Will Bosi has made the second ascent of Aidan Roberts' Swirl Crags boulder Spots of Time (f9A).

In climbing Spots of Time, Will becomes the first person to have climbed four boulders at 9A.

His first boulder at the grade, Alphane (f9A), came just under two years ago, in October of 2022. The ascent - the boulder's third, after Shawn Raboutou and Aidan Roberts - took him somewhere in the region of thirteen sessions. Comparing it to his first ascent of Honey Badger (f8C+), he said:

I personally felt that Honey Badger (8C+) was more of a challenge for me and proposing a grade for that at the time was daunting as it was my first 8C+. At the cutting edge of climbing, grading feels so much more difficult as the margins are that much finer and personal strengths and preferences really come into play'.

'Is it 9A? Honestly, I do not know and as I gain more experience of climbing around this grade range I may have a better view, but it is a fantastic line established by Shawn and I look forward to seeing more experienced climbers comment on where the grade sits'.

His second, and highest profile, 9A ascent came in April 2023, when he made the long-awaited second ascent of Nalle Hukkataival's Lappnor testpiece, Burden of Dreams (f9A).

The boulder, which had previously been attempted by many of the strongest climbers in the world, took him twenty-four sessions in total, ten of which were on a scanned replica, and fourteen of which were on the boulder itself. Speaking to UKC after the ascent, he said:

'Topping out has to be one of the most amazing experiences I've had — standing on top of the boulder in disbelief looking at the sky full of stars!'

'It's the hardest boulder I've done and I believe it's a big enough step to be 9A! I think it's harder than Alphane but not much harder. I could see both being the same grade but Burden being solid and Alphane being soft. I'll maybe comment more soon'.

He commented shortly after that he believed that Honey Badger was likely 'hard 8C+', that Alphane was likely 'soft 9A', and that Burden of Dreams was 'solid 9A'.

Will's third 9A was the first repeat of Daniel Woods' Black Velvet Canyon boulder Return of the Sleepwalker (f9A). 

The boulder took Will twelve sessions, with three dedicated to the stand-start, and nine dedicated to the sit - two of which were swiftly abandoned due to rain. 

Speaking of the grade specifically, Will said:

'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'.

Having been tipped off about Spots of Time by local climber John Hartley, Aidan first attempted Spots of Time in May of 2023. Just a stone's throw from his family home in the Lake District, the boulder offered Aidan the opportunity to spend more time at home after a long period of travel, whilst also giving him a project that challenged him, and would keep him motivated through a winter of hard training. 

Using dry days to project the boulder, and wet days to train for it - as well as his other 9A FA Arrival of the Birds - Aidan was able to find 'a harmonious balance between training and projecting that felt really special'.

When speaking to UKC about the ascent in May of this year, he described Spots of Time as one of his 'proudest moments', and as a boulder that 'means a lot because of what it represents for me as well as the climb itself', saying that the boulder would be reminder to 'consider whether I can find what I am looking for in my climbing adventures more locally before travelling abroad'.

He went on to describe the boulder as one that offered 'a new level of difficulty in what I have seen in UK bouldering, and of a quality and location which I feel can make a valuable contribution to the climbing here'.

Aidan spent roughly thirty days in total on Spots of Time, settling on his final sequence over a period of ten days. He described the boulder as a 'nice bit of variation in my style', saying 'you can't just solely static crimp the whole time'. He told UKC that the boulder is 'very fingers intensive', with edges that are 'slick and flat', where you need to 'rely on opposition and fast movement'.

'It's almost a vague compression boulder', he told us, 'but the fingers are crimping pretty hard! It felt very contingent on coordination for me. Not in the sense of jumping around, but it felt like I had to move fast and maintain tension in quite vague opposition with the legs. In the end, this one broke down into two sections for me. The third move felt like the hardest or most low percentage - latching that was a good try - and then the last move felt rather hard to execute well from the start'.

On the successful ascent, Aidan used a sequence of eighteen moves, with eight hand moves up to the point at which he had matched the lip of the boulder, and ten foot moves, including a heel hook which allows a static transition into a sharp crimp.

Whilst the exact beta that Will used isn't yet clear - the video of his ascent will be live on his YouTube Channel on Wednesday - he had explored various different approaches, and had found success when skipping the second hold on the boulder. 

All in all, Spots of Time took Will eight sessions. He told us:

'Ever since Aidan completed this project, I have been psyched to give it a go. What an incredible line! I had a really fun process finding my method as although there are only a couple of holds on the wall it's a very technical boulder and each move takes time to work out the right beta for you'.

'Everything about the boulder makes it amazing, from its quiet location up on Helvellyn to the fact it is a a pure face with only the one line and just the perfect amount of holds'.

Speaking on the grade of the boulder, he said:

'I am pretty confident the problem is 9A, and is very similar to Burden of Dreams in quite a few ways. I think the sequence I used was a bit easier than what Aidan did, however I think both sequences suit our styles perfectly so I'm not sure if what I did is actually easier or not'.

'I honestly think the boulder is one of the best hard lines in the world and I hope it attracts more people to come try it!'

Will is soon to travel Japan, to sample the wealth of top-end bouldering that the country has to offer.

'I am shortly heading Japan to explore some of the outdoor climbing there for the first time, so I cannot wait to see what a country with such a rich heritage of hard climbing has to offer'.