William (Will) Bosi (born 27 December 1998) is a British professional rock climber specializing in sport climbing, bouldering and competition climbing. Bosi is only the second British sport climber in history to redpoint a 9b (5.15b) graded sport climbing route (King Capella in 2021), and by 2023, was one of only a small group of climbers in the world to have completed a V17 (9A) boulder (Alphane in 2022, Burden of Dreams in 2023, and both Return of the Sleepwalker and Spots of Time in 2024).

Quick Facts Personal information, Born ...
William "Will" Bosi
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Bosi in the semi-final of the 2018 IFSC Climbing World Championships
Personal information
Born (1998-12-27) December 27, 1998 (age 25)
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom[1]
EducationBroughton High School, Edinburgh[1]
OccupationProfessional rock climber
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Websitewww.bandofbirds.co.uk/willbosi-athlete-page
Climbing career
Type of climber
Ape index+2cm (0.79 in)
Highest grade
Known for
  • Second Briton to climb 9b (5.15b)
  • Second Briton to climb V17 (9A)
First ascents
  • Honey Badger (V16, 2022)
  • Free at Last (9a+, 2022)
  • King Capella (9b, 2021)
  • Brandenburg (9a+, 2021)
  • La Furia de Jabalí (9a+, 2021)
Updated on 28 June 2023
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Early life and education

Bosi was born in Edinburgh to Alison and Martin Bosi. His mother is a nursery nurse from Inverleith. Both parents took him and his 3-year-old brother Alexander to an indoor climbing centre in Newhaven, Edinburgh when he was 6 years old. He attended Broughton High School, Edinburgh. By 2011, Bosi was the British Champion in the Youth Climbing Series (a competition climbing event for boys aged 11 to 13) and also the Scottish Youth Climbing Champion.[1]

Climbing career

Sport climbing

In 2016, Bosi came to attention when aged 17 he redpointed Steve McClure's famous British sport climbing route Rainshadow, becoming the youngest Briton to climb a 9a (5.14d) graded sport route.[2][3]

In 2020–2021, Bosi became only the second British climber in history, after Steve McClure, to climb a 9b (5.15b) grade sport route with his repeat of Adam Ondra's La Capella, and followed up by his first free ascent of King Capella (a route initially considered a possible 9b+), both of which are in Siurana in Spain.[4]

Bouldering

In 2022, on a trip with Adam Ondra to his home crag of Moravský Kras in the Czech Republic, Bosi flashed the 8B+ (V14) boulder, Charizard (he failed on Ondra's as yet unrepeated 8C+ boulder, Terranova).[5] That year, he also created Honey Badger in the English peak district, which he graded at 8C+ (V16).[6][7]

In November 2022, Bosi became one of only a handful of boulderers in the world to have climbed a grade V17 (9A) boulder when he repeated Shawn Raboutou's Alphane, which he felt was easier than his own 8C+ graded route, Honey Badger.[8] In April 2023, he made the first repeat of Nalle Hukkataival's Burden of Dreams, considered the world's first-ever V17 (9A) boulder, and which at the time of Bosi's repeat was still considered the world's hardest boulder.[9][10][11] In February 2024, Bosi made the first repeat of Daniel Woods' Return of the Sleepwalker, which he felt was easier than Burden of Dreams, but harder than Alphane, with Bosi stating that Woods' route was definitely at a V17 grade.[12]

Competition climbing

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Bosi at the Munich leg of the 2017 Bouldering World Cup

Bosi has represented Britain in competition lead climbing, in both youth and adult formats, and in 2018 became the first Briton to reach an International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) final in 30 years, where he finished fifth at the IFSC World Cup in Chamonix; he finished fourth twice during the 2019 IFSC World Cup.[13][14] Bosi narrowly missed out on a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, despite trying to learn speed climbing, a required discipline in Olympic competition climbing.[15]

In 2021, Bosi announced that he was taking a break from competition climbing to focus on outdoor sport climbing and bouldering.[5]

Notable ascents

Redpointed routes

9b (5.15b):

  • La CapellaSiurana (ESP) – February, 2020. Third repeat of Adam Ondra's 2011 route, and the second-ever British climber to climb a 9b route (after Steve McClure with Rainman in 2017); sometimes considered closer to 9a+.[19]

9a+ (5.15a):

  • Free at LastDumbarton Rock (GBR) – July, 2022. First ascent. A long-standing unsolved line beside Dave Cuthbertson's famous 1983 route, Requiem (E8 6c), and Dave MacLeod's 2006 equally notable route, Rhapsody (E11 7a); Free at Last became Scotland's hardest route.[20][21]
  • Brandenburg GateRaven Tor (GBR) – November, 2021. First ascent. The line was regarded as a "holy grail" of British sport climbing.[22]
  • MutationRaven Tor (GBR) – October, 2021. First repeat of Steve McClure's ground-breaking 1998 route, which Bosi suggested was "at least" 9a+ (and possibly harder), making it one of the first-ever 9a+ sport climbing routes in history.[23][24][25]
  • First LeyMargalef (ESP) – February, 2021. Repeat ascent of Chris Sharma's 2010 route that is popular with aspiring 9a+ climbers.[24]

9a (5.14d):

  • RainshadowMalham Cove (GBR) – May, 2016. Became the youngest Briton to climb at 9a when he made the fifth repeat of Steve McClure's iconic 2003 route, aged 17; Rainshadow is considered the "benchmark" for aspiring 9a sport climbers in Britain.[2][3][26]

Boulder problems

V17 (9A):

  • Spots of TimeHelvellyn, (En) – October, 2024. First repeat of Aidan Roberts's route.

V16 (8C+):

  • Honey BadgerPeak District, (GBR) – August, 2022. First ascent and the third British boulder to be graded at V16.[6][7]

Terranova https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwH0jE8uBQM

V15 (8C):

See also

References

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