Siara Fabbri, with two 8B+’ under her belt, has done La Proue (8B) in Cresciano “ Such a beautiful block! Very happy to do it. Sunny cold day with wind, ideal send conditions and vibes!! For the bros writing '1 pad for the start', you are forgetting the rest of that statement which is your height 🤭.” (c) Alisha Wetherill

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your stand start?
I'm super happy to tick this one off!! It's an amazing climb with just the essential holds, that put you out of balance with bad feet.

I struggled a few sessions with the 2nd move (the cross move), then one session with some warmer temps I checked the holds carefully (I changed how I took the left crimp slightly) and did it first try easily. It was such a good feeling! Soon after with good conditions, vibes and try-hard and I could send.

There is a bit of controversy around this boulder because the first move is very difficult and can be influenced by your height + the number of pads you stand on. Historically in logbooks and occasionally people directly imply using only one pad is allowed, but none mention their height (often they are tall males) so of course this doesn't make sense. I think if you state the number of pads you use, at least state your height. As for the allowable number of pads it is height/landing-dependent, maybe determining that through experimentantion such that the move is still difficult. But let's just all be nice about it and aware of changing landings and different sized people.

When I sent I used 2 pads, I'm 162 cm tall, 167 ape.

Elias Iagnemma, who last year sent Burden of Dreams (9A), reports on Instagram that he has done the FA of The Big Slamm (9A). "It is incredible how it is a precise climb where every part of the body, shoe and flap of skin must deform perfectly in those minimal sandstone holds." (c) Stefania Colomba

There are now a dozen boulders graded 9A, out of which five have been done during the last year. The first 9A was Burden of Dreams which was put up by Nalle Hukkataival in 2016. Ir was first repeated in 2023 by Will Bosi and later also Simon Lorenzi and Elias Iagnemma.

Nicolai Užnik, who just needed max 1.5 sessions for his latest three 8C’s, has on his second go done Forgotten Gem (8C) in Chironico. “Very close on the flash, did it second go… soft for the grade but one of the best for sure.”

Can you tell us more about the flash attempt?
I of course wanted to flash it but unfortunately I didn‘t get the first crimp right and it kinda hurt my finger so for the next move I wasn‘t in a good position. When I did it right after it felt really solid though so it‘s a bit of a shame… 😅

Any more specific thoughts about the grade?
Hm, I think I’m pretty good on this sort of boulder as it suits my style well, but I would still say it‘s rather soft for 8C. Even though again if it hadn‘t worked out super well straight away it might have felt different.

What is your project status on Alphane?
For Alphane (9A), it‘s going pretty well. I started to do send go‘s, but unfortunately the last couple of days it felt much worse and the middle / crux sequence felt almost impossible as it was somehow super greasy. I’m taking a little break now as I’m very psyched on some other things as well and I want to return back to alphane with more motivation and better conditions again!

I am just trying to stay patient and at the same time also do other cool boulders that I enjoy more, since alphane for me is not the most fun thing to try or at least not my favorite style. So it‘s also important to have that balance I think.

Isabel Albores has done Lethal Design (8A+) in Red Rock (NV). "This was my first trip to Red Rocks and I was excited to try Lethal design because it seemed to fit my style well, especially as someone who primarily sport climbs outside. I tried it on the second day of the trip and decided to stick with it as a project. We were only there for 10 days so I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to piece it all together within the time constraint of the trip, but I learned a lot about managing skin and conditions throughout the process and I was very excited to send during my 4th session!"

What is your climbing background?
I started as a youth competition climber when I was 11. When I went to college, I started climbing outside and have been prioritizing getting outside when I can since then!

Esteban Daligault, with five 9a’s under his belt, has done Ça chauffe (9a) in Seynes .

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
So, I’d already tried and did few attempts on this route 4 years ago. This year I went back to Seynes for a friend’s birthday and I decided to try again. It took me 5 sessions this winter. And I succeeded at the last test of the weekend after a great mental battle.

What are your next plans?
I do a lot of mountaineering, so I’m going to try some hard mountaineering routes for the time being. I’ll be climbing again in the spring, and I’d like to do a 9a+, Bon Voyage (9a) and I have multipich projects, like Historie sans fin [8 pitches 8b+ in Switzerland] and others.