Bosi adds Honey Badger and suggests Font 8C+, the UK’s third
- Friday 12th August 2022
Will Bosi has just added Honey Badger at Badger Cove; it’s Will’s first Font 8C+, the Peak District’s hardest boulder and only the third of its grade in the UK.
Thanks to the super dry conditions the steep section of Badger Cove, which is typically soggy for much of the time, was dry; Will, working with Ned Feehally, was able to clean the line and get it ready for climbing. Previously, and as part of his preparation of Honey Badger, Will had added sit starts to bother Bewilderness (Font 8B+) and Dandelion Mind (Font 8B) to give Trance and Beautiful Mind repsectively; both sit starts bump-up the difficulty of the original problem significantly such that Will's offerings both weigh-in at Font 8C.
Long for a boulder, the 22-move long Honey Badger starts at the back of the cave before climbing through the steepest section of rock to joing the upper section of Rampant Rabbit (Font 7C) and then the final jugs on Bewilderness before the gnarly top-out up the gully.
Despite the suffocating recent conditions Will has pressed on with his project taking a number of sessions to unlock the vicious crux of Honey Badger, a stopper deadpoint off a tiny crimp to a two-finger pocket. In total, Honey Badger took Will five sessions.
“This is by far the hardest boulder problem I have done to date and one of the best.” Will said, adding: “The climbing is so varied throughout from technical at the start, through to raw power and eventually hanging on for dear life at the end!”
Will pointed out the irony of Honey Badger being almost three times as long as Brandenburg Gate (F9a+) which he climbed at Raven Tor last autumn saying: “Climbing is a funny sport!”
Will also commented on the grade of Honey Badger saying: “This was a step up from the previous Font 8C’s I have done at Badger so in that regard, I felt the Font 8C+ grade is warranted but the margins at this top level are so fine I would happily be persuaded otherwise. Hopefully, I get the opportunity to try some other boulders at the grade and I can start to get a sense of where it is but for now, I will leave it at Font 8C+ and hopefully some strong climbers will come and give it a go”.
Will’s ascent of Honey Badger is his 11th boulder of Font 8C or harder which he’s climbed this year alone! At Font 8C+, Honey Badger is now the Peak’s hardest boulder problem. Honey Badger joins Aidan Roberts two super problems, Superpower and Isles of Wonder Sit, both of which were graded Font 8C+.
Watch a video of Will climbing Honey Badger on his YouTube channel or below…