Simon Lorenzi sends Shaolin, his 5th 9A boulder

Exactly two years to the day after his ascent of Burden of Dreams, Belgium's Simon Lorenzi has sent Shaolin in Red Rock, USA, bringing his total of confirmed 9A boulders to five. Established by Sean Bailey in November 2024, the problem was first repeated by Noah Wheeler in March 2025, followed by an on-fire Zach Galla in November 2025 who, a week later, also sent Return of the Sleepwalker on the same Las Vegas sandstone.

Lorenzi arrived in the USA mid-november with Mejdi Schalck and Jules Marchaland, commented "Shaolin was my main goal of the trip; I had tried it a little last year and trained specifically to be ready and fit! Everything went super smoothly. It’s the first time a 9A has worked like this for me: at every session I was making progress, without rushing, just staying patient until everything clicked. It was also much easier mentally than last year, because I was with my friends, we had an Airbnb, we were comfortable, joking around outside the boulder. The whole experience was really enjoyable!"

The 28-year-old is now only the second climber in the world to have sent five boulders graded 9A / V17, following in the footsteps of Scotland's Will Bosi. 9A+ currently represents the pinnacle of modern bouldering, thanks to Elias Iagnemma who last November established Exodia at Rifugio Barbara in Val Pellice, Italy.

Simon Lorenzi 5x9A
2021: Soudain Seul - Fontainebleau, France. First ascent: Lorenzi
2022: Burden of Dreams - Lapnor, Finland. First ascent: Nalle Hukkataival 2016
2023: Alphane - Chironico, Switzerland. First ascent: Shawn Raboutou 2022
2024: Return of the Sleepwalker - Red Rocks, USA. First ascent: Daniel Woods 2021
2025: Shaolin - Red Rocks, USA. First ascent: Sean Bailey 2024