Adam Ondra has flashed Luftig kö till nålens öga (8B+) at Kjugekull. ”Probably hard 8B? Fit my style perfectly except for the last move. Did it with the left heel and then the cut loose was so much on the limit!”

This was the fourth problem graded 8B+ that Ondra has flashed however, he's downgraded all but one of these flash successes to 8B. (c) Paul-Martin Luc, who shared the beta with Ondra, said that, "He came very prepared and knew basically all boulders from watching videos."

On Instagram Ondra further adds, "Everything flowed really well, I got all technical details [down] perfectly on this compression beast and I found myself at the final cut-loose, where I just tried really really hard (can’t remember when I had to try so hard in the span of just a second) and I was on the top."

Emelie Gearhardt, who the over last two years has done roughly 20 boulders problems graded 8A and harder, reports on Instagram that she has sent Walk The Line (8A+) in Chironico.

Can you tell us more about this boulder problem?
I tried „walk the line“ many years ago for the first time but it felt really hard for me so I didn’t try it again. In January we‘ve been in Ticino for some days and I decided to give it another try after so many years. I was surprised because it felt pretty good and I was able to climb the stand start. So I was psyched to go back to Ticino to finish the sit start, and luckily [this trip] it went well!

Zach Galla has done the second ascent of The Process (8C+) in the Buttermilks. Daniel Woods put it up in 2015, and at that time it was one of few boulder problems graded 8C+. In the ranking game, Zach is #3 after having also done three 8C’s, as well as, Sleepwalker (8C+) over the last three months. The 23-year-old was #8 in the Salt Lake City WC last year but he has said his focus 2024 is outdoors. (c) Brennan Robinsson

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The process was a very special one to me. I saw Daniel do the FA in real rock when I was 14 and the boulder has been in my mind as one of the most mega things out there. Feels crazy that it’s remained unrepeated for 9 years, and my climbing has leveled up enough in that time to climb it for its 2nd. The boulder is definitely scary but not too dangerous. the crux jump to the lip is about 18 feet [5.5 meters] off the ground and feels like it will swing you off and cause a weird fall, but I was lucky to never take a bad one from there. After the lip, the boulder starts to get into a no fall zone as you execute around a V8 [7B+] boulder before making it onto some easy slab terrain. It felt as if there was nothing else around me and I was climbing in a bubble. A unique climbing experience I’ve never experienced before.

How many sessions did it take and how did it all unfold?
It took me three trips and somewhere around 10 sessions. I first flashed the drop off boulder Social Distortion 8A+ (B), then started working the next section off of a ladder and was able to complete that link on my first trip as well. I thought it may go quickly but the boulder is a logistically hard one to try. I needed at least one day of rest after a short session with only a few tries, and often multiple rest days after a sesh due to skin.

Buster Martin has repeated Will Bosi's Furia de Jabali (9a+) in Siurana. ”Six sessions. Final piece of a life come back. Could barely pull on last year but despite climbing having a back seat in my life I kept up the fingerboarding which got me up this thing. Wouldn’t have sniffed at it if it was given 9a.”

Can you elaborate, on what you mean by climbing taking a back seat and not sniffing at 9a?
If the consensus for the grade was 9a then I wouldn’t have complained.

Until a short trip out here a month ago, I hadn’t been climbing as much for the past 10 months or so, with most of that time being spent in Indonesia. However, I never stopped training completely. Classic 20mm pulls and weights as standard then the addition of Front 3 half crimps, micros, high angle work on the fingerboard to work my weaknesses. Whilst I didn’t have the time, motivation or mental energy to climb I found that short fingerboard and weights sessions were manageable and knew they’d pay off.

I also filled the board in Bali with grimmest scew ons I could find, so when I did climb it was an hour of limit moves on there, I was more working a general weakness but it came in useful on this route.

What is coming up next for you?
I didn’t have much luck in my climbing in the first quarter of last year so I’m keen to get some confidence up and get moving again. I thought doing a short route like Furia and trying something longer like Estado would give me a good base and target both ends of the energy systems to later apply more specifically to the endurance required for First Round First Minute (9b) which I got back on today.

More thoiughts from Buster and a video of the start can be found on Instagram.

Solveig Korherr has done Rêve de poutre (8c) in Saint Léger ”Good one! Felt just like board climbing. Two days.” (c) John Thornton - Les petits chefs du néant (8c)

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I spontaneously decided to try “Rêve de poutre” (8c) on a short trip to St Léger because it was one of the few routes that were dry at the beginning, and it seemed like one that could suit me. It has an easier start into the upper part of ‘Cadafist’ (9a/+), which is quite powerful on small crimps. Four hard quite basic board moves, and then some power-endurance to the top. Very fun!

What is next? Start projecting Cadafist?
Maybe one to try for the future. I will go back home and perhaps do some shorter bouldering trips to Ticino in between some work & training.

Marine Thevenet, who has roughly 100 8A - 8B+ boulders under her belt, has flashed Catatonica (8A+) in Brione.

How was it pulling off your first 8A flash?
I’m not particularly looking for flashable boulders because I like to feel that I control the movements when I climb. I just tried the boulder and did it right away. I was well warmed up, and my friend had just done it, so I had good beta.

Can you tell us more about your month long trip to Ticino?
Since I started my new job as sports agent I can work from anywhere ; so I went to Ticino to work and climb! We had quite a lot rainy days so I couldn’t try The Kingdom (8C) - it dries really slowly - but Ticino is full of nice boulders and the boulders in the river dry fast so I cannot complain.

Austin Purdy had a productive night session up at Coal Creek where he first sent Freakshow (8C) followed by two 8B’s and an 8A. ”Psyched to take this down and to be done with those sharp holds. The highball finish was a bit sketch alone, but definitely makes the boulder full value. As for the grade it is certainly much harder post break than it was before, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be V14 now and just V13 before the break. I'm not very confident in my grading at the moment though since this is the first hard thing I have tried since recovering from some injuries this winter, and this is certainly much harder than the V13's down the hill, so for now I will defer to Daniel's expertise.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and why you opted for a night session?
I have not had much success climbing the last couple of months due to some minor nagging injuries. I felt like Freakshow would be a good reintroduction to hard boulder for me since it is quite long for a boulder and none of the moves are exceptionally hard for the difficulty of the full line. It ended up being a perfect project to get some fitness back and I was very psyched to send it.

I think I sent around 7pm. The boulder sits in the sun all day and the day I sent was actually rather warm for this time of year so climbing at night felt like the only good option. I do find myself climbing at night quite often in general though as I typically prefer colder temps and it is the only time I can get outside on days I am working.