How hard is V17?

V17 in other grades

V17 is Font 9A, the top of both bouldering scales. One boulder, Exodia in Italy, has been proposed at V18 (9A+), but nobody has repeated it to confirm that yet. See V17 on the grade chart.

How many people have climbed V17?

Very few. Burden of Dreams in Finland became the first 9A in 2016, and nobody repeated it for six and a half years. Since 2021 the list has grown quickly, but as of October 2026 only a couple of dozen climbers have topped a 9A boulder, and no woman has yet. Will Bosi and Simon Lorenzi have climbed five each. The full list is in the hardest boulders in the world.

How long does a V17 take?

Even for the strongest boulderers alive, a first ascent at 9A is a long project:

• Nalle Hukkataival spent about three years and more than 4,000 attempts on Burden of Dreams.
• Daniel Woods needed 52 sessions for Return of the Sleepwalker.
• Shawn Raboutou took around 25 sessions on Alphane, and Aidan Roberts around 35 on Spots of Time.
• Elias Iagnemma’s Exodia, the proposed V18, took 211 sessions.

Repeats go faster because the beta is known: Will Bosi repeated Spots of Time in 8 sessions, and Hamish McArthur climbed No One Mourns the Wicked in a single session. Those are still some of the best climbers in the world on their best days.

How V17 compares with the grades you climb

On paper V17 is seven grades above V10 and twelve above V5. But at the top the steps aren’t even, and a V17 is usually built from moves that only a handful of people can do at all. Will Bosi said the crux of his Realm of Tor’ment was one to two grades harder than the single-move 8A+ boulders beside it, and compared it to the first move of Burden of Dreams.

How V17 climbers train

In a Lattice Training video, coach Ollie Torr and Aidan Roberts lay out how Aidan trains for 9A:

• Five days on, two off. Five days a week of board climbing and fingerboarding, and two active rest days with no load on the fingers, used for legs, core and mobility.
• General first, then specific. A base phase of hard free climbing on a training board followed by volume; then, before a trip or project, 60 to 90 minute sessions on moves that copy the project, with extra volume cut to almost nothing so his fingers recover.
• Long, easier hangs for durable fingers. Longer hangs at lower loads, in both open-hand and crimp positions, alongside the hard work.
• Strength for climbing, not for the gym. Low-rep, heavy exercises such as shoulder rotations and rows, without adding muscle he doesn’t need on the wall.

In a second video with Tom Randall, Aidan explains his projecting. He wants every individual move dialled before trying big links, so that a fall comes down to strength rather than a missed detail. When he’s pumped he rests about 30 minutes, does a few single moves to wake back up, then rests another 10, instead of sitting for 40 minutes straight. In the cold he rests less, so he doesn’t cool down.

What V17 climbers tell everyone else

Lattice asked climbers at every grade from V0 to V17 for one tip. The strongest gave advice you can use at any grade: Martin Keller (V15/16) said quality and intensity matter more than volume, Drew Ruana (V16) said to work on your anti-style, the climbs that feel hardest for you, and Will Bosi (V17) said to project with a partner, so you can share beta and feedback.