William Bosi, who was #11 in the Lead World Championship last month, has been on a bouldering trip to Switzerland where he flashed two 8A+'; Red Snapper and De Lucifer, redpointed Foundations' Edge 8C as well as another four 8B+'. Amazingly, the 8C took just two hours with the FA Dave Graham supporting the beta and three of the 8B+' in just one hour each.

"These boulders are absolutely incredible, so just being able to try them was great fun. It was hugely rewarding to get them sent fast as well. Definitely shows my training has been paying off and that I am in a good shape. It gives me more confidence in the FAs I did at the beginning of the year in Spain but it is back to training now for future projects next year!”

Iuri Reusa has done his second 8c+, Up forever in Falesia del ghëddo. It was put up by his 14-year-old son Michele this spring. Iuri started to climb some 25 years ago and did his first 8c+ in 2017, a couple of years after his sons got into climbing. The family has been developing the crag and Matteo (13) has also made an 8c+ FA here, which is still unrepeated.

"I am not as strong as my children since it took them only a few days to make that shot while it took me many more days, even months. Up forever is a resistance route along a big overhang with a still difficult final passage. It is located in the crag we are equipping and where there are even more difficult projects to free. We are waiting for strong climbers to come up against these routes.

I think I went up to try the pitch for twenty days. This year we have climbed a little on the rock but we have climbed a lot in the climbing gyms. Given the proximity of the cliff from our home, we can often go in the evening."

What are the winter climbing plans for the family?
I think Michele and Matteo want to climb a lot in the gym. We would like to start bolting another small winter crag. Then let's see... we still have many projects in Piedmont.

Sergei Skorodumov, who previously has done four 8B+, has made the FA of Hungry Dog 8C in Tiversk. "We tried this boulder last year, but almost nothing worked. This year I decided to try to take it apart which took several days. The weather was perfect and everything worked out. Boulder 6-7 meters high, slightly overhanging on bad crimps." (c) Leo Zhukov

The Russian has been an active competition climber during the last ten years and his best result is getting the silver in the European Championship in 2019. In the world Championship last month, he was 21.

Camilla Moroni, the silver medalist in the world championship last month, has done Salamandre 8A (+), in just one session, and two more 8A's in Brione, as well as a 7C+ flash. " Really cool boulders, happy to send them! I hope to come back the next weekend to try new boulders."

How was the experience getting the sensational silver?
My experience at the World Championship in Moscow is unforgettable. I have to admit that I didn't expect to qualify for the finals after the results in World Cups. But the day of the semis I climbed really focused and giving all myself on each boulder, I knew I was making a great comp. Once I made finals my goal was to make the podium and I climbed hard for that. I have never felt these emotions before, it was a blast! Now I'm enjoying some rock climbing before I start training again for the next season, it's really motivating reading the next season calendar!

Vita Lukan, who was Top-6 in all her five Lead WCs in 2021, has onsighted her first 8b+, Geminis in Rodellar. It is one of the most classic routes, originally graded 8c, in the area and this was the second onsight out of the 183 ascents in the 8a database. Previous, only a handful females, have onsighted 8b+ before and Charlotte Durif is the only one to have onsighted 8c. The next day the 20-year-old also onsighted Gladiator 8b. (c) Nace Gosnik

"This was actually my first time rock climbing this year😅. Since the first time I saw this line my goal was to onsight it therefore I was a little bit nervous before my try. I knew it's gonna be hard because I am not the most familiar with climbing with kneebars and I haven't climbed much outside this year due to competitions. But when I was up on the wall a felt pretty good and suddenly I realized that it is possible. This is when I got a bit nervous and my feet started shaking. Last few meters I had to fight really hard with the pump and even clipping quickdraws felt quite hard. Honestly, I felt quite relieved when I clipped the anchor of this beautiful route. I think I was climbing for around 20 or 25 min."

What are your winter plans and what about the next comp season?
I will take two weeks rest right after I come from Spain and then I will start with my preparations for next season :) for next season I would like to improve my bouldering skills. In Lead, I would love to repeat or even beat my results from last year

Julia Fiser, who made semi in all her six Lead WCs this year, has flashed Hupolup Kempf 8a+ DWS in Mallorca. This might be the hardest ever female DWS flash in history? "One of my proudest mental achievements. Kingline!" (c) Sebastian Marko // Alpsolut.pictures

What kind of beta did you get? How high up is the crux and how scared were you?
Misha (Michael Piccolruaz) climbed the route before and tried to give me all the beta. Unfortunately, I didn't watch him and there wasn't a lot of chalk on the holds but he somehow explained it so well that I was using the right beta right away. We think the crux is at about 12 meters but we don't know for sure 😅 I was quite scared but I tried to do one move at a time and not look down and that somehow made me stay calm and focused.

Domen Škofic, Lead World Cup winner overall in 2016, has done his first 9b, Alihulk sit start extension total in Rodellar and amazingly it took him just three days and he did not use kneepads. Originally, Dani Andrada put up a shorter version of it in 2007, without using a kneepad. Then in 2019, Jonathan Flor made the FA of the Extension total which already has been repeated five times. Everyone has used a kneepad, although Laura Rogora did not use a proper one with rubber. Andrada has later commented that his FA should have been 9a+ if he had used a kneepad. (c) Nace Gosnik.

"After 3 days of work I brought all the pieces together and today I sent it on my first try. I didn’t expect it’s going to happen that fast and therefore I’m a little bit sceptical about the grade. Anyway, I enjoy putting this puzzle together and makes me psyched for my future goals."

Although being #4 in Kranj, 2021 was probably the worst year on the Lead World Cup since 2012 for him. The Slovenian comments on Insta, "After a rough comp season I took 10 days off from training to clear my mind."

The 27-year-old opened his own climbing gym, The Ranch this August which might explain the rough comp season. "I have invested a lot of time to make it happen and the training was not the best for the last year and a half. But now I’m getting free to climb again outdoors :)"

How come you did not use kneepads?
I just don’t know how to use them to my advantage and they make me feel immobile. I try to make as many routes as possible without them. I’m not against kneepads and I’m trying to learn this technique because I know that someday I might find a route that won’t be possible to climb without.

Clément Lechaptois has done the FA of Solitary daze 8C in Fionnay, which is a direct finnish to an 8A+. The French has previously done 18 boulders 8B+ and harder. (c) Marine Thevenet

"The problem only shares the first move with the 8A+, then it goes straight instead of traversing right to the arete. It took me about 8 days I think. I managed to do the first section in 3-4 days (but I wasn't able to do it more than 3 times per session) and I thought I could do the problem. But I was wrong. The real crux, in the end, was the last move. I tried a lot of different things but my first idea was eventually the right one for me. I used a left heel hook that was quite a low percentage but worked pretty well when it didn't slip. It's a good one I think. The holds and movements are amazing, I had a lot of fun trying it!"

Laura Rogora, who got the bronze in the Lead World Championship last month, reports on Insta that she during a weekend trip to Magic Wood did New base line stand 8A+, Sofa surfer 8A+ and three 8A's. (c) Samuel Tuor