Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4089 Climbers
7937 Climbs
20994 Ascents
Featured
Will Bosi
Will Bosi is a climber from Edinburgh in Scotland. He first came to prominence as a competition climber, but has since become one of the leading climbers across both sport climbing and bouldering. In 2020 he became only the second Brit to climb 9b with La Capella, and in 2025 he made the second ascent of Excalibur (9b+), becoming the first British climber to climb the grade.
Much of Will's most notable climbing since 2022 has been in bouldering. In 2022 he made the first ascent of Honey Badger (8C+) at Badger Cove, and later that year climbed Alphane (9A). He has since added Burden of Dreams (9A), Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Spots of Time (9A). In 2025 Will made the first ascent of Realm of Tor'ment (9A), making him the first person to climb five 9A boulders.
Will continues to push himself on projects such as Silence (9c), Terranova (8C+) and the Dumby Project.
References
[1] My Climbing Journey April 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmmMbpCsSuA
[2] Interview with Lattice Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn1dJNPfAfc
[3] https://www.climbing.com/people/interview-will-bosi-spots-of-time/
[4] Interview with Emil Abrahamsson Jan 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OygaAqejUTg
[5] https://fanatic-climbing.com/will-bosi-sur-une-ile-deserte-will-bosi-on-a-desert-island/
Will Bosi is a climber from Edinburgh in Scotland. He first came to prominence as a competition climber, but has since become one of the leading climbers across both sport climbing and bouldering. In 2020 he became only the second Brit to climb 9b with La Capella, and in 2025 he made the second ascent of Excalibur (9b+), becoming the first British climber to climb the grade.
Much of Will's most notable climbing since 2022 has been in bouldering. In 2022 he made the first ascent of Honey Badger (8C+) at Badger Cove, and later that year climbed Alphane (9A). He has since added Burden of Dreams (9A), Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Spots of Time (9A). In 2025 Will made the first ascent of Realm of Tor'ment (9A), making him the first person to climb five 9A boulders.
Will continues to push himself on projects such as Silence (9c), Terranova (8C+) and the Dumby Project.
References
[1] My Climbing Journey April 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmmMbpCsSuA
[2] Interview with Lattice Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn1dJNPfAfc
[3] https://www.climbing.com/people/interview-will-bosi-spots-of-time/
[4] Interview with Emil Abrahamsson Jan 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OygaAqejUTg
[5] https://fanatic-climbing.com/will-bosi-sur-une-ile-deserte-will-bosi-on-a-desert-island/
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10183 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Support
If you've enjoyed using climbing-history.org please consider supporting the project by joining the patreon. Your support helps pay for the hosting required to keep the site running. Everyone who donates gets added to the supporters page.
You may also be interested in the Mountain Heritage Trust, a charity dedicated to preserving the rich history of climbing and mountaineering. Their collection includes many unique and valuable items, from rare guidebooks through to the boots worn by Doug Scott on the 1977 Ogre expedition.
Explore
Fancy a look around? You can browse by climber or by climbs, or you can check out some lists. For example
- All sport ascents of 9b or above
- British women who have climbed 7C or above
- British men who have climbed 8c or above
Podcasts
Featuring 4030 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Chelsea Rude on The Enormocast (2016)
- Ollie Torr on The Nugget (2023)
- Chris Sharma on The Testpiece Podcast (2025)
- Tim Kang on The Testpiece Podcast (2026)
Library
Featuring 15068 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Valley Uprising (2014) Film
- Alpine Journal 1981 39-47 Barry Gauri Sankar (1981) Journal
- Southern Culm Bouldering (2013) Guidebook
Recent updates
Wuthering Heights is the silhouetted line of boulders on the ridge to the north-west of Kura Tāwhiti Scenic Reserve.
Dark Castle is the predator fenced area in the north of Kura Tāwhiti Scenic Reserve.
References
References
For me [it] was maybe my best moment bouldering ever. It's not the hardest thing I've climbed but it's a boulder I've always wanted to do. In terms of how it looks it's the sort of climb that attracts me the most: quite high, really nice arete, not that many holds but just enough that you can climb it.
I saw Ty climbing it really fast in Between the Trees, and when I saw that i was like "I wish I could climb this boulder". [1]