Jorge Diaz-Rullo, mainly known for his over 80 routes 9a to 9b+, has repeated Pablo Zamora’s Muerte por asfixia (8C+) in La Pedriza. The 25-year-old, with also seven 8C's under his belt, needed only three sessions for the send. (c) Javi Pec

"The boulder is amazing. This is lower start, adding 9 moves into, Flor de loto (8B+). In total, there are 15 moves, so endurance is a part of the difficulty, and some moves are quite difficult, technical with body tension. I considered my style more or less, and it was definitely a surprise climb this midsummer."

Sierra Blair has sent Antimatter (8A+) in Priest Draw, video. Over the last 12 months, she has done four 8A’s and three 8A+’s and she is currently #8 in the female boulder ranking game.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I started working Antimatter at the beginning of May after I sent Flat Black (V10/7C+). Antimatter traverses into Flat Black and the crux is a throw to a right hand crimp after the two boulders meet.

I was able to reach the crux on my first session, but it took until my sixth session to figure out the beta that actually worked for the crux. During the final session a friend was also trying Antimatter and he could easily do the crux section in isolation. I decided to try his beta and immediately was able to do the crux move in isolation. All it took was this simple change to make the crux move go from impossible to doable.

After learning the new beta it took me two attempts to send the boulder. I am beyond excited to send such a cool line and I can’t wait for whatever is next.

Domen Škofic has made the FA of Passaaat (9a) in Hvar and Klemen Bečan, who had bolted it, did the second ascent the same day. Domen, with 25 routes 9a and harder, was the over-all Lead World Cup winner in 2016. Klemen, 41, has won one World Cup and he is one of the best onsight climbers in the world with over ten 8c’s onsight.

”Thanks a lot Klemen Bečan for showing me this place and let me try this epic line. The process of discovering holds and moves was so much fun. At the start we were sure this thing will be a solid 9a+ but on my third day I finally found the perfect sequence trough the top part and all of a sudden the chances of success went up significantly. The feeling of sending this line on the Hvar climbing festival on my last try before leaving was incredible. I had the perfect flow and just enjoy fully all the 50+ meters of this beast.

The best thing was that we did it both on the final day of the festival, one after the another. The line is huge and the crag has so much potential, it’s mind blowing 🤯”

Samuel Hsin has done Paint it Black (8C) at Bear Lake Road. Daniel Woods put up what is regarded as a five-star 65 degree roof in 2012. ”This one was huge for me. I’ve always had a hard time getting myself psyched to solo session for one, and feeling like I’m at this level for another. I made some progress early on, but at the end of the day it came down to me committing to sessioning alone on a day that I couldn’t rally the homies that let me put it down. No external motivators, no one to prove to, nothing to gain, just me and my desire to do this rock climb.”

How does it feel to reach 8C and how many sessions were needed?
It feels pretty great! But honestly, I’ve been having this realization recently that every boulder I’ve been doing as of late hasn’t felt like that big of a deal on its own. I used to get way more excited after each ascent, and now each one is sort of “just another boulder”. It’s nice though because it’s made sessions more fun whether I send a rig or not. I’ve mostly just been very excited to see where I’m at now compared to a couple of years ago. I didn’t have the physical or mental ability to perform at this level then.

It took me 6 sessions. The moves fit me pretty well as I’ve been training a similar style recently, but what really made the difference was the morning I did it, I couldn’t rally anyone to go with me, so it was hard to get psyched because I don’t solo sesh often. But I knew I wouldn’t get another chance to climb on it in the near future. So, I basically was like “one more day to get to climb on this amazing boulder, I might as well make it happen”. And then I went out and was just psyched to be there, and I made it happen.

Vroni Gaßner, who previously has completed 15 boulders 8A or 8A+, has done El Gauhara (8A) in Zillertal.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Last weekend I went to Zillertal with my boyfriend. We spontaneously decided to give “El Gauhara” a try, but I wasn’t sure if it would be too hard for me. He did it quite quickly and it also went much better than expected for me. I fell a few times on the second last move. So we came back this weekend and I did this dreamline just before the rain came. So happy!

David Fitzgerald reports on Instagram that he has repeated Shawn Raboutou’s Big Z (8C+) in Tahoe, after projecting it for some 25 sessions. (c) Jon Thompson

The 30-year-old started climbing at age 18 and within six months, he had done his first 7C; three years later in 2016, he did his first 8B+. In 2022, he did his first out of three 8C's.