Madeline Brandt does Mind Stream (8A+) at Smugglers' Notch. The 31-year-old did her first 7C+ two and a half years ago and has since then done 40 such graded boulders and harder.

“I’m very happy to have sent my first 8A+! Mind Stream has a short but very cool sequence. It starts with shouldery back-to-back crux moves through crimps in a roof, and then you gain the lip of the roof foot-first. Last year I did a few of the moves individually, so I was hopeful that this one would be my first 8A+. But, after a shoulder injury this past summer I decided to wait until spring to try it again. I wasn’t sure how I’d fare on it this time around, so I went in to the session with curbed expectations. To my surprise, I was able to repeat the moves I had done quickly, and also managed the one move I hadn’t previously done. A few bottom burns later I was on top of the boulder!”

What is your climbing background and what are your summer plans?
I got started climbing 9 years ago in gyms. Three years ago I moved to Providence, where the very psyched local community got me hooked on outdoor bouldering at Lincoln Woods. After that my motivation skyrocketed! Since then I’ve enjoyed exploring all the amazing blocs in New England, attempting to solve the stone puzzles, and pushing my physical limits through training.

I’m moving to Nashville over the summer for work, so I don’t have any climbing trips planned. I’m just going to get in lots of training and wait for the fall season in the south!

Delphine Chenevier has done Vagabond d’occid’ANX (8b+) in Gorges de Crossey. The 49-year-old, who sent her first 8c last year, did her first 8b more than twenty years ago and in 1999, she placed #6 in a Boulder World Cup. Pictured is her on the route, le pathogène furtif (8a+).

"I’m very happy to have sent this 8b+, which is a very beautiful long route (35m) but very demanding. This route, opened by a friend, is iconic of the local style (Grenoble): slightly overhanging, very technical and very very crimpy. The route starts with a tough traverse on small pockets and crimps (the hardest part for me) and ends on a crispy vertical wall that requires finger strength and precise footwork. Initially, I thought it would be too technical for me and thought it would be a project for the Spring period. But, I pieced all the moves together much quicker than I expected. In the end, including the sessions I spent to find the beta, I sent it after 5 sessions (less than 10 times in the route). I feel very well in the route during the sending and enjoy very much this great line."

What does a normal week look like for you? Are you able to easily fit climbing in?
Hmm…Most of my week is taken up with my professional life. After that, depending on my job and family life, I try to do an after work climbing session on the rock, an evening session on the hangboard, some regular yoga and pilates exercises in the morning and finally Saturday and Sunday mornings or afternoons with friends on the rock.

What are your summer plans?
Summer isn’t the time when I climb the most because it’s more a time dedicated to family holidays. I’m more interested in having pleasure to climb and discovering new beautiful routes. But why not trying a new little project between now and the summer? Another 8b+ or a 8C [perhaps]?

Janja Garnbret reports with an Instagram video that she has done the first female ascent of Nalle Hukkataival's Bügeleisen sit-start (8C) in Maltatal. Two years ago she sent the 8B+ stand and this time she needed less than 30 minutes to get the beta and send it. (c) Stanko Gruden from 2022.

"Funny sidenote: wasn’t happy with the video Roman [Krajnik] took of my ascent, so I actually went for another go and climbed the whole thing again ;)"

In the last 23 World Cups, the 25-year-old has participated in, she has never placed lower than second place, in addition to winning six golds in the European and World Championships, as well as the Olympics.

Charlotte Frank has completed American Hustle (8c) in Oliana. ”In the beginning I found this route a little bit weird - I started to like it though, once I found out the beta. Especially the crux with its shouldery moves is pretty interesting.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
American Hustle is one of the 50-meter-long gems on the big cliff of Oliana. Bolted by Walker Emerson and Sam Elias in 2014 and freed by the latter, the line consists of many physical boulder sections with good rests in between. It's characterized by some pretty shoulder-intense and complex moves that seemed a little bit weird to me in the first moment. After I figured out the beta, the climbing felt flowier though. In my case, this route turned out to be one of these projects that you can climb pretty quickly with one stop in the crux – but then you end up trying it for quite a while with one stop. It's even more rewarding if you can link it all together at some point, even without it feeling too exhausting anymore. It's definitely a route worth trying!

Moritz Perwitzschky, has added to the ten 9a's he's already done by redpointing, Corona (9a+) in Frankenjura. It was put up by Markus Bock in 2006 as the first 9a+ in Germany. In the picture, Moritz is doing Black Label (9a) which is the route next to Corona.

"It took me around 10-12 sessions over a few years, as I never felt strong enough, to really focus on it. This year I felt way better on the crux moves and climbed it in the 3rd session. The route consists of a short easy approach into a 6 move-boulder on very tiny holds, that are supposed to be around 8A+/8B...after that, you need to stay calm and focused for 10 more moves, probably around 8a/+."

Loic Zehani, who has already completed 15 FA's 9a+ to 9b, has made the FA of Phoénix (9a+) in Sainte-Baume. (c) Lunar Fox

”Nice route. 30 hard, beautiful and varied movements. Slighty overhang. Finally done after many failures in the last hard move! Thank you to Thomas and my father for finding me THE méthod for the last move . It was time for it to end before it got too hot . About a dozen days, 11 of which were with crappy methods ...”

Moritz Welt has made the first repeat of Alex Megos' Janus (9a) in Frankenjura. "idk anymore, it always felt so hard I thought it must be 9a+, this season it went so quickly."

Can you tell us more about the process behind it repeating Janus?
I tried Janus a few times over the last years, but couldn't really do more than all the single moves in isolation, and thought it felt way harder than other 9a's. Then two years ago I decided to focus on Lazarus and postponed all my other Frankenjura projects. Last season I focused on Corona and Action, so finally this spring it was time for Janus. Already on the first session I felt better than ever and finally finished it in the third session of the year. Now I think hard 9a is appropriate, but no one except Alex and me has done it so far, and still some people consider it 9a+.

What are your summer plans?
Really want to try some of my local FA projects during the next months! 🙂 Only thing I can say is that they're probably among the hardest in Frankenjura! 🙂

Cambell Sarinopoulos, who last month did her first 8A, has completed Euro Trash (8A+) in Little Cottonwood. Pictured here is the 20-year-old on Bronson's Arete (7B+).

Can you tell us more about breaking into 8A+ and your climbing background?
I really enjoyed this climb, the moves were pretty powerful and definitely fit me well. I was psyched to send it pretty quickly on my third session. The actual send attempt was messy and I grabbed every hold wrong but I was psyched it all came together. It was my first of the grade and I’m psyched to start trying some harder stuff!


I competed in both the youth and adult circuits for pretty much my entire life. I have made the youth and adult national teams and competed around the world. This year I took a break from the adult circuit and have just been getting out as much as possible.

What was your best competition result?
I won youth nationals three times and got 6th in bouldering at youth worlds in 2019. I got 5th at Team Trials and made the adult US national team in 2021 and competed in World Cups that year and the year after. My best World Cup placement was in the 30s

Amandine Loury has onsighted Elleanor (8b) and redpointed Fin del Conflicto (8c), both in Margalef. In the 8a ranking game, the 34-year-old is #6. (c) Jean-luc Jeunet

” A friend told me that it was maybe possible to onsight Elleanor. At the begining I thought it was too hard. After the send of Canto a la Libertad, I felt very well and I was not pumped. So I thougt, finally maybe it’s possible to try Elleanor onsight. I had very good feeling, it was crazy!

Fin del Conflicto is a route that I tried in October, but I had fallen in the middle section completely pumped. This time I took just two tries to remember the movement, and just two days just before leaving Margalef, I did a try and I went to the top. Fin del Conflicto is a very beautiful route bolted by O. Jimenez and Dani Andrada. There are three sections. The first is the most difficult on small pockets. The second is very very nice on crimps and tufas and the last is stressfull because it’s again difficult on tufas and pockets.”

Elisa Lauretano, who has sent ten 8A’s over the last year, has done Toy Boy (8A+) in Val di Mello.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your climbing background?
I've been climbing all my life but for the last 4 years I've been devoting myself more to bouldering on rock, which I have discovered to be my true passion! Since then I've started watching a lot of bouldering videos to [help] try out [climbs] around Italy and Switzerland. As soon as I saw the Toy Boy, something inside me clicks! I absolutely wanted to climb that crack, for me who loves crimps it was something incredible.

Last year we went to Val Masino for the first time and after finding the line I discovered that it was even more beautiful! You need strong fingers, but it's a very physical and endurance boulder. Two scattered attempts over a period of months were not enough for me to get the single [moves] right. This weekend we decided to go up to the valley, everything was quite wet, so I put my hands back on Toy boy and unexpectedly I sorted out all the singles!