William (Will) Bosi (born 27 December 1998) is a Scottish professional

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

specializing in

sport climbing Sport climbing (or Bolted climbing) is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors (or bolts), permanently fixed into the rock for climber protection, in which a rope that is attached to the climber is clipped into the anchors to ...

, bouldering and competition climbing. Bosi is only the second British sport climber in history to

redpoint Redpoint ( gd, An Rubha Dearg) is a small settlement in the north west of Highland, Scotland. It takes its name from Red Point, a low promontory to the south, which marks a turn in the coastline from facing west to south east as it becomes Loc ...

a 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 boulder (''

Alphane ''Alphane'' is a bouldering route in Chironico, Switzerland. It is graded at , making it one of the hardest boulders in the world. ''Alphane'' sits to the left of Dave Graham's ''Alphane Moon'' , and was discovered by Graham many years before ...

'' in 2022, '' Burden of Dreams'' in 2023, and ''Return of the Sleepwalker'' in 2024).

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 Broughton High School is a secondary school located in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2009, the building at Inverleith was replaced with a building funded by a public–private partnership. The school is currently situated next to Inverleit ...

. 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.

Climbing career

Sport climbing

In 2016, Bosi came to attention when aged 17 he redpointed Steve McClure's famous British

route ''Rainshadow'', becoming the youngest Briton to climb a graded sport route. In 2020–2021, Bosi became only the second British climber in history, after Steve McClure, to climb a grade sport route with his repeat of Adam Ondra's ''La Capella'', and followed up by his

first free ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of ''King Capella'' (a route initially considered a possible 9b+), both of which are in Siurana in Spain.

Bouldering

In 2022, on a trip with Adam Ondra to his home crag of Moravský Kras in the Czech Republic, Bosi flashed the boulder, ''Charizard'' (he failed on Ondra's as yet unrepeated 8C+ boulder, ''Terranova''). That year, he also created ''Honey Badger'' in the English peak district, which he graded at . In November 2022, Bosi became one of only a handful of boulderers in the world to have climbed a grade boulder when he repeated

Shawn Raboutou Shawn Raboutou (born April 19, 1998) is an American rock climber. In 2022, he became the first person to climb the bouldering grade of on more than one occasion. Early life Shawn Raboutou was born in Boulder, Colorado on April 19, 1998. He is t ...

's ''

'', which he felt was easier than his own 8C+ graded route, ''Honey Badger''. In April 2023, he made the first repeat of

Nalle Hukkataival Nalle Hukkataival (born 8 September 1986 in Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore ...

's ''Burden of Dreams'', considered the world's first-ever boulder, and which at the time of Bosi's repeat was still considered the world's hardest boulder. 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.

Competition climbing

Bosi has represented Britain in

competition lead climbing A climbing competition (or comp) is usually held indoors on purpose built climbing walls. There are three main types of climbing competition: lead, speed, and bouldering. In lead climbing, the competitors start at the bottom of a route and must c ...

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

Notable ascents

Redpointed routes

: :* ''King Capella'' – Siurana ( ESP) – March, 2021. First ascent, which Bosi felt was at 9b+, but the grade was settled at 9b after repeats by

Alex Megos Alexander Megos (born 12 August 1993) is a German rock climber. He was the first climber to on-sight (climb on the first try without prior practice or advice) a route graded . He has completed multiple routes and boulder problems that are not ...

(2021), and Jakob Schubert (2021). :* ''La Capella'' – Siurana ( 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+. : :* ''Free at Last'' – Dumbarton Rock ( GBR) – July, 2022. First ascent. A long-standing unsolved line beside Dave Cuthbertson's famous 1983 route, ''Requiem'' (E8 6c), and

Dave MacLeod Dave MacLeod (born 17 July 1978) is a Scottish people, Scottish rock climber, ice climbing, ice climber, and climbing author. MacLeod is best known for being the first climber in the world to climb in free solo style (without rope) a route ('' ...

's 2006 equally notable route, ''Rhapsody'' (E11 7a); ''Free at Last'' became Scotland's hardest route. :* ''Brandenburg Gate'' –

Raven Tor Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove, Central England, River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale ...

( GBR) – November, 2021. First ascent. The line was regarded as a "holy grail" of British sport climbing. :* ''Mutation'' –

( 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. :* ''First Ley'' –

Margalef Margalef is a village in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the edge of Montsant and is a popular ecotourism destination, especially among rock climbers Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural r ...

( ESP) – February, 2021. Repeat ascent of Chris Sharma's 2010 route that is popular with aspiring 9a+ climbers. :* ''La Furia de Jabalí'' – Siurana ( ESP) – February, 2021. First ascent, which Bosi felt could be 9b, but the grade later settled at 9a+ after repeats by

(2021), Jakob Schubert (2021), and Adam Ondra (2022). : :* ''Rainshadow'' – Malham 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.

Boulder problems

: :* ''Return of the Sleepwalker'' – Red Rock Canyon ( US) – February 2024 – First repeat of the world's second-ever V17 boulder problem by Daniel Woods (2021). :*'' Burden of Dreams'' – Lappnor, ( ) – April, 2023. First repeat of the world's first-ever V17 boulder problem by

(2016), and in 2023, was still considered the world's hardest boulder; Bosi practiced on a replica 3D version in Britain. :* ''

'' – Chironico, ( SUI) – November, 2022. Second repeat of

's route that Bosi felt was easier than ''Honey Badger''. : :* ''Ephyra'' – Chironico, ( SUI) – November, 2022. Third repeat of Jimmy Webb's 2019 boulder. :* ''Honey Badger'' – Peak District, ( GBR) – August, 2022. First ascent and the third British boulder to be graded at V16. : :* '' Dreamtime'' –

Cresciano Cresciano is a former municipality in the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Iragna, Lodrino and Osogna merged into the new municipality of Riviera. History Cresciano is f ...

, ( SUI) – December, 2022. Repeat of the famous boulder Fred Nicole route; took only 4 attempts.

References

External links

VIDEO: Watch Will Bosi Become the Sixth Person to Climb 5.15c with King Capella
'' Climbing'' (2021)
VIDEO: What I Learned Watching Will Bosi’s Livestream of Burden of Dreams
'' Climbing'' (2023)
VIDEO: Will Bosi, My Climbing Journey
''Base Magazine'' (2023) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bosi, William 1998 births Living people British rock climbers Scottish rock climbers Boulder climbers Sportspeople from Edinburgh People educated at Broughton High School, Edinburgh British competition climbers