For most boulderers, flashing even one climb a grade or two harder than their warm-up indicates a good day out.
But Will Bosi’s built different.
The young Scot posted an 8B+ flash and an 8C send (in just two tries) in Cresciano, Switzerland, on Dec 8. “The Dagger” went down on his first try, and “Dreamtime” surrendered on Bosi’s second effort.
For Bosi, it was a casual affair — that almost didn’t happen, because he struggled at first to find the bloc.
“What a crazy day! From getting lost and not being able to find the boulder to flashing The Dagger and then almost flashing Dreamtime. So happy to be in Switzerland for a couple days!” he wrote on Instagram.
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Bosi firmly belongs in the coterie of the world’s hardest boulderers. He climbed Shawn Raboutou’s “Alphane” in November, to become one of the planet’s five 9A ascensionists. And his proclivity for dispatching hard climbs in little time only appears to increase.
He made abrupt news last year at Raven Tor, where he scuttled several of the storied crag’s hardest rigs in a matter of days. And on an April trip to some choice pebbles near Adam Ondra’s home in the Czech Republic, he popped an 8A+ flash, an 8B+ flash, an 8A+ first ascent flash, and an 8C first ascent in one day.
Watching him climb, it’s easy to see why. Bosi’s got “wings” for latissimus dorsi that you can see from the front, sure — but his style is nothing if not efficient.
And in the end, that’s what he attributed his impromptu Cresciano success to.
“The magic of flashing boulders comes from having to have everything come together perfectly in your climbing. So you need to be strong enough, use the feet well, move correctly and be mentally ready to fully commit to moves you don’t understand,” he told me. “When this works, the feeling is amazing!”
If only I knew.
