Shauna Coxsey, known for being one of climbing's most successful competitors, has climbed The Boss (8B+) at Yarncliffe, which was first done by her husband, Ned Feehally, in 2020. Shauna did her first 8B+ in 2014, before focusing on competitions; earlier this spring she did her second.
(c) Dave Parry

“[The Boss] has been on my list ever since Ned did the first ascent. It is such a gem! The climbing is steep and powerful with some bad holds. It feels improbable at first. The last move is a huge blind slap overhead from a horizontal position. It is really committing and a bit spooky”.

Compared to her other 8B+ ascents, Shauna says: “It felt hard! I have been waiting a long time to believe I was strong enough to even try The Boss. It’s hard to compare it to the other 8B+’s/V14’s I’ve done as it’s a very different style but it sure felt a lot harder than Fat Lip [at Raven Tor] a local 8B/V13 which although on different rock it climbs kinda similar”.

Sebastien Bouin has made the FA of Les Rois du Lithium (9b) at Pic St Loup, and says it just might be his best 9b to date. In total, he has now done twelve 9b’s, out of which seven are FA’s. Additionally, Seb has a further five 9b+ ascents to his name, as well as the FA of the world's second 9c route, DNA.

”This part of the wall was attracting me since a long time. From the ground, “Les Rois du Lithium” looked like the perfect line. Straight in the wall with a 20m hardcore ending. When I bolted it, I couldn’t imagine there will be so much perfect holds. And when I firstly tried it, I was amazed by the moves and the line.

“Les Rois du Litthium” is basically split in two parts. There is an easy approach around 8b / 5.13d tiering you for the main part. And then, there is this beautiful power endurance part counting 22 hard moves in a row. The line and the moves are so fun. Every try was a pleasure. It’s like surfing a wave.

“Les Rois du Lithium” is possibly my favorite 5.15b climbed. The difficulty meets the beauty here. And there is something more: it’s fun. The fun fact is quite important on a hard project. When you like the effort, when riding the rock is inspiring yourself, you know you got the right project.

I tried this route during the fall season 2023. I was so psyched to finish the job this spring. I needed time to learn properly the 22 hard moves. There is no room for a mistake. The last hard move is so stunning. From two bad gastons, you have to reach left hand a sloppy crimp and take a swing with it. I fell few times upthere.

There is another hard and inspiring project in Pic Saint Loup : The “Wolf kingdom”project. It will be harder than “Les Rois du Lithium”. Let’s continue the fight !”

Anatole Bosio has done his third 9a+ by climbing Sachidananda (9a+) in Orgon. (c) Armand Navarette

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
Sashidananda is a route with a resistant style, featuring powerful movements in a big overhang. There's a physical start followed by two consecutive cruxes without rest: the first in the most overhanging part with a complex heel hook that requires feeling and a lot of core strength. The second, the hardest, involves a big drop knee to hold a small edge before throwing laterally to the right onto a crack. For me, the difficulty of the route was managing the sections preceding the crux quickly to conserve energy but without any mistakes, then making explosive throws and believing despite the alteration of my ability to sense the movement due to physical and mental fatigue.

I don’t usually count sessions on projects when they drag on, but I know I had 9 sessions this year, maybe the same last year, and I had already been on the route in previous years. That's a lot compared to Supercrackinette, which took only 8 sessions, but for me, they are at the same level, the entry-level of 9a+.

Dylan Chuat, who's already done 16 routes graded 9a to 9a+, has repeated Seb Bouin's Beyond 9a+ in Pic St Loup, giving it an upgrade to 9a+ due to a broken hold. The same day he also sent Moksha (9a), which he says might be 8c+.

Can you tell us more about Beyond?
This is one of the 5 most beautiful routes I’ve ever climbed in my life, that’s for sure! I’d never have thought that such a small hold on such a big overhang could work and not even be that extreme! A very smooth approach [intro section] to climb, a first major boulder that finishes by jumping onto a tufa, then a transition to a second huge boulder and all this while finishing on the most beautiful colonette in the south of France, apparently! I think that’s the perfect definition of a king line, right? I’m glad to be back in shape after my operations and to be able to climb routes like this again! Now that the vacations are over, I hope to be able to get back on some really hard routes soon!

You mentioned an operation?
It was appendicitis that went wrong, and I had to be operated on twice because I was having septicemia, so they opened up my stomach twice. The first one in the beginning of December.

Loic Zehani, who has already completed 14 FA's 9a+ to 9b, has done the FA of Les nymphes (9a) in Sainte-Baume. "Nice crimpy route. A hard approach on varied grips, then a "campus board" section with crimps. After that, the second part is easier but still demanding. Fortunately, there is a rest before. Unexpected ascent because my main project was not in good condition today but this route was! So happy after a big fight."

Can you tell us more about your project?
Phoenix is ​​a project a few meters to the left of Les Nymphes. This is a route that I have been trying for a few sessions, I have already fallen 5 times at the end of the crux so I think I can succeed quickly.

Jabee Kim, older brother to one of the world’s most successful female competition climbers, Jain Kim, has climbed La Révolutionnaire (8C+) in Fontainebleau after projecting it for nine sessions during a month batteling bad conditions.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
After my ascent of Monkey Wedding (8C) in Rocklands last year, I was looking for a new hard project. In Korea, we have some good strong climbers like Jongwon Chon and Dohyun Lee but they always focus on the Olympics. Other Korean competition climbers also only focus on competition, so Korean climbers have never climbed an 8C+ boulder route and this became my goal.

Somehow, I saw a video where Ryohei Kameyama sent La Révolutionnaire and there were some crimps on the roof. At that moment, I thought 'OK, this is it.'

I spent three sessions of the first week on each move but it was hard. Not only for the climbing but also for the weather as it was raining a lot. The second week it wasn't raining but I had to wait for the holds to dry up. On the third week, I tried to link the moves, but it was so hard. I spent three more sessions linking the moves but it never happened. I changed beta before the last crux and it fitted me better. After two more sessions, the weather was perfect, my body condition was perfect, and everything was so good. I tried the blind dyno for warm-up and it worked easily. In the first three attempts I fell on the middle part, and in my 4th attempt, every move was so smooth, somehow I was on top of the boulder. In total, I spent nine sessions and one whole month on this hard project. I never regret that. It was the most valuable time for personal growth.

Alfons Dornauer reports on Instagram that he has done the third ascent of Companion of Change (9a+) in Bergstation. Jakob Schubert did the FA in 2015 and then Alex Megos made the first repeat in 2017. Dornauer started trying the route more than a decade ago but abandoned it as it felt too hard. This year he completed it after a couple of further days' effort. (c) Michael Piccolruaz

Can you tell us more about the route and your ascent?
The route is only slightly overhanging and consists of an 8a+ route followed by a very specific 8A++ boulder on crimps. Back in the days, it was one of the ultimate projects at the Petzl Rock Trip, in 2009, in Zillertal. It's not a boulder to just fight through with strong fingers but especially footwork and the right amount of body tension needs to be in place! Compared to the past, this time the boulder immediately worked out pretty well which gave me the confidence to send the route! It's just an incredible piece of rock with just enough holds to make it work!