Christoph Bräuer has repeated Klem Loskot’s Intermezzo XY gelöst (9a) in Plombergstein. ”First 9a. It took me 4 days and I struggled only on the hard second move on the big pinch. Did it today even though some holds were a little wet. About the grade I‘m not sure if it is solid 9a or a little softer but I don‘t have a lot of references. Still happy about it!”

Jules Marchaland, who did three 9a+’ last year, has repeated Chris Sharma’s iconic Three Degrees of Separation (9a+) in Céüse. ”Crazy route, maybe the best I have ever climbed. Took me 6 days and I fell two times at the last dyno…" (c) Marc Daviet

How hard is the start of the route and how hard are the dynos?
I think the first part is like a soft 8c+ , but it depends on your [preferred] style of climbing. After that (for me) the first dyno (with the fews moves before) is around a 7C+ boulder, and then the two next dynos (also with the few moves before) are around 7B boulders.

I felt good on the dynos. I flashed the 2nd and 3rd one and did the first and hard one 2nd go. This route is just crazy, so fun to try.

Tanner Bauer has flashed Quintessential (8B) in Rocklands. The 20-year-old has a very solid bouldering foundation having already flashed six 8A+ graded boulder problems and completed close to 60 8B’s and harder, including one 8C.

”I've been chasing after the infamous 8B flash for around 3 years now. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of good contenders to do so. I've gotten close to achieving this goal before while climbing in Red Rocks and Moe's Valley but was never able to pull it off. Once my trip to Rocklands was confirmed, I knew I would have another good opportunity to try and finish off this goal.

On my very first day of the trip and my first day ever climbing day in Rocklands, I ended up at the Quintessential. I quickly realized that it would be very feasible to flash this boulder because of its easy accessibly. There are a ton of really good warm ups right near it and all the holds are reachable from the ground. Two things that are really important for flashing hard boulders.

I spent about an hour just touching the holds and deciding which beta I was gunna use. The hand moves are extremely straight forward but there are a ton of different foot options. It came down to two main betas that I had to choose from. The first being a more physical method that required more pure strength. The second being a more technical method that required highly specific body positions. I ended up choosing the beta that was physically harder because I didn't want to blow the flash due to a silly mistake. The more physical beta meant I had to pull harder but at the end of the day, I think it was easier to execute due to it lending to more natural body positions.”

Lorenzo Bogliacino, who two months ago did his second 9a+, has completed Moksha (8c+). (c) Mattia De Leo

”I went a couple of weekends to Pic St Loup since I wanted to see the crag for a really long time. I checked Hélix au pays des merveilles (8c) on my first weekend and already tried a bit the crux of Moksha. Next weekend I did Helix on saturday and Moksha on Sunday. Conditions were bad in the morning but then the air came and I did the route at the end of the day unexpectedly. Had a huge fight on the top part since I was very tired!”

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.