew, Bosi went out to climb the problem and managed it on his second attempt of the day. the climb came together as a 22-move masterpiece featuring classic difficult limestone climbing. Bosi said that it feels harder than the 8Cs he has done which is why he graded it 8C+.
“This is by far the hardest boulder problem I have done to date, and one of the best,” says Bosi. He continued to say that he is looking forward to climbing in the United States.
Drew Ruana Uploads Hard Ascents
One of America’s strongest boulderers recently published numerous difficult ascents to his YouTube channel. Among these, he included Bloody Sunday sit a V15 first ascent he put up in Coal Creek Colorado in June 2021.
He also included an ascent of A New Hope, a V14/15 first ascent also in Colorado. This ascent joined Echalo a V15 first ascent in Clear Creek Canyon.
Ruana’s channel reflects many other hard climbing channels, but includes an inordinate amount of difficult climbing, most of which was uploaded within the last 72 hours. Among his recently uploaded ascents, Ruana climbed:
Watch the following here:
Jade V14
Jumpman V14
Midnight Express V14
A New Hope V14/15 FA
French Connection V14
Big Arms V15
Bloody Sunday Sit V15 FA
Eagle and the Hawk V14
Sinawav V14
The Other Side of Infinity V14
Echalo V15 FA
Linkin Logs V14
Goldfish Trombone V14
Hailstorm V14 FA
Box therapy V16
Creature from the Black Lagoon V16
Sleepwalker V16
White Noise V15
Pegasus V15 FA
Memory is Parallax V14
Meadowlark Lemon right V14
The Nest V15
You can find all of these ascents on his Youtube channel here. These ascents all come from the last two years. What is perhaps even crazier than all of these difficult climbs is Ruana’s goal to climb all V14s and harder in Colorado.
This list includes more than 80 V14s and 30 V15s. In March, he completed his 50th V14 with Memory is Parallax.
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