Will Bosi makes second ascent of 'Excalibur' (9b+) in Arco, Italy

Will Bosi from Scotland has made the second ascent of Excalibur in Arco, Italy. Located on a 40-degree overhanging wall in Drena, the route was initially bolted by Cristian Dorigatti and Morris Fontanari and freed in February 2023 by Stefano Ghisolfi, who proposed the grade of 9b+. This makes Excalibur the hardest route in Italy and one of the most challenging in the world.

What sets Excalibur apart is its unique character. Unlike most other routes in the 9b, 9b+, and 9c range, which tend to be long and endurance-based, Excalibur is short but incredibly intense. Featuring tiny crimps, the route demands a new level of power and precision. Despite being attempted by some of the world’s best climbers, including Adam Ondra, Jakob Schubert, Shawn Raboutou and Jana Švecova, it remained unrepeated until Bosi’s success.

Bosi began working on the line in late 2022 - while the route was still a project therefore - and spent a total of 21 sessions on Excalibur. However, as he notes, "only ten of these were good sessions due to conditions limiting attempts on the others." His ascent came two years to the day after Ghisolfi’s first free climb and was in part due to sessioning with Švecova from the Czech Republic, who is also working the line. Speaking to planetmountain, Bosi explained "Yes, Jana joined me on this trip for the first 10 days. Which was a lot of fun and gave me a lot of psyche! Also, her beta helped me unlock two of the crux sections on the upper boulder, so it was super important climbing with her here."

The 26-year-old from Edinburgh described the route as "one of the craziest and rewarding lines I have experienced and pulling onto the top of the route is something I will always remember. [Excalibur] was my longest project on a rope since Mutation (9a+ at Raven Tor UK) so I was so psyched to piece it all together finally."

Reflecting on the actual ascent, Bosi explained: "The first go of the day everything went perfectly, I felt like I was floating through the climb and arrived at my previous high point feeling strong. Setting up for the final hard move I was really confident but disaster struck and I just missed the hold and fell off. I took an hour rest, warmed up and went again. This time I arrived at the rest feeling tired battling through the upper section but on the final crux I landed perfectly into the slot. Pumped out of my mind, I almost fell jumping to the jug but just about kept it together for the top out."

Regarding the grade, Bosi admitted that after spending so much time bouldering, he felt “a little unqualified to be sure” but agreed with the rating. This is Bosi's first 9b+. In 2021, Bosi had proposed his own route, King Capella in Siurana, Spain, to be 9b+, but after ascents by Alex Megos and Jakob Schubert, the grade settled at 9b. Bosi noted that linking all the sequences on Excalibur significantly increased the overall difficulty, which reinforced his confidence in the 9b+ grade.

Bosi’s repeat of Excalibur marks his return to sport climbing after an extraordinary bouldering run. During this period, he climbed four boulders graded 9A/V17 — more than any other climber in the world. These are Shawn Raboutou’s Alphane (11/2022), Nalle Hukkataival’s Burden of Dreams (04/2023), Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker (02/2024) and Aidan Roberts’ Spots of Time (10/2024).

 

 

 

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