Will Bosi claims second ascent of Return of the Sleepwalker (V17/9A)

Will Bosi has claimed the second ascent of Return of the Sleepwalker, the 9A/V17 at Red Rocks, USA established by Daniel Woods in 2021. The ascent took Bosi 12 sessions in total with 3 sessions on the stand and nine on the sit, although two of the sessions on the sit were quickly abandoned due to rain.

Commenting on the ascent the 25-year-old stated "Coming out to Las Vegas, I had no idea how this trip was going to go as I do not climb on sandstone often and Sleepwalker did not look my style. Sending Sleepwalker 8C/V15 in only three days completely blew my mind and having a long time left on the trip, I was pretty confident I could have a good stab at getting Return of the Sleepwalker done.

In the last session before the send, everything just clicked. I was feeling confident but as the weather forecast looked bleak with a storm closing in, I was only able to take one rest day before heading back out for another session. I still felt quite tired so I was unsure about even trying it.

However, after warming up, the moves were feeling great and I decided to give it a go. The first attempt went perfectly up to the sloper but then I really messed up the next move through to the slot and almost dropped it. Somehow, I recovered and hit the last hard move perfectly. Pulling onto the slab was incredible and I had to take a minute to get my breath back before heading up to the top".

Commenting on the grade of Return of The Sleepwalker the climber from Edinburgh said: "Grade wise I still believe the stand start is only 8C/V15 but I do think the sit start adds enough for it to remain 9A/V17. In comparison to the other climbs I have done at this grade, I think Return of the Sleepwalker comes in around the bottom end of the grade. Burden of Dreams was harder but it is such a different style. I think ‘Return’ probably came in harder than Alphane. Currently, I am very unsure about the distinction between 8C+ and 9A and I think it will take some time and a broader consensus of climbers operating at this level to get the distinction right."

This ascent is Bosi's third at 9A/V17 after his repeat of Shawn Raboutou’s Alphane in Chironico in 2022 and Nalle Hukkataival’s Burden of Dreams in Lappnor, Finland in 2023.

The ascent puts Bosi alongside only Simon Lorenzi as climbers who have climbed three 9A/V17 graded boulder problems. Lorenzi climbed Soudain Seul in Fontainebleau in 2021, Alphane and Burden of Dreams in 2023.

As for what is next, Bosi commented: "My next project is dependent on conditions but I would love to head back to Arco and try to finish Excalibur (Stefano Ghisolfi’s 9b+/5.15c) or back to Brno to work more on Terranova. I would also love to spend some time finding new lines in Scotland but the weather seems to always be against that!".