Coleman makes first ascent of No One Mourns the Wicked (V17/Font 9A)
- Wednesday 1st January 2025
First out of the traps for 2025 is mellowclimbing with an exclusive film of Nathaniel Coleman making the first ascent of No One Mourns the Wicked (V17/Font 9A) at Thunder Ridge, Colorado.
The Ben Neilson film starts by showing Nathaniel Colemen’s November 18th 2023 ascent of Defying Gravity, a V16/Font 8C originally climbed by Daniel Woods a decade ago. Neilson catalogues Coleman’s mastery of the first crucial move on Defying Gravity and then his mission to add the low down start into it.
Coleman’s commentary of the first crucial moves on Defying Gravity not only sets the scene to the film but becomes the essence of what he has called No One Mourns the Wicked. Considered one of the hardest moves around, the US bouldering cognoscenti had speculated that doing this low-percentage move after the moves on the low start “might be impossible”. Coleman has proved that opinion to be inaccurate!
The low start itself is a nine-move V13/Font 8B. Starting down and right of the stand start of Defying Gravity, the low start centres on climbing along a slopey, low-friction rail into the stand start position. The crucial move of Defying Gravity then stands as a roadblock. Above that move, a second hard dyno move follows before the moves up the overhanging face ease somewhat. Defying Gravity has 12 hand moves to attain a standing position above the lip. In total, No One Mourns the Wicked is therefore 21 hand moves in total – no more than three or four of those moves are intermediate moves; in short, No One Mourns the Wicked is – like other V17/Font 9A’s such as Alphane – little short of a route!
Back in 2020, Nathaniel Coleman made the first ascent of Grand Illusion (V16/Font 8C+) in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Grand Illusion was a low start to Chris Sharma’s Euro Roof itself a V13. Given that Grand Illusion has a total of 25 continuous moves, Coleman clearly revels in long, hard boulders. Sean Bailey who made the second ascent of Grand Illusion considered it comparable to a F9a+/b sport route; clearly, No One Mourns the Wicked is harder and might well tip the scales somewhere up in the F9b/+ to F9b+/c range; Darth Grader even suggests F9c!
Watch the film on mellowclimbing's YouTube below…