Christof Rauch has done his third 9a in just eleven days, L'isola che non c'è in Amden. "Amazing hybrid between bouldering and route climbing. It all starts with an awesome roof boulder on amazing holds, leads into a slightly easier middle part and finishes with a short and powerful boulder on the rope, followed by some easier climbing to the top. Really happy to get the third ascent of this amazing Fred Nicole testpiece!"

How hard is the roof boulder and then the rope climbing?
It shares Ragtime 8B+ untill the last ~6 moves (~7A/B) but has another 5-moves 8A crux on the rope instead, followed by some easier climbing to the top.

How many sessions were needed to send?
I did it (Ragtime) in two sessions in 2016. Over the next years, I had two sessions on the route. Last autumn I invested three more sessions and got really close to sending it but then the snow came and it was too cold. Yesterday was my first session this year. I felt stronger than last autumn and surprised myself with a send.

Jonathan Siegrist continues striking in Santa Linya doing his fifth 9a over just three weeks, Fuck The system (9a). "Barely pulled this one off in the final days of my trip with horrible conditions. SO happy. For sure easier than the other 9a I did, but also one of the best for movement."

In total, the 36-year-old has now done 60 routes 9a and harder which makes him #6 on that list. Interesting is that he did his first 9a at age 24 and that his last year is his best year ever after almost twelve years of continuous progress. He is #2 in the 8a ranking game after Adam Ondra. In other words, Jonathan is a great example of a late bloomer.

Below is how he two weeks ago explained his great progress lately. The picture is from last autumn. "I worked really hard for the last 4 years to address some of my weaknesses with training and also with the projects I choose outside which definitely helped me make some progression! Also as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to be more patient, rest more, and take really good care of myself. But ultimately it’s not much about how ‘strong’ I am (actually I am super weak when compared to top climbers!), it’s more about just prioritizing being outside and climbing on rock a muerte as much as possible."

William Bosi has flashed his third 8B, Sviní Mor in Moravský kras which was put up by Adam Ondra in 2013. In the video, Will actually seems to cruise it. "Definitely felt pretty in control and strong on the problem! To prepare for the flash, I watched a video of Adam Ondra on it. Then took about 10 minutes at the crag memorising the moves. The problem suits my style well so as soon as I had the undercut I was sure I would do it."

The 25-year-old has been a very active and successful competition climber since 2012 but he has previously said that he will take a break from the WC circuit and focus on outdoors after not qualifying for the Olympics. Last year he made nine routes 9a to 9b+.

How long have you been in the area and what has been your focus?
I've been here since the 23rd of March and I’m staying till the end of April. Quite a lot of bouldering and a bit of lead mainly at Sloup and Holstejn, had a really good trip so far with quite a lot of sends. I have Band of Birds coming out in the last week to get some good photos and I’ll need to check all the info and then you know the full ticklist 😁

Adam Ondra comments on Insta, " @will_bosi 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 has stayed in my hometown Brno 🇨🇿 for a few weeks. Absolutely crushing some of the local testpieces in Moravský Kras (Moravian Karst) 💪 You can see both of us on the Czech Cup in lead in Brno (@hudystenabrno) tomorrow 😎"

Jonathan Siegrist, who three days ago did his 9a #41, JoeDan (c) Cameron Maier, has flashed Digital system (8c) in Santa Linya. In just the last two months, the 36-year-old has done seven routes 8c to 9a+ and he is #2 in the 8a ranking game.

"My friend Dru Mack gave me the beta for the first half (the crux) but I did not have any beta for the second half. SO when I made it to the middle rest he actually swapped out the belay with Yann so he could go far back from the wall and give me running beta. I had to improvise (as always) for some sections but otherwise his beta was great! He knows me and my size (I am only 167cm) really well so normally he can help me with beta for me specifically. It was a goal of mine in Santa Linya since I first saw the line! It's a beauty. I don't have a background in competition at all so typically I am not a great flash or especially onsight climber, but I love to try."

Staša Gejo stopped by in Zillertal on her way back home after being #6 in Meiringen, (c) Martin Rahn, and did a very quick ascent of El Gauhara Sit (8A+). ”Did the stand in a few tries but the low start left me falling at the top so many times. Still happy to have done them in an afternoon.”

The last year, she has previously done two 8B’s and five 8A+ and in the 8a ranking game she is #5.

What is your next outdoor plan?
Plan... uh... these bouldering visits are so spontaneaous that I cannot really plan them 😅 I really like Zillertal, might be back more often, it is only 2h from Munich.

Luke Dawson, who previously has done seven 8c+, has done Rainshadow (9a) in Malham, after trying it for five years.

David Graham has recently turned 40, but he is climbing better than ever. On Insta he just reported that he did the second ascent of Daniel Wood's 4-Lo, 8C. Next season he says he is going for 9A. ”I'm very close on a few problems! Notably, one project which could be 8C+, Rustica, 8C as well as a few others 8B+/C.

How can you still progress after 20+ years as a pro climber?
I feel stronger honestly! 😅😅😅, 🤔🤔🤔. Not sure why?? Maybe smarter??? Healthier lifestyle. Ah just eating better, no partying, lots of good rest!! Better attitude about climbing, more patient and also less concerned with conditions. Always finding new solutions, not getting angry. In the past, I would get much more frustrated when I would fail or not do well. These days I think I'm so used to failing that I'm surprised when I succeed. I do boulders that are really my antistyle too. So I assume they should be hard but I think it really helped my mental game, to push longer and harder. Never get pissed, it is not wise!!! I am feeling strong!! But four months of trying hard has been tough, I took the last two weeks kind of easy as the weather was finally bad 😅🤣

What is next?
Hoping to finish strong this last month. I climb 5 or 6 days out of 7 often. We had such perfect weather!! I am also trying some very sick projects. There's just so much to do here, this season is a good start at catching up. I have just a few more hard ones in Bavona to complete then, I'm on to new things.
I'm hoping to buy a home here in Ticino and someday I would like to be a pro crystal hunter, haha. My hobby is searching for crystals and minerals!! You can do it professionally too!! It makes for 🤪 very good active rest days. I love it !!!!! Keeps me sane! And thinking!!! Gotta be sharp!! And you learn a lot about geology and SAFETY hahaha. Like, don't do stupid shit!! I will start searching next week We dig holes in the ground.

(It should be mentioned that this interview is put together from a chat. Once you get the wizard going, you get at least 10 messages a minute. There's nobody even close to being able to push "Enter" that often. It is very hard to keep up filling in with "likes", "why" and "how do you mean" etc. If he gets passionate about something, you just try to hang on to that roller coaster.

On a personal note, my best flash ever was done when he fooled me into trying a 7c that was my anti-style. I was just going to check out the moves... then Dave got into his "Enter" mode and started shouting beta and telling me and the whole crowd that I can do it. I do remember hitting the one finger pocket almost dynamic, realizing it is very shallow. From that point I am blank but I still remember clipping the anchor and directly understanding that I had injured that finger. This happened in Kalymnos and I could not climb for the next five days, but I couldn't stop grinning!/Jens Larssen)