Erwan Legrand has done Le brillant saoulé (8c+) and Dévers sévère (8c+) in Buoux. The latter was a FA of a route he bolted together with his father Francois, who won four straight World Cups and three straight World Championships at the beginning of the 90s.

"The route is very physical and the first part is a real endurance test piece. You start with a traverse in a roof that ends with the best move in the world, a 360 rotation with no feet. I have taken 13 sessions to send the route."

So, you sent this climb barefoot?
I've been climbing barefoot on my wall at home since I was little, but I've always climbed outdoors with climbing shoes. I had tried this route for three sessions, and I thought it might be easier by climbing barefoot. Then I started climbing barefoot in it and it immediately felt better so I started trying to chain it but I was falling every time on the 360 move due to my lack of strength in my biceps. One day I managed to pass the 360 coming from the beginning and I arrived at the 7B+ boulder problem in the roof which I almost succeeded, but I fell at the last move of the crux. Then the days after, I still fell on the 360. And on my 13th session in the route, I went back to the 360 and managed the 7B+ and 7A boulder problem at the top of the route, with a very big fight.

Mateusz Haladaj, who previously has done 16 routes 9a to 9a+, has sent Sanjski par extension (9a) in Osp - Banje in Babna. "One of the best routes I've done so far. Super intense and technical roof climb, feels solid for the grade even using kneepads." (c) Mikołaj Heretyk

The 37-year-old, who did his first 9a in 2009, reports that he was on a trip with the Polish youth national rock climbing team. Interview how this work is coming up. "Our 2022 Team grouping was quite successful. The youngsters get stronger every year and the highlights were: Missing drink (8b+) (hard) for Maja Oleksy age 15 and Sanjski par (8c+) for Michał Korban age 17."

Sera Gearhardt has done in Fontainebleau, which is 8B in the topo. “Last day best day for me! Screaming, shaking, crying, etc. Consensus that I've heard is 8A+ and that seems right to me. Beyond psyched rn :')”

During three weeks in Fontainebleau, the 25-year-old, who previously has done three 8A+ In 2022, also sent Conviction (8A) and .

Can you tell us more about your latest 8A+ ascent?
Psyched to have had luck with the weather to finish this one off! Our last few days in font were projected to have 100% chance of rain all day, so I'd written off being able to do this one this trip. Luckily, that was not the case and we were able to sneak in a last day best day session! I put a lot of pressure on myself when I realized that I'd have a chance to try again. For a few hours I wasn't climbing well because of my expectations, but once I let go of the outcome it went much more easily :)

Niki Rusev, who did his first two 9a's in 2020, has done Falshiv geroy (9a) in . Last year, the 16-year-old won both the World and the Euro Championships in Boulder. Impressively, he also won one Euro Youth Cup in Speed.

”Can not describe how happy I am about this one😌. Back in 2020 @fazabrushes bolted a new line in the crag and it seemed to be a hard one💪. We did all the moves but for me, it was crazy to connect all the parts together 😲. The bad thing is that the route gets wet easily so we couldn’t improve more💦😩. Last month Ivailo fazata did FA 🫡. (Surprisingly fast he got back in shape after being a Bg national team coach the whole comp season).

For me it took me a month and a half to send Falshiv geroy (translated - Fake hero)👀. Every next try was better than the other until I stuck on the last hard move of the route, maybe because I underestimated it. I did try a lot of things like doing leg days in the fitness🦵(to rest more with my knees) or just training endurance in the gym but the final conclusion is I got better when I was on the route🤝. After another fail, I decided to change my beta by skipping one move and making a bigger jump and it helped🤔🤠🔥. I don’t know when but we have to go back to try the second part of Falshiv geroy. It continues directly through the roof of the cave and finishes on top of it🤯.

Matt Fultz, who previously has done five 8C+’, has done Moonlight Sonata (8C+) in Gallery. Taylor McNeill made the FA last year and there is a sit start project. (c) Insta

Could you say something about the ascent?
Moonlight Sonata is a very unique boulder FA’d by Taylor McNeil last year. On my first day, I did each individual move very quickly, flashing all but one of the moves. I expected it would be a fast send for me, but that ended up not being the case. The big surprise was that all the hand moves weren’t too bad, but the foot moves and transitions posed some serious problems. In the end, it took about 12 sessions in all. Half of those last Spring and the other half this Fall.

Are you doing any supplementary training?
I train flexibility through strength training. Squats, deadlifts, overhead press, and bench press are my main staples.

Michele Reusa has done Noia (8c+) in Andonno. "Noia is the first 8c+ in Italy, freed by Severino Scassa in 1993. The route is made up of the first part of an 8b+ (Noi) plus a traverse and the last part of 8b (Cobra). I did it after some five sessions plus attempts also on Noi."

Michele's younger brother Matteo and their father Iuri both climbed 8c+ last year at age 13 and 47 respectively. "This year was a year full of competitions and we did not climb so much outdoors. Matteo did one 8c. My father injured his knee this January and hasn't climbed that much afterward."