Daniel Woods has repeated Dave Graham's Foundations Edge (8C) and Scarred for Life (8B+) in Fionnay. More pictures on his Insta.

The 33-year-old has been on the cutting edge since age 15 when he did his first 8c+ route and first 8B+ boulder. Starting in 2005, he won the American Nationals ten years in a row and he has also won one World Cup. In total, he has done 40+ 8Cs and harder, including the FA of Return of the Sleepwalker (9A).

"I tried Foundations Edge a couple of times in May and a few more times in the past but it was always wet. This time it was bone dry and went the first day. The next day hooked up Scarred for Life (8B+). Both these blocs are world-class and it was an awesome experience getting to climb them. I am here for two more weeks. Next, I’ll try Fuck the System 8C+ and I also want to try the low start project into Permanent Midnight (8A+) or Solitary daze (8C). The low adds is around 8B+ into the 8A+ or 8C."

Loic Zehani has done the FA of Harlem (9b) in Orgon after some 15 sessions. It is a 50 moves steep link-up in between Bronx (8c+), an 8A boulder that continues to the top part and the 7C+ crux of Sachidananda (9a+). Video on his Insta

The 20-year-old did his first 9a at age 15 and in total, he has done 60+ routes 8c+/9a and harder, out of which 43 are FAs. Almost all his hardest routes are done near his home area above Marseille. He has done three 9a's in Spain, and all three he redpointed quite quickly.

What does a normal climbing/training week look like?
Every week is different because I work in a bouldering gym. My working days are different every week so it’s quite complicated to organize small trips. I climb on weekends on rock normally and one day during the week. I do one or two sessions a week in the gym. I climb normally about 4 times a week. I just try to go outside as often as possible.

What is your next plans?
In October I will try to go and train at Chris’ gym in Barcelona and maybe outside. I plan to be in Siurana in November for TENAYA and I would like to go back afterward. In February I will organize a small trip to go to Santa Linya. I don’t have any routes in mind but I have time to think about it. 😉

Camilla Moroni, #2 in the World Championship in 2021, has done The bizarre Ride (8A+) in Magic Wood. "New beta for weak and short people."

So, you found some new short person beta for Bizarre Ride?
I went back to Magic for just one day to send Bizarre Ride and Jack's Broken Heart, but I managed to only send the first one, which, unlike for most other climbers, it felt easier than Jack (for me). I found a beta that suits me better with a foot jam and a right heel that make the boulder more technical.

What's coming up next for you?
The next weekends I will compete in the Italian Championships, after that I hope to come back to Ticino to work on Heritage (8B+) and send Delusion of grandeur (8A+).

Is your long-term goal, Paris 2024?
Yes of course, in fact, this season I worked more on lead than in the last years.

Nico Pelorson has done and Practice of the Wild 8C (B+) in Magic Wood. There are videos of both sends on his Insta as well as many other recently done ascents. The picture is from New base line (8B+). In total the 25-year-old has done 18 boulders originally graded 8B+ to 9A, however, he has suggested 17 downgrades and one upgrade.

Could you tell us more about your latest 8C ascents?
I passed (sent) the Force on my first day in one session. I thought that was going to be the project of my stay but in 1h30 I was done with this boulder perfectly in my style. For Practice of the Wild, I had already tried a session during my previous stay at Magic wood, 3 years ago. This time I succeeded directly.

What are your next projects and autumn plans?
Maybe Gioia (an 8C+ in Varraze). It depends if I will get a holiday. And Imothep sit start, a project in Fontainebleau

Iris Matamoros Quero has done P con fin mas hulk extension 9a in Rodellar, which adds an 8A sitstart to an 8c+. The 42-year-old did his second and last 8c+/9a in 2015. (c) Juan Puig Valls

"This summer we traveled to Rodellar the whole family, my wife and my two children aged 1 and 6. Alibaba is a good sector to climb with children, so I decided to try something there. I started remembering Hulk (8b+) that I climbed many years ago. Then I did the 8c extension, and to finish the summer I was able to climb Fin de Ali Hulk extension (8c+). I tried a bit entering through the sit start from the ground through "Proa" but it was too hot and I couldn't. The holidays were over and we returned home, there I planned a specific training and diet for the route. I came back a month later and everything went very well, I felt very very strong and the temperature had dropped 15 degrees, so I was able to do it on the first day of climbing."

Matilda Söderlund reports on Insta that she together with Sasha Digiulian and Brette Harrington have sent Rayu, 8c MP on Peña Santa (2596 m) in Spain. Their ascent is the hardest ever graded big wall completed by a female team, including Söderlunf and Digiulian both doing the crux pitch. The 610m and 15 pitch long mixed route was established by the Pou brothers in 2020 and it was reported that, "The Basque brothers are convinced that, given the exceptional quality of the route, it will become a classic that will be pursued by the best climbers in the world."

Sasha (29) has been one of the world's leading female climbers for the last 15 years performing at the very highest standard in all disciplines. In 2011, she got the silver in the Boulder World Championship, and in 2013 she sent Era Vella 8c+/9a as well as sending Bella Vista 8c MP. She has also done numerous Boulder as well as big wall FAs. Matilda (30) has previously done one 9a and been #6 in the Lead World Championship in 2012. Brette (30) has repeated and established many hard MPs as well as alpine big walls.

Allison Vest, who did her first 8B+ this February, has flashed Foxy Lady (8A) in Magic Wood. The boulder has 267 ascents in the 8a database out of which 17 flashes. "I’ve seen so many videos of this boulder so it was cool to finally try it. After touching the first couple of holds from the ground I thought it’d be a good one to try to flash.

We only had 3 days in Magic Wood which wasn’t enough for me to put down some of the properly hard boulders I tried so I’m stoked to go back eventually."

Illya Bakhmet-Smolenskyi, who last year did three 9a's, has done Sever The Wicked Hand (9a) in Frankenjura. "Probably a bit too easy for 9a, but still pretty psyched about the send) a really nice cruxy climb! I climbed it on my 7th go in around 2 days and I am also currently trying the other variation of the route which is supposed to be a proper 9a."

How has your summer been?
The summer was pretty hard, as I tried to compete, get ready for some rock climbing, and was also applying to the University to start studying. As s result, I did really bad on all of the comps and couldn't really go out climbing, so no big project sends were done. But at least I managed to get myself into Uni and moved to the place I really wanted, so one of the big goals could be fulfilled! The Franken trip, sadly, won't last for long as I'll have to leave on 28th (because of the uni documents and deadlines), so the objective now is to send as many climbs as possible before I leave.

What and where will you study?
I will study Computer science in Innsbruck (a German course for a year first though). Hopefully, that'll fit nicely into training and climbing as I will be living next to a great gym and a huge amount of hard crags! The plan is to go outdoors at least every weekend.

Lorenzo Bogliacino has done Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup and the day after he did Tango To Nik 8c (+).

”After climbing Naturalmente (9a+) last autumn I felt very tired, both physically and mentally, so I basically took some months off from rock climbing. I started to train pretty hard from January to March and in the meantime enjoyed the company of my girlfriend, friends, concerts and beers. I packed quite a lot of extra weight (10 Kg) but luckily grew a passion for trecking and mountains and I did a lot of long hikes that helped me to get back in shape. In July and August I did some very easy multipitch​ routes also to get comfortable​ with safety, ropes and so on.

From mid August on I started to feel good on sport climbs also and got back in shape in my home crag of Pian​ Bernardo as usual. I decided to try TTT because it's a great line and not so far from home, which is good with the current oil prices. Basically worked on it for seven days wasting the first three days trying some weird kneebar method that did not work at all.

Claudia Ghisolfi, who was #9 in the Edinburgh WC two weeks ago, has done TCT (9a) at Gravere. The name of the route is a tribute to Tito Claudio Traversa, who died in a climbing accident in 2013 at age 11. (c) Diego Borello

"The route is in Gravere a crag near Turin, my hometown! It was freed by my brother Stefano in 2014. It's a connection between an 8c (you have to do the entire 8c) and the end of the route is an 8b+ (10 hard moves). I did the 8c in 2018 (it was my first 8c) and I did the 8b+ this august so I decided to try the 9a and I did it after another five sessions! So happy! I had shoulder surgery 14 months ago, I can't believe I can climb a 9a after that big injury!"

How come you are not in Jakarta for the last World Cup?
It is too far and the Italian federation decided to ask only Ludovico and Laura to go because they can do podium overall.

What are your next projects and autumn plans?
I don't really know. Now there are the Italian Championships, 1-2 October boulder in Rome and 8-9 October lead in Arco.