SUPER futuristic climbing

If you’ve ever screamed into the void of a seeping limestone cave, congratulations — you too might be qualified to grade a modern 9A.

Will Bosi, Britain’s premiere climbing cyborg and resident destroyer of fingernails, just claimed the first ascent of Realm of Tor’ment (V17/9A) at Raven Tor — a boulder that’s been haunting the crag like a damp ghost for years. Once known as the “Burden of Nightmares” project (subtle), Bosi finally put it to bed with a send that required double-digit sessions over multiple years, a prayer to the deadpoint gods, and apparently the willingness to pretend Raven Tor is not, in fact, a massive drop-off.

“I think this move alone is around a one-move 8B+,” Bosi said, describing the crux slap to a tiny flat edge that sounds more like a dare than a hold.

The line opens with four “steady but very engaged” moves (translation: probably heinous), before launching into a sequence that includes a sharp undercut, a tension footwalk, and a crux that makes the word “dynamic” feel criminally understated. According to Bosi, it tops out with a heroic slap to a flake, assuming you haven’t melted from lactic acid or existential despair by then.

On grading, Bosi was predictably modest — but also kind of precise:

“It feels harder than any power-based 8C+ I’ve done… so low-end 9A makes sense.”
— @will_bosi, Instagram Philosopher

Naturally, the internet responded with a mix of awe, skepticism, and poetic nihilism. One commenter declared “the future is eliminate dropoffs and is so bright,” while another simply noted, “This guy just doesn’t stop.”

Still, not everyone is sold on the pristine aesthetics of Raven Tor. Some lament the graffiti, the seepage, the vibe. Others, like Chuck U. Farley, waxed nostalgic about damp European limestone dens with broken glass and “party remnants” — the sacred altars of hardcore bouldering.

As for comparisons? Some are calling it a spiritual cousin to Burden of Dreams (same single-move brutality, different finish). Others see it as a statement piece for the growing museum of V17s: short, powerful, and extremely Will Bosi.

What’s clear is this: Realm of Tor’ment continues Bosi’s campaign to define what 9A actually means — not on paper, but in scarred skin and shattered beta.

And we can’t wait to see who repeats it… and what they call it after they do.