16 year-old William Bosi of Edinburgh has climbed Monk Life (f8B+) 8B+ at Kyloe-in-the-woods (Kyloe-In) in Northumberland. The problem was first climbed in 2003 by Malcolm Smith and William's ascent is thought to be only the 7th ever and the youngest to date. Making his achievement all the more impressive is the minimal time spent on the problem - just two short sessions, followed by success first go on his third session.

William initially tried Monk Life in August, on his first visit to Kyloe in the Woods. He told UKC:

"With it being my first visit I decided just to try a lot of the problems, as I had read so much about them, and especially Monk Life, so I gave it a go out of interest. On that day I only gave it a few attempts and didn't manage to get up to the crux. But I was instantly blown away by the problem and knew I had to return."

Returning to Kyloe last week on Tuesday the 13th, William picked up some useful beta from another climber attempting the problem. On his first attempt he reached the crux and knew it could be possible. However, despite getting close, another session would be needed:

"So I returned Monday 19th, still without any expectations, did a couple of problems to warm up, and then decided I would give it a warm up go, to get the movement back. However, before I got on my mum insisted we put the camera on, just in case, which at the time seemed a bit far fetched but I'm very grateful we did, as that go I just managed to climb it right and did it! I still can't really believe it."

The problem is described in the UKC logbooks as follows:

"The line of tiny holds on an otherwise blank face, with a big crux move off a chicken head and sharp pocket to finish on better holds."

Watch a video of William on Monk Life below:

William is sponsored by: Red Chili and Wild Country