Antoine Maire, who the last 12 months has done seven 8c+’, has completed Casi mono (9a) in Courchon. The 28-year-old has written short essays for nearly all of his 2,500 recorded ascents, and here is the Google translation of his first 9a.

”Yo my Bro, originally, I’m known in the eigth grade, In Bleau, they worship me like a king on his throne, In Courchon, I crush the mono and become an icon, It’s at the highest level that I shine like Ramon.

In the Nanogone, I land my biggest KO, I stand by my words, that’s my greatest gift. Since I’ve been gone, I feel like I’m in lockdown, This dream gives me the crown, I finally go pro in sports.

Today, I can become an athlete on Insta, With one-arm pull-ups, that and a three-way plan, Just need to get sponsored by Sephora And post 200 videos a month.

I’m sorry, but in a thousand years, When you read my comments on my 8a account, You’ll throw it all away, thinking that Antoine Maire Actually had everything to be admired.

You got it right, I’m a fan of alexandrines, For a 9a, I would’ve sold my own hand, I can thank Seb Bouin’s first ascent, Without him, I’d still be a rookie tomorrow.”

Enrique Beltrán Blasco, with seven 9a’s under his belt, has done Victimas Perez (9a) in Margalef.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I have always wanted to do 9a in Margalef and the conditions and my job allowed me to go further from home (Huesca) this season.

I looked for a route that motivated me and that was a real challenge, for that the Finestra sector is perfect. The process was not very fast since there were days when I could not climb because my skin was so bad

The most difficult part for me was take care the skin and rest two days when I go to the project. I really liked the process because many friends came and I met others there.

There is still motivation and the real thing is Gancho Perfecto (9a).

Adam Ondra, who the last few days has repeated Soudain seul (9A) and flashed an 8B+ and an 8B, reports on Instagram that he has flashed Imothep du sol (8B+) in Fontainebleau. (c) Petr Chodura

Ondra says that with his size the Camille Coudert problem just might be 8B as he did it, ”with a bit of margin”.

Then he tried Coudert’s potential 9A+ sit start project. ”I could do all the moves, too, and I completely fell in love with this boulder. It is just incredible 👊”

It should also be mentioned that Coudert has spent more than 100 sessions on the 9A+ project and today he finally unlocked the second move after borrowing Ondra’s shoes.

The breakdown on the very steep arete with a great focus on the right heal is according to Coudert,
Sit start; 2 moves 8B+ and 4 moves 8B
Stand start: 2 moves 8B/+ and 8 moves 8A

Adam Shahar reports on Instagram that he has completed the fourth ascent of Daniel Woods’ The Process (8C+) in Buttermilks.

The 19-year-old, who was #7 and #12 in his two last World Cups, has previously during the last six months sent his first five 8C’s. His current big project is Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and after a good session last week, he sent Squoze (8B+).

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
I started my process on the line at the end of 2024 flashing the bottom portion. Didn’t end up coming back to it until the end of my trip then when I did the top portion in a short session. After a short hiatus in Salt Lake City I returned to bishop with the sole intention of completing the line. After struggling with weather conditions i finally got a session in last weekend. Monday morning after having some great attempts the session prior I knew it was my time. After rehearsing the top V13 link from the flake to the top I was ready to give it my all. Had another couple of great goes and then suddenly it all clicked! On the go I sent I used Austin’s beta, coming into the left hand Gaston before setting myself up and committing for the last hard moves. Wow it felt amazing to hold that swing from the bottom! Had a gnarley topout experience numb as a mf on the v6/7 outro boulder. Tried probably the hardest I’ve ever tried on a v2 move and it was simple walking from there!

Meant a lot to join a list of the incredible athletes who have topped this one out. Hoping to keep the ball rolling into this new year.

Matt Fultz, with eight 8C+’ under his belt, has done Desesperación (8C) and The Hangover (8B+), video, in Hueco Tanks (TX) .

Can you tell us more about the trip and these ascents?
We travelled to Hueco Tanks last week and were unfortunately greeted with record high temperatures. I was a bit disappointed but still used that week to learn some of the movements on both Desesperacion and The Hangover. Then on the first cool, windy day of our trip I was able to send both back-to-back!

Desesperacion is a more difficult entrance into the end of the famous Esperanza. Martin Mobraten made the first ascent in 2019 and called it 8B+, stating that although it was harder than Esperanza it didn't feel a full grade harder. I believe I made the second ascent, and in my opinion it's at least one grade harder! So I think an 8C grade is fair. Either way, it's a great addition to the cave and I'm hopeful the video beta will inspire other people to try it.

The Hangover has a funny history. "Martini on the Rocks" broke in 2005 (I believe) and hadn't been repeated since due to the now outrageous distance between the holds. I found that I was able to reach the holds with my 195cm span, but only barely. After a couple of days of effort, I figured out the trick to the move and was able to start sticking it consistently. Then I added a lower start to the original problem (and more logical in my opinion) for the first ascent. This problem's difficulty is very dependent on wingspan, but for my morphology it felt around 8B+.