Mark Brand, with two 8B+’ under his belt, has completed The Big Island (8C) in Fontainebleau. “Wow, really happy with this one. Such an iconic hard boulder in Font. Couldn't train much over the last little while and felt a bit out of shape before coming, so it was surprising how well this boulder went. No expectations, just joy.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
So yeah, I decided to take a short trip to Fontainebleau just after setting for the Youth Boulder Nationals. I hadn't really been able to train much in the period prior and hadn't climbed outside since the end of October, so I didn't have any big expectations or goals for the trip. It was quite warm over the weekend, but some overcast weather made me decide to have a session on The Big Island to check where my shape was at. I had tried it before, but always just a singular session with months to a years between them. The session went suprisingly well, quickly doing the boulder in two parts and sticking the crimp twice in a window of 5 minutes.

On Tuesday I had a shorter session in full sun, but felt too tired from Sunday and the 'restday'on Monday. The day after temperatures dropped a bit and it was cloudy. I went back to The Big Island, just to see how much progression I could make before heading home. There was no real pressure to do the boulder, the boulder felt possible to me and I could always come back later. I was already happy with the progression I made on the boulder, which put me in a good headspace to just enjoy the session and see how far I could push it this trip.

Conditions were definitely a bit better than before and I felt good while warming up. After some tries and a small beta change I ended up sticking the foot transistion after getting the crimp (which was the redpoint crux for me) and I climbed the boulder. It felt amazing to finish such an iconic line in Fontainebleau and one that has been living in the back of my mind for quite a while.

How come you think it was possible to send with not so much training or outdoor climbing lately? How was your mental game?
I didn't have a lot of expectations before coming and even after the first session I was content with just seeing how much progession I could make on the boulder. This put me in a good place to just enjoy the sessions. Also knowing could quite easily come back another time, be it in a couple of weeks or at the end of the year when it is a bit colder. This all made me feel no real pressure even when giving it proper goes.

Michiel Nieuwenhuijsen, who flashed his first 8B last year, has flashed ADHS (8B) in Schwarzenbach a.d.S., and here is the Instagram video. Some have actually said that the Moritz Perwitzschky’ Boulder is possibly the best 8B in Germany.

Can you tell us more about the flash?
ADHD is a lonely boulder, about one hour north of the Frankenjura. It looks amazing! My friend Lorenz Ulmer brought it to my attention and got me all motivated to go for a flash attempt. I was a bit hesitant at first, but had to promise Lorenz I would go for it :-)

Normally I don't like to do a proper warmup on a hangbord, but this time I took some extra effort to do it all: pull ups, fingers, shoulders, hamstrings. Walking a few times to the boulder between my different warm up exercises to feel those holds. More and more I started to believe I could flash this. And for some reason, there was no added pressure, just focus. When I was finally ready, I was totally in the zone. I hit every hold perfect, it felt like I already did these moves before. Even the little heel zip did not put me out of my concentration. Standing on top there was a mixture of joy and amazement 🔥 Holy shit 🔥 One hour driving, one hour hangbord, one minute climbing, one hour driving back. Worth it! Huge thanx to Lorenz 🙏

Hugo Parmentier, with 13 routes 9a to 9b under his belt, has repeated Chris Sharma’s Papichulo (9a+) in Oliana. (c) William Barcello – PhotoVertical.com

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the long trip coming up?
So basically we build a van all the autumn till mid january. The plan is to go climbing during a whole year in France and neigbour countries with my girlfriend Tess. We started the trip to Oliana and stayed there for 1 month and a half. We needed to get back to real climbing after 3 months of tiring work in the garage to make our new home.

I went back to Papichulo which I tried a lot over 1 month and a half last winter. This route is pretty far from my usual hard projects choices as it’s super long, resistant and requires the ability to rest and poor holds and climb on sustain climbing for ever. It has been such a hard process last year getting stuck for something like 20 tries in the second move after the main rest. Making almost no progression was so hard mentaly. This year having a real “home” and lot of time ahead helped a lot! I gave basically 1 try a day and then climb other thing to keep my motivation high! Thanks to Laura Rogora’s beta. I could skip the cross move that kept me falling last year! Then I could progress on pretty much every try that led to the damn Sennnnd !!!

Pretty cool we share the send try with my parents for their first day a the cliff and with close Friends! Such an interesting experience on this route that began to teach me patience. Really glad for the people I met there and the whole experience eventhough it was tough.

Simon Lorenzi reports on Instagram that he has repeated Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) in Red Rocks, after projecting it for some 35 sessions. The 28-year-old active competition climber has previously done the FA of Soudain seul (9A), repeated Alphane (9A) and Burden of Dreams (9A). Including some 8C+’, the active competition climber has the most impressive boulder tick list in the world together with Will Bosi. (c) Bobby McGee Vannoy

”Last day, best day before my flight back to Belgium and the end of my visa. Best way to end my trip with a good crew and energy at the Boulder”.

What are your next plan?
Enjoy climbing in Europe with my friends with no pressure.

Are you going to compete in 2025?
Yes, in the 3 boulder World Cups in Europe.

Which could possibly be your fifth 9A?
Megatron! The next year or this fall I hope to complete the one I miss from the 5 firsts V17.

What about doing one more 9A FA
I’d be psyched to try the right exit of Alphane yeah but we’ll see.

Babsi Zangerl, with a dozen routes 8c+ and beyond under her belt, has done Solitary Souls (8c+) in Arco. In the world of multi-discipline climbing—including trad and big-wall—Babsi is the top female climber and confidently ranks among the overall Top 5, regardless of gender. (c) Matteo Bavona

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Solitary souls is a 35m long endurance line. Very steep and very pumpy. I already tried it last winter but it was always wet during a long period of time. This year I came back and the whole line was completely dry and I was psyched to invest some time to gain some endurance back.

After 7 days of getting too pumped to connect the hardest part of the route I finally felt ready to fight through and clip the chains.

Eli Perry, who did his first 8C last October, has repeated Pegasus (8C) in Joe's Valley (UT) after trying it for some 50 sessions.

Can you share more details about the ascent and the progress made throughout the lengthy process?
I started working pagan low v13 December of 2023 and I managed to send it quicker than I expected, so I figured I’d try the low, Pegasus. All the moves went pretty quick so I got pretty sucked into the idea of doing the full line. I tried all throughout that winter and spring, constantly dealing with splitting my pointer finger on this really sharp tooth and just too hot or too cold of conditions. Ended up projecting it all through the following fall and winter too. I kept learning little tiny bits of micro beta and new tactics that eventually led to the send just the other day on March 8th.

Have you only been climbing on this the last 3 months and what is next once the big project went down?
Pegasus has been pretty much the only boulder I’ve been trying, I spend a lot of time in the gym in between sessions and I made it out to Vegas and Bishop for a trip but mostly just trying Pegasus.

I’ve put a good amount of time on Grand Illusion (8C+) and I’m hoping to put a lot more time on it this spring so I can hopefully get it done. Also heading to Rocklands this summer so hopefully can take down some more blocs out there!

Shauna Coxsey reports with an Instagram video that she has repeated Jim Pope’s Lupin (8B) at Stanton in the Woods. It is basically a one mover dyno from a sit start which took Shauna three sessions to complete. ”Worst foot holds I’ve ever used? Quite possibly?”

The 32-year-old, who has won eleven World Cup gold medals, retired from competition after the Tokyo Olympics. She has climbed five 8B+ boulders in total, four of them in the past year.

Dylan Chuat, with five 9a+’ under his belt, has repeated Shawn Raboutou’s L'oeuvre (9a) in Bas-Valais. ”One of the most beautiful lines in Valais at this level. For me, there are three 9a in Valais that form a trilogy: Mola Mola, L’Œuvre and Black Beauty. Thanks to Sam [Ometz] for accompanying me and allowing me to complete the route so quickly (3 tries). I finished the day well by flashing La bête humaine (8b+). Can’t wait to come back to try the project with my friend.”

Noah Wheeler started climbing outdoors in 2020 due to the pandemic at the same time his Youth World’s in Russia was cancelled. The first boulder he did, in three tries, was Proximity Infatuation (8A). Two years later he had done nine 8B+’ and, in one session, his first 8C. His rapid progression culminated in 2025 with ascents of both Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Shaolin (9A). (c) Isaac Greenwald

What is your climbing background and how was your progress?
I started climbing at age 8, through my local climbing gym’s summer camp and then youth team. From when I began climbing up until early high school, I exclusively trained for competition and climbed indoors. Progress within my first few years of climbing is honestly pretty hard to track, partly because I was so young and partly because, as I was exclusively youth competition focused, my opponent’s skill level would scale with my own progression. It was not until I began board climbing and outdoor climbing in middle-late high school that I began to feel more palpable progression, which worked in conjunction with my growing passion for climbing.

How can you best explain your great progress outdoors?
I’m not sure - I was always inherently much better at outdoor bouldering than indoors and my progression outdoors was much faster. I suspect my strengths - good fingers, contact strength, and fast twitch muscles - just worked better for outdoors. Whereas my weaknesses indoors were always blaringly obvious in competition. I also started board climbing around the same time I started going outside, cultivating those strengths.

How does a normal climbing week look like?
When I’m not on a trip, I generally train 2 days on 1 day off. The first day often consists of less intense board climbing and project workshopping, while the second day is often a longer, more intense session where I try some established board climbs and then project what I workshopped prior. Once a week, one of these days will be an outdoor session.

What is your next plan?
Not sure! Probably just keep training and see how Megatron (9A) feels. There’s some stuff in South Platte, CO that I’m semi interested in checking out, but I’m primarily focused on feeling some of the established legendary boulders I haven’t tried/done in CO.

I’m going to try to get out to Switzerland sometime in the colder months after the summer.

What about climbing with a rope?
Haha I’m still deep in the bouldering psych. But I could see myself being psyched on rope climbing in the future.

I am not doing any complimentary training at the moment. Usually, I weight train when I know I won’t be climbing outdoors or trying harder projects for a few months.

Can you tell us about your project strategy while redpointing and flashing at your max level.
My strategy for any project really depends on the project itself and how I’m feeling at the time. I generally go 1 day in 1 day off, but aside from this, it really just depends on the climb. I will say I always give decently long sessions. Even if the temps are way off, I will usually go through the same routine as if they were good.

For the first few days on [Shaolin] I tried to really dial the top 2 move link. Once I could do it 50% of the time or so, I started giving start rips. Most sessions I would have to relearn my exact positioning and orientation on the first crux throw in iso before I gave start rips.

What are you doing beside climbing?
I am a senior at university majoring in Political Science. When school is in season, most of my time and energy is spent on schoolwork. I recently interned for my state governor as well.

How do you handle having progressed into being one of the best boulderers in just a couple of years?
Haha, since I’m still in college I feel a nice amount of separation from the community to where it doesn’t feel too different from a few years ago. I am starting to take media and sponsorships more seriously though, both in my day-to-day tasks and in my future aspirations.

Eneko Carretero, with five 8c’s under his belt, has flashed White Zombie (8c) in Baltzola. The 23-year-old did his first 8c at age 15 and during the last year he has flashed his first 8b+ and onsighted his first 8b as well as redpointed three 8c’.

How did you prepare for the flash?
The day before I saw some videos with different betas and I choose the best betas for me. And before trying the route I saw a guy trying the route so I could see all the right footholds.

Did you get any running beta and were you in control all the way?
No! I asked them please not to tell me anything while I was climbing because otherwise I get nervous hahaha. I was feeling really confident and strong and I controlled the nerves all the way.

Can you tell us more about your climbing background?
From the age of 15 until this last year I put the rock aside a bit. I’ve been competing during all this years.

What was your best comp results?
When I was 16 I finished 2nd in the World Youth championship in Moscow 2018 in bouldering. In senior/open categories I won the Spanish championships in boulder and lead in 2021 and last year again in boulder.

What are the benefits you can take from your comp background?
I think the most notorious is the physical strength. Also the rhythm on the routes. The knowledge about how long time I need to rest before any sections, the speed during the hard cruxs etc. I think that the onsight and flash climbing is stronger coming from comps.

How does a normal climbing week look like?
So I work from monday to wednesday in two gym routesetting, and after work I use to have short training and then I rest one or two days to climb outdoors the weekend.