Young gun Greg Boswell made the second freeascent today of Don't Die of Ignorance, Dave Macleod's XI,11 testpiece on Ben Nevis.

Greg Boswell copyright James Dunn

This line first climbed in 2008 takes a super steep rightwards traverse along a previously aided faultline before a very over hanging crux move leads to a committing finish to this initial pitch on thin ice. Above lie several more pitches to the top. Writing on his blog after the first ascent MacLeod described the crux pitch... 'The axe slid and jerked a centimetre. My heart missed a beat and the jolt nearly made me fall, my hand sliding down the upside down axe to the head and rolling onto three fingers. I dynamic match and kung fu allowed one foot to swing onto the wall to the right and up to the peg I got in on Friday. The vertical wall above was climbed in an utterly ‘go for broke’ style, axes ripping , dropping onto one hand and gasping with pump and shrieking for slack. All a bit full on.' 

Boswell had an eventful day of tries earlier in the week, first dropping his axe on his onsight, then breaking a hold on his next attempt. Returning today his ascent went 'surprisingly smoothly' although Boswell admits to finging the top wall 'Terrifying. The ice was so thin at times I had no idea what I was on.' This is the second of MacLeod's XIs that Boswell has repeated. After his third ascent of the Hurting Boswell felt it more like X,10 and it seems he feels the same about Don't Die...with the grade perhaps earnt by the top runout where you end up on very thin hooks 10m above gear. Interestingly Boswell also found the upper pitches, graded technical 6 to be challenging 'Solid Cairngorm 7, although I must have been tired.' It's nice to know even the best get tired sometimes!

Watch Greg on Don't Die of Ignorance in James Dunn's film here

Look out for an indepth interview with Greg Boswell in Climb 86

Greg Boswell is sponsored Grivel, Scarpa, Deuter, Outdoor Research, Big Tree Campervans, Edelrid, Lorpen, Skitrab