This line was long considered impossible – No One Mourns the Wicked (9A)

At the end of last year, Nathaniel Coleman made the first ascent of the 9A boulder No One Mourns the Wicked. The line is the low version of the boulder Defying Gravity (8C), which was long considered impossible.

As Daniel Woods the boulder Defying Gravity (8C) was first ascended, there was already speculation about whether the low version was climbable or not. The general opinion was that it was not. One move in Defying Gravity was considered so difficult that it was considered impossible to climb a hard sequence beforehand.

After the American Nathaniel Coleman When he repeated Defying Gravity in 2023, he decided to attempt the impossible. His goal was to optimize the difficult move of Defying Gravity and climb the sequence before it as smoothly and efficiently as possible to make the entire line doable.

The process leading up to the first ascent definitely boosted my self-confidence.

Nathaniel Coleman

The following video shows the impressive story of his vision and perseverance in projecting the boulder No One Mourns the Wicked (9A) in Colorado, USA.

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Credits: Cover picture Ben Neilson / The North Face

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