Claudia Ghisolfi, who last September did her first 9a, and placed in the top ten at a Lead World Cup, has done Premiere (8c) in Castelbianco.

Can you tell us more about Premiere?
I'm not in good shape and I didn't want to try hard routes now. But my boyfriend (Alessio Voghera) told me to try that route with him and on Saturday we did it together! It isn't a hard 8c because when Stefano, (my brother) did the first ascent he didn't use the kneepad. But I'm happy even if it isn't hard because in the past October, I fractured my heel slamming against the wall and It was hard to find the right confidence to climb without fear of falling

What are your 2023 competition plans?
Now I'm training hard in the week to prepare for the comps that start at the end of May with the Italian Lead Championship but at the weekend I always climb outside. It's important to me to climb outside even if it isn't considered "training".

Do you have any Olympic aspirations?
Yes, I'll compete in one boulder world cup 🤞🏻

Matt Fultz, has pulled off the first repeat of Aidan Robert’s Vecchio Leone Sit (8C+) in Brione, making it his seventh ascent of that grade.

Can you tell us more about your latest 8C+?
I’m just very blessed to be able to climb in such a beautiful place and be in good shape. I didn’t expect to get caught up with this problem before the trip but it really drew me in with its complex moves and positions. In total it took 8 working sessions and is the first problem of this difficulty I’ve done outside the United States, although I’m hoping to do more this year!

Jules Marchaland, who did First Ley (9a+) in February, has repeated Pierre Le Cerf's Just two fix (9a) in Gorges du Loup. Last year, the 21-year-old took silver at the only Euro Youth Cup he did. After that comp the 20-year-old did three World Cups, always placing in the top 20, in addition to sending his first three 9a’s.

Can you tell us more about your latest 9a?
This route is about 35m! (So long for me haha) The first part is Just One Fix (8c+), "soft", and after a very good rest you have a physical end with brutal move and endurance ! For the progress: I did the first part in 2017! And last year I tried the second pitch! I think I fell 5-6 times at the last hard move and this year I came back stronger and I did it on my 2nd try.

What are your comp plans in 2023?
The main goals are the french championship! I have from last year's results, qualified to do the Chamonix and Briancon World Cups and I hope I can do the start of the season!

William Bosi has been live-streaming three, out of five, sessions on Nalle Hukkataival's Burden of Dreams, 9A in Finland. He's making solid progress and he's also found some new beta. Toru Nakajima is also in Finland trying BoD for the fourth time and says, on Insta. "Honestly, I was somehow shocked at how strong Will is."Will recently decided to extended his trip and continues his battle. In this 8a ranking game, the 24-year-old is #1 with the highest score ever achieved in Boulder. (c) Band of Birds

How and how much time have you put into preparing yourself for, Burden of Dreams?
Overall I worked ten sessions on the replica before coming out. Currently, I am five sessions in on the boulder but the sessions are limited due to skin management as the granite is pretty brutal on my fingers! I can train on the boulder with tape but I think I will need all the skin I can get for the send!

What have you learned from climbing with Adam Ondra?
I think the overall takeaway from training and climbing with Adam is just sheer joy for all kinds of climbing. He is a master at so many different styles and despite all that he has achieved, his fire and love for training and climbing are as bright as ever. It is utterly inspiring.

What are your plans for 2023 and what would be your "burden of dream" ascents beyond this one?
[Yes,] Obviously right now my focus is on climbing Burden of Dreams in Finland but I am hoping to travel to the USA later in the year to explore some lines out there!

Could the comp scene and format change in any way that would make you, and perhaps even others more psyched to take part?
That is difficult to say as there is such a range of opinions on the comp scene at the moment. Fundamentally, as the profile of the sport rises, so does the pressure on athletes to succeed. I would most welcome focussed improvements on athlete wellbeing at all levels from grassroots through to senior level. Competitions should be a memorable and positive part of any athlete's career as opposed to something which could at worst make them fall out of love with the sport or cause lasting physical and mental harm.

Filmmaker, Matt Bird is in Finland with Bosi and adds, "So if you break down the 5 moves, he has done all the moves on the boulder so he is now on links. I saw him do the link from the end of the foot-walk to the top so just first move and foot-walk to tack on. All perfectly possible...and yet.... Honestly, from filming it, it is going to be a roll of the dice for whoever gets up it. (8a: Also Shawn Raboutou and Stefano Ghisolfi will be trying it this week). Everything from weather to skin, to shoe condition, to mentality comes into play and that is on top of immaculate technique and requisite strength. It's the perfect encapsulation of bouldering at the highest level for me. Impossible for people outside climbing to fully comprehend the madness of it all but utterly compelling for those invested in bouldering at the upper limits. He could do it this week or in three years time 😂 such is the nature of the game."

Aidan Roberts, who in October, made a relatively quick repeat of Alphane (9A) has done the FA of Unison, (8C) in Brione. Insta video. Yesterday, photographer Vladek Zumr dropped the news that Aidan, also pulled off a flash FA of X,Y and Z, 8A+. "The other guys, (Giuliano Cameroni, James Pearson and Nathan Phillips) tried a few times before him, so he saw the lower moves, and then he just crushed it (about an hour after his FA Unison). He's just on another level and a really humble guy.”

Niccolo Ceria added a post that sheds more light on the aesthetic and committing, X,Y and Z. It was envisioned by first Bernd Zangerl who tried it and showed it to Ceria. Four years ago, Ceria re-cleaned and tried it a bit, and with the support of Aiden and a formidable group stoking the fire, Ceria made the fourth repeat . " The climb style also deserves to be mentioned: a simple and basic crimpy sequence leads you to a very high foot placement where you have to shift your body weight to the left, go as low as you can with your hips and bring the right foot on a faint rail to finally cross your hand on the last edge. It took me a while to figure this beta out when I came back for some proper attempts."

Dai Koyamada first made headlines in 1998 when he was #4 in a Lead World Cup. After quitting the comp circuit, he did his first 9a in 2002 and the next year he did his first 8C boulder. In total, over the last 20 years he has done over 35 8C’s and most of them are FAs.

The 46-year-old's latest 8C creation is Mugen in Hinohara. He started the project by spending five days building the landing platform made of hundred of sticks, Insta picture plus video, Insta video. "One thing is clear: this problem is great. One of the best problems in my life."

Steve McClure, who did the FA of Rainman 9b in Malham Cove in 2017, has repeated James Person's Le Voyage 8b+ in Annot, which is a trad route protected by many cams and wires and also has two fixed threads. On Insta, he comments, "One of the best in the world. 8b+. Enough gear, but spaced and pumpy to place. It feels like a real adventure. 40m long too! Just a couple of days and first lead effort seems like my usual adopted style of only just getting it, with the odd section still barely worked out!" (c) Grace Taylorson

The 52-year-old has been one of the leading climbers in the world for 25+ years. In 1998, he did the FA of Mutation, proposing 9a, but it was later upgraded making it the second 9a+ in the world. When it comes to trad climbing Steve is also one of the most accomplished in the world and two years ago he repeated Lexicon 8b+ (R) after first having taken a 20+ meter fall.

Can you tell us more about Le Voyage and how you trained and prepared for the trip?
Great route! Loved it. One of the best. Prep for trip, zero. Only ended up sorting the trip a week before coming out. I'd not even thought about trying Le Voyage. It was, in fact, James's harder route Bon Voyage that I really noted, though this would be too hard for me, but it brought Le Voyage to my attention and I was really drawn in.

Training…. Well, indoors and out just climbing. I’m too old for proper training! I treat each session as a day of climbing, doing what I like to do. I try sometimes to keep the intensity up as I get weaker and weaker. So indoor bouldering is a good idea. That works well with fitting around work and family anyway.

Do you know why there are fixed threads?
Threads… and all ethics… are all made up in the end. Some people frown on preplaced threads. Their ethic is perhaps purer. Some are very hard or virtually impossible to place on lead, and yet nature has offered natural protection. Threads may offer a better and/or safer experience for some people.

I think for this one, actually, it’s easy to place. There is a no-hands rest right there. For most people attempting this route, the main issue is to strip the route ready for an ascent placing the gear, is SO hard (as it’s steep). The thread makes this possible. With multiple people trying the route the logistics of stripping it all without the thread are just complex, time-consuming and unnecessary (like having to top rope all of it to get the kit out… or put it back in for those who want it left in). Sure this may be a compromise but it’s utterly marginal and really takes nothing away from any actual ascent. For my ascent the thread was in but not a karabeener, which I put in, alongside the other 20 or so wires and cams I placed on lead. I'm happy to take a yellow card, or even a red one. I think I led it in good style, am honest about what I did, and had a whole lot of fun!

It can be done in a better style. For me, there was no quick draw in (as someone had taken them out), but it really makes no odds. And with a no-hands rest, the thread is not a problem to place.

I like the fact that you are the 'guy that asks the questions'... someone has to do that occasionally to avoid bad practice becoming the norm. So well done. With this one though it's just a common sense thing, a bit like making the decision that a pre-clipped first bolt is a good idea above a death landing... no one will argue with that, even though we all know that a pre-clipped first bolt is not the purest ethic. funny game climbing. But isn't it fun!

Vojta Trojan, who previously has done eight 9a's, has done Sanjski par extension (9a) in Mišja Peč. (c) Lucie Černá

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Happy to finally send this outstanding roof climb! Never climb a route which is so technical yet so powerful before. At first I struggled a lot with finding the right beta, then I managed to send the first part the 3rd day on. From that point I was falling in the last hard moves before the good holds. During the send I didn’t do anything differently and also didn’t feel better, but somehow I managed to keep it together and send. It took me 3 short trips to Osp this Spring and climbing 7 days in total. Today I also add Strelovod 8c (second go).

What’s coming up next?
Next plans are definetely finishing Action Direct in FJ if the weather is okay and then France in summer.

Patxi Usobiaga was one of the very best lead competition climbers during the 2000's. He won three silvers and a gold in the World Championships and in the World Cup, the Spaniard won the overall in 2006 and in 2007. In 2007, he also made the first 8c+ onsight in the world, Bizi Euskaraz (8c+) and he has redpointed five 9a+'.

In 2010, he suffered a traffic accident that left him with neck injuries and stopped his climbing for some years. In 2016, he bounced back and the following year he managed to climb to #4 in the 8a ranking game. Patxi has also been working as a coach and has trained many world-class climbers like, Adam Ondra. Lately, Patxi has also dived into bolting routes around his home base in Catalonia. Following the release of this video portrait we reached out to Patxi to find out more about what he's been up to.

Can you describe a normal week?
A week of my life is always a week as I have chosen it, [it's] chaotic, very far from what it was when I was exclusively a professional climber, now although I consider that I can climb like a professional climber, because of my option to be able to climb whenever I want, I need to work to be able to eat and live. The luck that I have is that I have always done what I wanted, I have decided what I want to do and what motivates me.

So if it's a week where I'm fine and I can climb, it could have different variants: In all the possible variants there are priorities and I have to combine them as best I can to get to everything and that is why there are seasons when I get up at 4 am, and others more calmly at 7 am, but always maintaining the order of priorities:
Family,
Work, (PUCtraining, PUCSeries, PUCseries Temple Nargó, YouTube, social networks, events and sponsors) and
ME (climb, train, equip etc)

But since I really like everything I do, I manage to organize myself to be able to combine everything as much as possible. Although it is difficult considering that there are 24 hours a day, nothing works if I don't climb, train and/or equipment, and for this reason, I prefer to sleep little and get to meet all my needs and obligations to be able to continue doing what I like. And luckily and by my own decision, I live in Oliana, Lleida, in Alt Urgell, where I can materialize all my concerns by climbing, equipping and training in the climbing walls that I have built for myself. The PUCTraining LAB and the PUCseries Temple NArgó.

Enrique Beltran Blasco and Dani Moreno have done Ali Hulk Extension Total (9a+) in Rodellar, both feeling it is a soft 9a. The two Spaniards now have their sights set on,9b (a+) Sit start. (c) Dani Moreno

Can you tell us more about your ascent?
Enrique: I wanted to try something hard in Rodellar and my friend Dani Moreno and I got motivated for Ali Baba. The truth is that the route has cost me little, just 6 days of work and what has cost me the most is the rope part since the bouldering part was going well. Now the idea is to try the sit version. Total respect for Andrada. His FA was absolute performance and much more difficult compared to using knee pads and resting no hands every other ten moves. I used four no-hand rests where I stayed for 1 - 5 min in each."

Enrique has logged Hulk extensión total (8c+) with an personal 8b+ grade. With most recent ascents in the cave utilizing knee pads, it's likely that many of the cave's climbs could be subject to downgrades when climbed in this style.