William Bosi, who last week made the second ascent of Burden of Dreams (9A), has just released the video, My Climbing Journey. The in depth video ends with his ascents of Free at Last (9a+) which he put last summer. (c) Band of Birds

What does "Free at last" stand for?
Good question! It stands for a few things, firstly the end of my transition to outdoor climbing. Being free from the stress and politics of the team. Also freeing the last main project at my home crag felt very special. Lastly, it has some personal meaning.

What did you like the most about competitive climbing and what did you like the least?
I think the best moment for me was climbing in front of the Chamonix final crowd in 2019. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night. For sure the worst part was dealing with the politics!

Which are the routes that you are most eager to repeat?
Excalibur (9b+) is definitely top of my list! I would definitely be keen to check out Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Megatron (9A).

How do you manage being at the cutting edge on both five move boulders that take 20 seconds as well as 100 move routes that take 30 minutes?
Hard to say I guess lots of parmesan cheese and oatcakes. (Laughs)

What does a normal training week look like?
I normally climb two days on and one day off. On the first day, I will try to climb for around 5 hours. Whereas the second day I only climb for about 2 hours. On the first day, I like to warm up on the campus board progressing through exercises for 1 hour and a half. Then I’ll board climb for 2 hours and finish doing 14 move campus boulders for power endurance. The second day is mostly focused on climbing.

Camille Coudert, who last year sent Soudain seul (9A), has done Le pied à coulisse 8C in Fontainebleau, Insta video. It was put up by Guillaume Glairon-Mondet as an 8C+ for which Camille agrees but also 8B+ and 8C have been suggested.

Can you tell us more about La pied?
It’s a boulder that I tried last year after succeeding « soudain seul ». I almost did it and in only 3 sessions (fell at the last move which is the simplest intrinsically). I thought then to do it from the next session, but I still fell 3 times per session for nearly 10 sessions to this last movement...

Finally, I had left the boulder aside with the summer. I haven’t come back due to give myself to another big project all winter. When the temperatures rose, I came back to finish the job this week.

What's your FA of Imothep du sol (8B+) like?
This is the first stage of my big winter project (and of course many other winters). It is the ground start of an 8a which starts on an elevated pebble. The 8B+ starts standing from the ground and adds 2 very physical moves. The sit start project adds 6 moves which are worth 8C/+ to the standing 8B+ start.

Jean-Baptiste Jourjon has done La Novena Puerta (8c+) in Santa Linya. The 44-year-old also onsighted his second 8b, La ruta del sol (8b) after having done his first in 2021.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Santa Linya is a quite similar style compared to my home crag La Balme where I'm pretty good. Powerful sections are not too demanding for finger strength, and there are some kneebars.

When Novena Puerta was put up, I think there were already a few kneebars, but on which you couldn't put as much pressure with regular or even reinforced pants, as you can now with stiff rubber. The route has approx three sections for about 60 moves. It starts with a boulder with a huge drop knee, then power endurance to a good rest next to the end of the 7c+ to the right. The second section is quite bouldery, with a technical "friction" kneebar that helps catch a mono static before holding the swing (scary for the finger). This beta can't work without rubber on the knee. Medium rest brings us to the last section ending with a nice dyno from a slopey three finger hold. The jump is easy by itself but it's hard to keep enough body tension after so long and very steep climb. I spent 4 sessions during a week's holiday and 8 to 10 tries. It's always hard to choose the right project when climbing quite far from home, neither too easy nor too hard. Spending a lot of time at the same crag on the same route without guarantee of success is hard when there is so much easier nice stuff around to do, where you are pretty sure you would send within a day. I could do the moves at first work go, but I felt pumped quickly in the sections. Then came the mental game: you can't know how far you are from sending, you just have to try hard. I fell two times at the last move before sending it. I sent it at the first go of the day after a rest day, quite early because of conditions getting worse, warmer with no wind.

Can you also tell us something about your 8b onsight?
For the 8b, I felt relaxed after sending the 8c+ and still quite fresh. I was advised it was a good one for an onsight try, so I had a good mindset. I needed to try something completely different from redpoint project. I could see most holds from the ground, but I still had to improvise and change decisions during the climb. I didn't have much in the tank to allow mistakes, I had to go dynamic a few times with no possible return. Hopefully, the landing holds were correct enough, especially for the last spicy move, just before the warm sun touched the rock.

It seems you are peaking at age 44?
I don't know if I'm at peak, as I had never climbed there it's hard to say. At pure power, I'm certainly weaker than a decade ago but I'm more experienced to optimize the betas quickly. During bad weather on winter days, I've been more to the gym, and modern bouldering didn't suit me well: painful joints and not feeling strong on the rock. So I went back to rational basics in March and April in a more structured way to better focus on weaknesses and avoid injuries: finger strength, locks off, old school bouldering, and loops between 20 and 40 moves.

Stephan Vogt, who did his first 8C in 2021 but only two 8A’s, due to work, last year, has sent The Big Island (8C) in Fontainebleau. (c) Max Rauber

Can you tell us more about your ascent?
I briefly tried the boulder (only one short session) a year and a half ago. Back then I could hardly do any of the moves. This style (compression/slopers) is something I am usually not very good at. It was great to see that the winter training payed off. In January I injured my right ring finger during a training session. As I am working as a routesetter next to my filmmaking jobs I had a hard time letting the finger heal. I was super happy to find out that The Big Island was the perfect solution for me and my finger :)

I felt really good on the boulder and quickly managed to do all the moves. Putting it together took all of the three weeks I had in Bleau and I climbed it on my last day in pretty bad conditions. All in all I think it took me 10ish sessions.

When I started working on the boulder I did what I often do when falling in love with a project. I watched the videos of all the sends I could find on the internet. Watching Chri (Schweiger) send the boulder with his incredible power and psyche became part of my rest day routine. Chri climbed the boulder only a few months ago. I hardly knew him. Although I climbed in comps alongside him, filmed him during a German Youth Cup seven-ish years ago, and trained with him during my time on the German Climbing team I hardly knew him. The news of his tragic death moved me deeply. It put things into perspective. It changed the way I approached the boulder on all the following days. My thoughts go out to Chri and all those who were close to him!