New member of the 9A Club: Ritsu Kayotani reprises “No One Mourns the Wicked”

The 20-year-old Japanese climber has now achieved the fifth ascent of the line in Colorado. For Kayotani, it is his first boulder problem graded 9A – although this grade has been under discussion since Yannick Flohé's proposal to downgrade it to 8C+.

Just a few days ago, Kayotani announced his ascent of Daniel Woods' iconic line "Defying Gravity" (8C) in Thunder Ridge, Colorado. For the bouldering specialist from Japan, it was only natural to also attempt the corresponding sit start, "No One Mourns the Wicked" (9A). He quickly sent that as well – with his successful ascent, Kayotani now joins the ranks of 9A boulderers. which currently includes 28 climbers.

Ritsu Kayotani is considered one of Japan's strongest outdoor boulderersLast year, the then 20-year-old achieved his first 8C+, "Nexus," first climbed by Ryuichi Murai in 2021 after five years of work. Since then, Kayotani has climbed three more 8C+ boulders – as well as ten 8Cs in the last two years alone. Until last season, he also participated in Boulder World Cups, where he frequently reached the semi-finals and even made it to the finals in Innsbruck in 2024.

“No One Mourns the Wicked” was long considered impossible.

“No One Mourns the Wicked” was released in December 2024 by the American and Olympic silver medalist Nathaniel Coleman First ascent after a total of 22 sessions. Previously, Noah Wheeler, who has since climbed three 9As himself, had also attempted it unsuccessfully.

After the first ascent, Coleman proposed a grade of 9A for the line. His reasoning: The difficulty of "No One Mourns the Wicked" lies in having to climb before the extremely heavy single train from “Defying Gravity” (8C), which is about 8B difficult sit-start passage to climb.

The first replay then caused a stir. Hamish McArthur in May 2025. The Briton was able to perform both “Defying Gravity” and “No One Mourns the Wicked” in under two and a half hours Check it off the list. The line, long considered impossible, has thus become the fastest repeated 9A.

2026: Yannick Flohé downgrades to 8C+

In February 2026, it was achieved Beckett Hsin the third ascent of the line, making the then 16-year-old the youngest 9A boulderer. Hsin then hinted, that the boulder might be easier as the proposed grade, but emphasized at the same time: "I have too little experience in such difficult bouldering to give an honest opinion on the difficulty."

A few months later, he also repeated Yannick Flohe "No One Mourns the Wicked." Instead of accepting the title of the first German 9A boulderer, he proposed downgrading it to 8C+. His reasoning: The difficulty consists primarily of the Fighting against the conditions and less against the boulder itself.

“I don’t think this boulder is 9A,” Flohé had said after his repeat ascent. Unlike the first ascensionist, he rated the sit-start section as 8A instead of 8B – a difference that significantly influenced the overall grade.

Fundamental discussion about the role of conditions

While downgrades (as well as upgrades) are a natural part of outdoor climbing and bouldering, Downgrades in grade 9A rather rare before. In total 15 bouldering problems There are currently officially climbs below this difficulty level – including already confirmed lines such as “Burden of Dreams” or “Alphane”, but also a handful of unrepeated boulders such as “Charlatan” or “The Big Slamm”.

Flohé's statement regarding the level of "No One Mourns the Wicked" certainly didn't go unnoticed in the scene. Hamish McArthur congratulated him. via Instagram comment for the inspection, but made it clear that he sees the issue of conditions differently:

McArthur is known for his often philosophical-sounding pronouncements on social media – just as Yannick Flohé is known for his directness. The climber from Essen remained convinced: if an ascent is achieved so quickly, the difficulty level – at least from his own perspective – can't be right.

That might interest you

• Why Adam Ondra downgrades “Exodia” from 9A+ to 9A
• This line was long considered impossible – No One Mourns the Wicked (9A)

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Credits cover photo: Lena Drapella/IFSC