Sam Weir, who previously in 2024 has sent his two first 8C+’, has repeated Giuliano Cameroni’s Hazel Grace Sit 8C (+) in Gottardo / Gotthardpass.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I did the stand to Hazel grace back in 2021 and always wanted to come back to gottardo for the sit! Things lined up this August and I was able to go for some trips in August. There is one really hard move on the sit that took me 3 sessions and over 50 tries to stick it once. Day 5 it all lined up and I was able to top the boulder! The breakdown is about hard 8A+ (one mover) into 8B+. The boulder felt something in that 8C/+ range . Another 5 star bloc from Giul!

What is your next plan?
My plan is to try arrival of the birds from Aiden since I seem to be good at this 20 degree overhang static crimping style! If it’s too hard I’ll try Alphane again 😬

Do you train anything specific going for the hardest boulders or just train by projecting?
I have really changed the last 1,5 years. I used to only project hard boulders. A year ago I decided to start weight lifting and it changed my life. I put on some weight and muscle but no longer hurt my pulleys and feel so much stronger. This combined with hard board climbing is my training 2 times a week then one day a week outside on a project. Since I work full time I’m always training but if I want to send I’ll drop the weights for a few weeks and feel good!

What is your full time work?
I work as a contract manager in the nuclear industry in France.

Katie Lamb reports on Instagram that she and Keenan Takahashi have repeated Carlo Traversi’s Equanimity (8C) at Kirkwood Lake. "This journey was almost entirely a mental challenge, which feels emblematic of a broader narrative in my recent scaling. I’ve been on a skill building mission to try and make this low angle tech style a strength. The crux for me was the process of losing trust and then building back to a point of tenuous belief…whatever that might mean to each scaler. In the end, I found my equanimous mind."

The ultra-technical route ascends a series of angled seams on a stunning 9 meters granite face and demands a combination of tight, awkward layback moves, delicate smearing, and precise body positioning and balance. Last year, James Webb did the second ascent and commented, ”Potentially a contender for the hardest technical boulder in the world?”

Katie has been one of the very best female boulderers for quite some years and in 2023, she did three 8B+’ as well as Box Therapy (8C). Here is a podcast where she discusses her training on how to break into new grades.