This week, 20-year-old Briton Matthew Mendes made the second ascent of Will Bosi's "Realm of Tor'ment" (9A) in the Peak District. It is his first boulder problem of this grade – after only five years of climbing outdoors and indoors.
Eight trains to the first 9A
Matthew Mendes repeated "Realm of Tor'ment" (9A) in the Peak District this week. The power boulder problem, just eight moves long, was first climbed by Will Bosi in May 2025, who graded it 9A. Mendes now secures the first repeat.
For the 20-year-old, it's a milestone in several respects: Mendes has only been climbing since 2021 and hadn't ticked a single 8C+ boulder before "Realm of Tor'ment". His hardest boulder to date was "Trance" (8C).
“Realm of Tor'ment” was Mendes’ big project for this year. Due to the bad weather, he had already prepared to postpone the attempts until the next season.
I'm incredibly happy that I managed to send the boulder just before the end of the season. This boulder was my main project for this year. […] Luckily, the holds dried out in time, so I was able to squeeze in a few more sessions and finally top the boulder.
Matthew Mendes
so Mendes told Gripped Magazine.
Rapid rise to the bouldering elite
The steepness of the Briton's performance curve is evident from a look at his tick list so far. At the beginning of 2026, Mendes sent "Gaston LeGume" (8B+) and "Deandelion Mind" (8B+) on their first attempts. He also established a boulder problem graded 8B+ with "John's Problem".
With "Realm of Tor'ment", Mendes skips the grade 8C+ on paper and moves directly from his only 8C to date into the ranks of 9A boulderers.
Will Bosi sees Realm of Tor'ment at the lower end of 9A.
Will Bosi had been working on the line at Raven Tor since spring 2023. With the first ascent in May 2025, the Scotsman achieved his fifth 9A boulder problem.
In his evaluation, Bosi drew comparisons to, among others, "Burden of Dreams" and "Spots of Time".
"If 'Spots of Time' is rated 9A, then it makes sense to me to also classify this boulder as 9A. However, I think both are probably closer to the lower end of 9A."
Will Bosi
Bosi said regarding the assessment.
With Mendes' ascent, "Realm of Tor'ment" has now received its first confirmation from a repeat ascender. Whether Mendes has already commented on his assessment of the line is not clear from the report.
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Credits: Cover picture Band of Birds (Will Bosi during the first ascent, archive image)