Shinichiro Nomura, who previously has done ten 8C's, has done the FA of Gakido (8C+) in Chigobutai. "Finally, I sent the old project, known as one of the biggest Japanese routes. In addition to bad holdings, I struggle with the worst positioning that I’ve never felt, compared with some other V15 (8C) projects. However, I managed to send by the sequence that I found. Although the Japanese routes require a lot of moves and are hard to connect as a whole. This route is short and severe but the shape of the boulder is awesome so I’m really happy that I sent it."

Stefano Ghisolfi has done Trofeo dell'Adriatico (9a+) in Arco. "I tried the route for five days. It is amazing. The wall is one of the best of Arco, very close to the city, and the view is incredible. The crux is in the middle, a hard sequence after a good kneebar rest and then it continues on a beautiful tufa up to the top." (c) Onsen productions

What is your next plan?
Condition are still amazing and I'm trying Excalibur, 9b+ project that felt possible in the past days. I didn't start with the attempts yet but I'm linking some very good parts. (Video from both routes tried together with Adam Ondra.)

What about competitions?
I'll compete in the first lead World Cup and at the World Games.

Emilie Gerhardt reports on Insta that she has done Wrestling with an alligator 8B in Maltatal. In 2013, she got the silver in the Youth World Champion but she stopped competing in 2016. Overall, she has done more than a dozen 8A and harder out of which two 8B's. (c) Julius Westphal

”Due to busy work in our boulder gym “Steil”, rock climbing has been rare the last months. So I was pretty psyched for bouldering in Maltatal for a week ! I’m happy that training paid off and I could climb Klem Loskot’s classic “Wrestling with an alligator”.

Hamish Mcarthur finished the 2021 competition season by first getting two golds in the Youth World Championship and then being #3 and #7, in Boulder and Lead, in the World Championship. Outdoors he has done two 8c+/9a (in just two sessions each) and last year he put in five sessions on La Dura Dura 9b+, in the picture from his Insta.

What is your climbing background?
I started as most kids do; climbing trees, buildings, playground equipment, my parents... To this day nothing brings me as much joy as going adventuring in the vertical plane. I can't step outside without my mind racing at the possibilities of what I can scale. As a result, my parents took me to a gym when I was 5 to redirect my energy. I got hooked quickly. I crave challenge (in any form) and climbing is the perfect symbol of just this.

How can you explain the great progress in 2021?
An amalgamation of many factors so it's hard to unpick the effect to find a single cause. A big factor however was my isolation during the lockdown. For a good few months, my training was exclusively on an 8ft² wooden board in my parents' shed. In this period (with no comps on the horizon) I was forced to change my approach to training from doing it to improve my climbing to doing it to improve my life. This minor shift in perspective has allowed performing so much more freely as suddenly nothing is on the line quite like before. I'm just doing it through love and passion rather than fear.

What is your plan and ambition in 2022?
Simply put, I want to dominate the competition scene then fly to Spain and send la Dura Dura... I know this is incredibly ambitious, but that is how you push the limits. If you don't aim for it there is no chance at all you will do it.

Matteo Gambaro, who did his first 9a, out of six, at age 35, has done Comité d'accueil (9a) in Séranon.

"We discovered the crag of Seranon this winter and the place is really beautiful. It is two and a half hours from our house and we went often in a day or for two days with our van. The routes are very technical and slightly overhanging. The style is varied between small grips and pockets and cracks. I climbed the two really beautiful 8b and then I started trying the 9a which forks from the more aesthetic 8b. The first part is technical up to a small rest. Here begins a very difficult sequence on small tricks often opposed up to a reverse crack. From here it takes a lot of head and arms to get to the top with a very random exit movement.

The first days I spent studying the movements which seemed really difficult and strange. Often the hot sun of this January made it impossible for me to progress. I tried the route one day a week often after work and after the first few days, I managed to do all the difficult parts. Yesterday it was very cold and the sun was hazy. In the beginning, I didn't think I could warm my fingers but after a long warm-up on the route, I decided to give it a try which was successful. Thanks to Elena, in the picture, who always accompanies me and who also struggles with her project."