Loic Zehani has done Aubade Direct (9a+) in Sainte Victoire, check out the video. The 21-year-old has now logged 60 routes 9a and harder with 22 being sent in just the last 12 months.

"Very nice route bolted by Christophe Daconcecao more than 20 years ago and first red pointed by Gérome Pouvreau in September 2010. An easy and fast intro sequence followed by a hard and physical first section. Then after a bad rest, you have a nice hard section, very fingery and demanding climbing followed by a stunning grey wall, typical "Sainte victoire". It took me 4 days in 2019 for the 8c+/9a version and 6 days more this year for the 9a+ version. This style of climb demanded a lot from me but I loved this route. 😍😍😍. So happy to climb this."

Giacomo Raimondi has done the second ascent of Christian Core’s Nim (8C) in Varazze, which was put up some 20 years ago. ”The send happened quite fast but I knew very well the first part of the boulder because it is common with my first 8B+.”

Do you know if there are more Core FA’s still unrepeated?
Last year, I did Bunjil (8B) and Majinbu (8B) which also were second ascents. There are still a lot of unrepeated boulders from Christian and I think that they are not so much repeated because some of them are really hard and not that cool and finding good condition it's really difficult.

Enrique Beltran Blasco has done Priorato de Sion (9a) in Alquezar. Daniel Fuertes bolted it and later in 2008, Ramon Julian made the FA suggesting 8c+ but as with many of his FA's, the repeaters have upgraded it.

Can you tell us more about this route and your send?
This 9a is the one that has cost me the least of all my three 9a's, about 18 attempts. It is a short and hard route with small crimps and a boulder with inverted holds. Happy to share the send with Dani Moreno and Dani Fuertes. They have done it previously and going to the sector with them was perfect. They came to belay and push (my) motivation.

Katie Lamb has made the FFA of Dave Graham’s iconic Spectre (8B) in Bishop (CA), logging it as 8B+ for herself. ”Freaking out. With the jump method - hardest single move I've done and proudest ascent to date. Never thought I'd have a chance. Doesn't get any better!!”

The 25-year-old has, during the last 12 months, done five 8B’s and two 8B+'s making her #1 in the 8a ranking game for the third year in a row.

Tyler Thompson has skipped 9a and gone straight to 9a+ by climbing Full Metal Brisket (9a+) in the New River Gorge (WV). The line was bolted by Lee Robinson and Jonathan Siegrist did the FA in 2021. (c) Hansac Ho

“Wow. Huge endeavour for me starting back when it was still an open project. Last fall I spent every weekend trying and the occasional Thursday when I could skip my lab. Wasn’t able to do it then but this week I was blessed by the weather gods and we got several beautiful coliseum days. Tuesday, during a breezy short sleeve day in mid February I clipped the chains! 30+ sessions. What do I do with my life now….”

When did you start working the route and how did you manage to skip 9a?
I started trying two years ago when the route was still a project but put more serious effort in last fall. And, I’m a student so it’s hard for me to travel somewhere to project a route. The New is only 3 hours away so I could work the route for an extended time. I thought this route was inspiring and that the moves were really great, so it was the route I wanted to put serious effort into. The 9a route nearby didn’t inspire me in the same way that Full Metal did.

Can you describe the route and what you liked so much about it?
The route is crimpy and body tension oriented. I’d say it suited my style well which was motivating. The holds are pretty bad for the entirety of the extended boulder problem that defines the route. The body positions are very specific because of how bad the holds are and I found the process of dialling in the sequences and the process I felt even after 20+ days was still very rewarding.

James Pearson, one of the globe's leading trad climbers, has made the FA of Bon Voyage, in Annot, France. He has not yet suggested a grade but based on his comments below, it seems safe to think it could be 8c+ or harder. (c) Raphaël Fourau

"I found the line in 2021 and have been actively preparing myself for it since then. It felt like quite a step up from other hard trad routes I’ve tried over the years, but I’ve really enjoyed the process of developing new skills and strengths to be able to stand a chance. After the split with Le Voyage, a first boulder problem takes you to a couple of good pockets (the final protection of the route) and a marginal rest. From here there are 20 hard moves to the finishing ledge, almost exclusively on shallow pockets and tiny crimps. The route is definitely run out, with long falls, but you’d be unlucky to hurt yourself providing the protection is well placed. Annot has some of the blankest rock I have ever seen and the walls can often be sandy and loose, meaning most of the routes stick to crack systems. Bon Voyage follows a diagonal layer of bullet hard sandstone dotted with tiny pockets... a true miracle of Mother Nature and a reminder why all the years of searching were worth it.

This route took me longer than any other route or boulder I’ve ever tried. Both in terms of days actively trying it and time preparing myself for it (~ 20 days over 2 years and 10 redpoints). I spent more actual redpoint attempts on this than on Tribe, and all of my other 9a sport routes. I had to train specifically on a fingerboard to be able to do the moves and link the intense, fingery crux section. Around the same time I made the first ascent, I climbed a couple of 9a's in a similar length and style. These took me around 4 sessions and 4 to 5 redpoints. These sport routes are both slightly more overhanging with easier moves but worse rests, and shouldn’t suit me as well. But I’m also aware that:

It’s a First Ascent, and they always feel harder than a repeat. Of the 20 days, at least 4 of them were spent brushing holds and trying to understand if the line might be possible. It’s slightly off-vertical which is a really difficult angle to grade. The holds are so very small and poor, that the moves feel difficult at first, but can quickly feel much easier as you learn the subtleties of each position.

The route is on pockets, which I believe to be one of my weaknesses. However, the pockets are so shallow (less than half pad) that they are more like crimps (my strength), and because of the sides of the pocket, you can’t use your thumb so you are forced to half crimp (my strongest grip type). It leaves me questioning: Did I need to train specifically just to reach an average level, or did I train to make my best strength even stronger? The answer to this question changes everything. The crux move is very low percentage. I fell many times on this move before passing it - counting significantly towards my number of redpoints, but with a bit more luck I might have passed it sooner. Still, even after passing it I still fell 3 times in the 2nd to last boulder, and almost fell on the final technical arête! It’s definitely not a one move wonder.

At the moment I don’t feel able to give this route a definite grade, which always sounds funny to me as a grade proposal should be just that, a proposal. In theory I should simply say what I think, leaving future repeater’s to give their opinion, and eventually we settle on a consensus. Perhaps I’m more sensitive than the average person but in practice I’ve seen and felt that it doesn’t quite work like that.

I could go with my gut and remind myself that at 37 I’m really too old to worry about things like this. I could also under grade it, effectively downgrading it myself before anyone else gets the chance, but this has a tendency to lead to grade stagnation like we’ve got with trad routes in the UK, and doesn’t do anyone any favours. However, both of these options would rely on me having a fixed grade in my head, which for all the above reasons - I simply don’t, yet. Before offering a grade I’d like to try a few more hard sport routes to better gauge my level, and also climb at Annot with other high-level climbers. Hopefully this will give me a better idea."