Will Bosi, 22, from Edinburgh, United Kingdom has claimed the first ascent of ‘King Capella’ at Siurana, Spain and has proposed the grade of 9b+. If confirmed, it would make him the first British climber to climb the grade (and sixth in the world).
Bosi has been in Spain since December 2020 as a part of his preparations for the 2021 competition season and longer-term campaign preparations for the next Olympic cycle.
“I only really had two goals for the trip which were to stay safe [from COVID-19] and train hard in the off-season so I am in good shape for competitions later on in the year. There were sections of the Moscow European Championships that I was really proud of but also areas for improvement so the trip out to Spain was aimed to reset and start to plan ahead for the future. I didn’t do any specific preparations for the trip but I had just finished the European Championships so I went into the trip feeling pretty fit.”
Bosi climbed La Capella (9b) in the same sector in early 2020 which made him the first Brit to climb the grade abroad and during this trip added another two first ascents to the area, La Furia de Jabali (9b) and Last Night (9a) but King Capella, bolted by David Brasco, represented a significant step up in difficulty according to Bosi:
“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.”
Last Night (9a), another first ascent in the same area by Will Bosi, bolted by Dani Andrada. Photo: Band of Birds
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 continues: “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 has 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.”
On top of Will’s first ascents, he amassed a staggering ticklist with notable repeats including First Ley (9a+), Ley Indignata (9a – third ascent) and Estadio Critico (9a). Will kept his bouldering in check with establishing a new 8C boulder in Siurana, Ulls de Bruixa, as well as repeating Bhai Bon (8b+), Bhai Po (8b+), Bhai Kakata 8b+/c, Bhai Ji 8b+ and Hurrikuto 8b.
Bosi is now back in the UK in quarantine before resuming training for the GB Climbing lead selection.
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