Gripped Magazine
16-Year-Old Beckett Hsin Is the Youngest Ever to Climb V17
Beckett Hsin has just made the third ascent of No One Mourns the Wicked V17 in Thunder Ridge, Colorado. V17 has been the hardest bouldering grade in the world until very recently, when Elias Iagnemma made the first ascent of Exodia and proposed V18. Very few have climbed V17, and at only 16 years old, Hsin is the youngest climber ever to achieve this bouldering grade.
NOMTW was established by Nathaniel Coleman in December 2024. The problem is a low start to Daniel Woods’ Defying Gravity V15, a wildly dynamic problem that features one of the single hardest starting moves of any problem anywhere. Hamish McArthur made the second ascent in May last year, topping the problem in a single session.
Clocking in at around V14, Defying Gravity’s first move is a coordinated throw to a glassy rail. A few different methods have been discovered for sticking the rail, but each one is as difficult as the next. After moving to a higher set of edges, a huge, shouldery deadpoint follows – with climbers cutting feet and bending their body into a scorpion-like position to hold the swing. In October, Hsin topped the problem in a day.
NOMTW, the low start to Defying Gravity, was a long-standing open project and the original vision for the line. The low start sequence is no joke. Coleman used nine hand moves to reach the starting hand positions of Defying Gravity, estimating this sequence to be V13. The nine moves are fingery and require a lot of tension, fatiguing the forearms and zapping power. Immediately following the low start, the arguably hardest single move in the world awaits. On 8a.nu, Hsin recorded the ascent as soft V17.
“Back in 2022 I set myself the goal of climbing my first v12 with the hopes of doing it before my 13th birthday,” said Hsin on Instagram. “I had been climbing for around 6 years, but until that point had never bouldered outside much. The idea of outdoor bouldering was something that always got me psyched, but it was new to me, and I had no clue what I was capable of. I thought that goal would be a cool way to test what my limit was on rock. That same summer, I ended up sending what, at the time, I called my first v14. After that summer, I started joking about how it would be cool to continue bouldering my age as I got older. Each season I got more psyched, and my love for climbing grew. Subsequently, the limit of what was possible expanded as well, and I started to internalize that goal even more.
“NOMTW challenged me in ways no other boulder has. After completing Defying Gravity I was relatively confident about my chances with the low. But, after session 2, I realized how much of a battle it would be. I don’t talk about it often, but I have Lyme disease. While it’s generally nothing more than an inconvenience. At times, it can become an issue within my climbing. This was one of those cases. Issues with my Lyme stacked on top of several other uncontrollable factors, specifically conditions, caused my sessions to be very inconsistent. Some days I’d feel good and could stick the crux move 80% of the time (in iso). Other days, I’d barely generate enough to touch the hold.
“In the end, it all came down to patience. I knew it was possible, and I knew it was only a matter of finding the right day. But, I also had to accept the fact that I might not send, and learn to be okay with that. I feel like in the past I’ve always sent boulders by forcing the moves into submission, but this felt like the complete opposite. I had to submit myself to the boulder. However, last week my day finally came. On the hike, my body felt good, my mind felt clear, and the conditions were perfect. Everything was aligned, and I knew I was ready.
“When grading boulders, I generally try to be as honest with myself as possible, basing grades off my personal experiences. I personally don’t feel like I have enough experience with boulders at this difficulty to give an honest opinion on the grade. However, regardless if this thing truly is v17 or not, it does feel like a satisfying resolve to the goal that I’ve worked for the past several years.
“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to share this experience with so many amazing people. Thanks you to everyone who’s supported me over these past few years. I’m beyond psyched to continue pushing the my limits, and I’m psyched to see what’s next for me and my climbing!”
The world’s first V17 was established in 2016 when Nalle Hukketaival opened Burden of Dreams in Lappnor, Finland. The bouldering world did not see another V17 ascent until 2021, when Simon Lorenzi made the FA of Soudain Seul in Fontainebleau, France. Since then, the number of V17 climbers has grown. But the V17 club to date only has 23 members, Hsin included.
In September 2025, Hsin repeated Creature of the Black Lagoon V16 in the Upper Chaos Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park. Only one month later, he sent Defying Gravity. In 2023, he climbed The Game V15, a Daniel Woods line at Cob Rock, Colorado. Last year alone, his V14 ticklist includes Echale at Clear Creek Canyon, Colorado, Ménage a Trois in Rocklands, South Africa, The Grey at Rocky Mountain National Park, and Book Club in Rocklands, South Africa. Hsin sent his first V14, Spatial Awareness Low, at Lincoln Lake, Colorado when he was only 12 years old.
Nathaniel Coleman’s First Ascent of No One Mourns the Wicked V17
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