Loic Zehani has done in Santa Linya. (c) Eduardo Ruano Li

Could you tells us more about your ascent
It is a very beautiful route which is divided into 2 parts. The first is 8c+ and the second 8c. With a good rest in between. The first part is the hardest for me. The movements are powerful and resistant. I fell there a few times. The second part suits me better (one and two fingers pockets). It took me about ten tries.

What's next for you?
I am currently looking for an apartment around Lleida to stay 6 months there (santa linya, margalef, siurana). I don’t really have any routes in mind. Just want to try lots of hard routes.

In total, the 20-year-old has now done 50 routes 9a and harder, out of which 25 are FAs. During the last 12 months, he has done 17 routes 9a to 9b.

Drew Ruana, who previously has done four 8C+, reports on Insta that he has done The Ice Knife (sit-start) (8C+) in Guanella Pass, commenting that it is his hardest send ever and that he projected it for some 35 days. (c) Alton Richardson

Drew is a former successful competition climber who was #8 in the World Championship in 2019. He stopped competing after he failed to qualify for the Olympics. Since then the 22-year-old has been one of the very best boulderers in the world. In total, he has done more than 80 boulders 8B+ and harder. Here is an 8a interview with the full time Chemical engineering University student.

The stand start was put up by David Graham in 2011 as an 8C. Then Daniel Woods repeated it giving it a personal 8B+ grade and when he later did the FA of the sit-start he proposed 8C, saying it was his hardest ever. In 2016, Daniel upgraded it and some other of his hardest boulders and here is his logbook comments.
“The sit adds in a powerful and awkward 4 move 8A+ into the 8B+ with no rest. The style of this boulder is different than anything I have climbed on. The holds require good friction and the movement is off balance and weird.

Cathy Wagner has done Esprit de vi (8b) in Bellver, on her second go, giving it a personal 8a grade.

”A must-do 👌. A perfect overhanging route packed with knee-bars working for both moves and rests. Hard 8a seems fair to me.”

In total, the 57-year-old has 866 routes 8a and harder in her logbook, the first one being in 1994. Without personal grades, she has probably done close to 900, which is more than any other female has climbed. She shows no signs of slowing down, having had more or less the same 8a score for 25 years straight. During the last 12 months, she has logged 36 routes 8a and harder.

Alex Megos, who the last three weeks has done five 9a to 9b routes in Margalef, reports on Insta that he has done three more 9a and harder FAs. Furthermore, three 8c+, out of which, two FAs and a flash of Patan el Villano 8c. (c) Javi Pec

Chan Chan Bastards 9a+/b: ”The Journey P1 into the unfortunately chipped top of Café Colombia"
Pink Patatas 9a+: "The first part is a sit start boulder problem that checks in at around 8A+ (V12) and finishes on a good flake from which an 8c+ route starts. Climbing the boulder into the route adds up to about 9a+ I'd say. 50 moves in a roof make it very pumpy for sure 😅."
Patatas Pantera 9a: "I put my focus on a new cave found and bolted by Tom Bolger."

Obed Hardmeier has done , which is an extension to that follows a beautiful black strip up the iconic wall in . (c) Rainer Eder

"Two years ago I tried the route for the first time. Last year I seriously projected the route as far as it was possible and I had to end the season without an ascent. This year I already had some good attempts in spring which increased the motivation again. On Sunday there was a lot of Foehn wind, which is quite rare in Gimmelwald - in the first attempt of the day I was able to send the route immediately and was overjoyed.

As for the difficulty of the route, I am not sure. In any case, I find the route significantly harder than the 9a "Jungfraumarathon" and "Alpenbitter" next door. Further ascents will clarify..."

What is next?
Currently, I don't have a new goal yet I first have to find another project or finish smaller existing projects. What is for sure is that the season in Gimmelwald is slowly coming to an end. At the end of September, I started my Master's degree (civil engineer ETH Zurich) and still work about 20% besides my studies - so maybe my next goal/challenge is to find a way to combine full-time studies, work and climbing ;).

Sebastien BOUIN, who previously has done nine routes 9b to 9c, has sent Jumbo Love (9b) at Clark Mountain. It took him ten days and now he is working on a more direct and harder variation. (c) Clarisse Bompard

“An old dream came true last Wednesday. This king line has attracted me for a long time. It was a true inspiration to see the footage of Chris Sharma on it. I started climbing around 2005 and it was one of the most incredible climbing films I had watched at that time. Jumbo Love looked like everything I like in Climbing: A perfect huge orange steep wall in the middle of the Mojave desert.

I knew this line and this wall will be my pure climbing style. Climbing on this line is something I have been waiting for, for several years. And I am definitely not disappointed. It's an amazing line with perfect moves. But, Jumbo Love is not just a hard line, it's a whole adventure. I totally underestimated the total process, the drive, the off-roading, and the hike in. We changed our car three times because it was not good enough to get to the crag. We also changed two tires due to off-road driving incidents,... The 1h hike really takes it out of you. I am used to climbing for many days in a row. But, here, that would be a mistake. We had to preserve ourselves. And keep our energy and motivation up. We were sleeping some nights in the desert, so as not to drive every day. I did the route on my 10th climbing day.

My overarching objective would be to do the Direct variation of Jumbo Love, which is supposed to be harder. My approach was simple, find the best betas possible in Jumbo Love, in order to have the highest chances possible to send it coming from the direct (adding an 8c+ route before the 9b). In this process, I used kneepads for the send, in three places. This kind of rock (orange rock with pockets) is actually not the best for using kneepads, but I still found it helped a little, with some tricky ‘expert ++’ kneebars. I was falling half of the time, slipping from kneebars. I almost gave up with these kneebars at some point because it was to sketchy. I was thinking the route a bit more powerful without kneebars, but way more secure if you have the strength required.

Yet, I was still thinking about how to approach the direct version. With the normal start, you are coming into the jumbo Love crux really fresh because there is not so hard climbing before (around 8a to reach the crux). So I still had a lot of power reaching the crux from the original start. Yet, in the objective to start from the direct (which add an 8c+ route right before the crux) I would need to find some less powerful beta, even if it's more technical. That's why I stuck with my kneebar beta. The kneebar help so in this route, I don't think they are changing the grade. It's not like "Iron Curtain" or "Change" where the kneebars are making a big difference. I think Jumbo Love stays on the same level, with or without. This route is really stunning! Incredible and futuristic vision from Randy Leavitt to bolt this one in the 90's... Thanks for the futuristic vision and the line, and thanks for the inspiration Chris Sharma and Reel Rock.”

Marine Thevenet reports on Insta that she has repeated Compass North (8B+) in Fionnay after just some 5-6 sessions. (c) Clement Lechaptois, who did the FA and commented. "Starts as Underground paradise and Fuck the system, and goes straight into the grey 45 panel in the other side of the big cave. Basic climbing on crimps!"

Can you fill us in on this climb and your send?
I tried a few with Clément when it still was a project, but at that time I couldn’t figure out the crux (mostly due to a pulley injury). I came back in good shape after Rocklands and I focused on the end to be sure that, when I will pass the crux I will not fall! The reality was really different 😅 I fell quite a lot in the "easy part"!

After sending Zima Blue (8B) in august I tried it from the bottom! I did a lot of Moonboard to have contact strength, and some stamina on the Smartboard cause the boulder is a little bit long!

Anak Verhoeven reports on Insta that she has repeated Dani Fuerte's No pain no gain (9a+) in . (c) Leoni von Ristok

"I was focused, but not as nervous as during my first try a few days before. Lots of things could make me fall, but I tried to climb in a relaxed way nevertheless. When I reached the end of the last crux, I fought to stay on and managed to keep going. A big rest brought relief and gave me the energy for the last tricky boulder. And then I clipped the chains. :)"

How many days of projecting did it take?
Some 8 climbing days before sending.

What about going for 9b or even 9b+? It seems you have the level.
Maybe ;)

Anak was previously a very successful competition climber. She has won three World Cups and was runner-up eight times, almost always behind Janja Garnbret. The 26-year-old Belgian stopped competing in 2019 due to an elbow injury she first sustained in 2017. In 2020 she ruptured a pulley and had to undergo surgery. In total, she has now done 16 routes 8c+/9a and harder putting her #2 and just behind Laura Rogora on the leaderboard of hard redpointing.

Camilla Moroni has done her fourth 8A+ during the last three weeks, Primitivo Stand 8A, which originally was 8B, in Valle Bavona. The 21-year-old Italian was #9 in the World Cup this year and in the 8a ranking game, she is #5.


What's next?
At the beginning of November I will start training again so I will only be able to climb on rock on the weekends. I would like to send some 8A+ (lines) in Ticino (like Second Life and King of Sonlerto) and start trying Heritage (8B+).