In the mid 1990s Ben turned his attention to a 50-metre project at Kilnsey, but after 30 days of trying the route over three seasons he packed in sport climbing in 1996 and turned his attention bouldering. Four years later Steve McClure sent the old Kilnsey project and named the route Northern Lights, giving it a grade of 9a.
Ben applied the same tenacity to bouldering as he did to routes and helped enrich and develop bouldering as a sport in its own right, not merely as training for routes. Bouldering films like The Real Thing and One Summer featured Ben and other UK climbing stars, like Jerry Moffatt and Ben Pritchard, and showcased bouldering in a new light.
Ben went on to contribute a number of hard boulders to the climbing world, including Black Lung (8B) in Joe’s Valley, Utah, 8 Ball (8A+) at Gardoms Edge and Cypher (8B) at Slipstones.
In January 2005 Ben made the third ascent of The Ace (8B), Moffatt's sit start version of The Joker at Stanage and in November he went on to make the first ascent of Voyager (stand) (8B) at Burbage West.
A year later, in November 2006, 40-year-old Ben successfully completed the sit start variant of Voyager. This route was Ben’s hardest to date—and is widely regarded as the hardest problem on gritstone—and he subsequently wrote on his blog: "It's been really hard for me and is certainly the hardest bit of climbing I have done. I am pretty sure it's 8B+."
Later that same month, during a trip to the US, Moon flashed Diaphanous Sea (V12) at Hueco Tanks. However, upon returning to the UK Ben packed in climbing, finding that he was feeling demotivated and wanted to focus on his family and business.
It would be nearly a decade before Ben’s motivation returned, but return it did.
Ben claims that his inspiration was renewed when he saw someone climbing Rainshadow (9a), the continuation of Raindogs, at Malham. He went on to send the route in June 2015, age 49.
In November 2018, at 52 years old, Ben made a rare repeat of Jerry Moffatt’s 1995 route Evolution (8c+) after trying the route on and off for over two decades. He had climbed Hajj (8c) three weeks prior. He then returned his attention and efforts to Northern Lights at Kilnsey, to which he has now devoted over 100 days since the mid 1990s.