Robbie Phillips reports on Insta that he has done the FA of What we can do in the Shadows 8c (E10 7a). "It is hard but safe. If the fall at the top had been dangerous I’d have considered E11, but in the end, it felt like a runout sport climb :) I found the line in summer 2020 and did an easier version of it, then tried the hard line into autumn 2020 then again in autumn 2021 and sent it in October. Comparing with other hard trad lines it seems to stack up, but there are always anomalies where the climbing might not be very hard, but perhaps is very insecure (like Once upon a time)."

Later the same day, Dave MacLeod repeated. In practice, 8c means that it is one of the very hardest trad routes in the world.

Tristan Chouvy, who just did Lacrima 8B, reports with an Insta video that he has done the second repeat of Philippe Le Denmat's Enigma 8B in Fontainebleau. It was put up in 1992 meaning it was possibly the first 8B in the world. Later, one of the crux holds were broken and although many of the locals have tried it the first repeat was not done until 2019 by Christophe Bichet, without commenting on the grade. (c) Pierre-Arnaud

The 144 cm tall comments: "It is a beautiful climb with very intense moves on tiny sharp crimps and small footholds that require finger strength, extreme precision and balance. Each one of the first 4 to 5 moves required a lot of work and at some point, I thought that I could never reach."

His 191 cm tall father with 7C as PB comments that after the send his son started to playing with a potential sit-start of Enigma. "We thought it would be hard to reach and hold the first two crimps but it wasn't (at least for Tristan)."

How much does he climb weekly and where?
He climbs up to three times a week, only outside.

What kind of shoes is he using and size?
He uses La Sportiva Skwama 36.5 that are generously offered by La Sportiva Italia. He's tried different La Sportiva models and has stuck with the Skwama for the time being.

How was the process taking it down?
He started working on Enigma in May for a few short sessions until he had all the moves settled except the slightly dynamic move to the left. Then he stopped trying as it was too hard and seemed impossible to even reach the hold. After Lacrima we went back straight to Enigma (last Saturday) and that impossible move went at the second go. But he had to stop to preserve his skin and yesterday was the day as it was dry and cold and he had enough skin to try again. That one move and the one before still proved difficult as there was no room whatsoever for error or lack of precision. The second half of the climb was reachy but he had worked it so that the risk of falling there was minimal.

Taylor McNeill, who previously has done three 8C's, has done the FA of Moonlight Sonata 8C+ in Joe's Valley (UT). (c) Drew Mercer

"Three and a half years in the making. So much frustration knowing I was capable for so many years and not having it come together. Ultimate satisfaction. Realizing this is not the peak, but just a stepping stone on the path to something greater. It required the perfect harmony of mind, body, and spirit. Now for the sit start..."

Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker, aka the "Wide boyz", report on Insta that they have established The Great Rift, which is a 750 roof crack under a motorway bridge! It took them four days and three nights, sleeping in a portaledge, to make a team ascent of the 7b+ to 8a+ with around 65 pitches. (c) Ray Wood

Pete: "After a summer of training specifically for this route, we made 3 recce trips to the bridge, had one failed attempt which got us to just under halfway, and managed it on our 5th visit."

Bothe Pete and Tom are considered as some of the best trad climbers in the world and they have previously put up several urban roof crack climbs. They run the popular Youtube channel, The Wide boyz with 66 000 subscribers. 8a interview is coming up!

Colin Duffy, #7 in the Olympics, has repeated Joe Kinder's The Activator (9a) in Hurricave. "Super psyched to have gotten the 3rd ascent! Amazing endurance test piece that pushed me to my limit, I surprised myself with the send on my second day working the route. Until next time, Hurricave." (c) Christian Adam

What is your winter plan and what about comps in 2022?
I’m not quite sure yet, but I think my winter plan is to climb as much as I can at my local Colorado crags and hopefully send hard on both routes and boulders. For 2022 I want to go all-in on comps, and see how far I can push myself on the World Cup circuit. I’m especially excited to compete in more lead world cups since I only got to do two of them last year. Hopefully, I can find time for outdoor climbing when I’m not competing, though.

How is your life besides climbing?
Outside of climbing, I mostly focus on my education. I’m in my last year of high school and will be attending university next year. I like to spend my free time watching other sports such as basketball and football, or hanging out with friends.

Moritz Welt has in Frankenjura done Half-Life (8C), "Never did a boulder this hard, so cannot really grade. Must be quite a soft one tho." and Wrath of the Licking 8C (B+). "Geißel Gottes 8B into Mopedsurfer 8A+, originally graded 8C but we found some good kneebar in between which makes it more like a hard 8B+. First session of the season, feeling fresh. "The 20-year-old has previously done 15 routes 9a and harder and these were his first 8C boulders.

How can you explain having stepped up the bouldering game?
Well I just started the bouldering season two weeks ago, so I'm still a little bit in the lead mode. All of the boulders I've done recently are more like 15+ moves power endurance, which made me feel quite comfortable. For example, Half-Life adds a 7 move 7C/+ into the start of Gordon so you're just more pumped on the hard part. On the other hand, I have been working a lot as a routesetter over the last months and therefore I spent quite some time in the bouldering gym. Maybe that's why I'm feeling that strong right now :)

Do you have any winter plans or projects?
There are still some pretty hard bouldering projects in the Frankenjura, that I've already been trying for some winters, so I'm curious how those will feel now :) Also, I'm planning a trip to Ticino.

What about going for Action Directe?
Honestly, I'm trying it every year for a few sessions and I've actually been close. But it's really hard for me to make steady progress on it.

Audrey Sniezek, who did her first 8c at age 41, has done God's Own Stone (8b+) in Red River Gorge (KY). Noteworthy is that the 50-year-old did not climb much in 2021 until August. “Pretty happy with how this came together. Less than 10 tries, but I put a little time on it some years ago, not sending because I couldn't clip the crux quickdraw. I had no trouble clipping it this time! Such a beautiful line that I'm kind of sad it's over so fast!"

Could you please describe the process of taking it down?
9 years ago I was having a conversation with a young Margo Hayes under this beautiful climb called God’s Own Stone at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. I was rushing out to try one more attempt before flying to Argentina. The route seemed so close to sending. I knew it could go that day. Margo was struggling and in tears because she hadn’t sent it, yet. She asked what I would do about the crux clip. Would I clip it or skip it? It was something I’d had to decide so I was familiar with the debate. There are people who skip it, but I told her it was part of my crux and that I was unwilling to skip it and take a potential fall higher up. Then, I followed that statement with whatever she decides, she needed to decide on the ground and stick to it. Otherwise, she would get to the quickdraw and potentially hesitate, wondering if she should or could clip. This would put her send at risk, wasting precious energy.

I don’t know what happened on her subsequent attempts, but she did eventually send the route. I, however, did not. I gave a good effort, found myself at the spot to clip the crux draw on point but couldn’t and because I refused to skip it, I ended up coming off the wall and not sending. While I was disappointed, I remembered how upset Margo was earlier and how upset I used to get at failure, too. I resolved to not be upset and to show Margo that she can enjoy the climb, have fun climbing, and that it didn’t matter if she sent or not. I don’t know if that was the impression I left but I didn’t cry after failing to send and my spirits were still high despite that. I left excited for Argentina hoping I would return and clean it up when I got back, but I lacerated my leg on a petrified tree stump there and that ended my climbing season for a while.

I’ve never forgotten about the route. Various life events kept me from getting back to try it again, including taking time to compete in the World Cups for as long as I could, then several injuries, and my own confidence in my ability leading up to trying again. Last year I shifted my mindset around what I could try and set about getting on routes that intimidated me. I got hooked on Omaha Beach and was super close to sending but weather didn’t hold up and I walked away. That spring I injured myself stripping caulk from my bathtub trying to fix some things to prepare my place to be rented out. That was the end of my hopes for Omaha Beach that spring, and any training or climbing dwindled to recreational attempts indoors.

Then, my nephew died in April and my whole world turned upside down. I stopped climbing and turned to the mountains, summiting Mt. Rainier and some other Cascade peaks. I thought this would have a healing benefit for my elbow but when September came and I was headed back to the Red River Gorge where my nephew had been living and died, I wasn’t sure how much climbing I would be able to do. Afterall, on top of facing this place without him, I hadn’t been outside climbing for most of the summer. When I arrived, I started on moderates. Just repeat what I knew I could do or should be able to do. Then, I started chipping away at mini-projects like Astro Dog, which is a fabulous but cruxy (for shorties) 5.12d/7c in Muir Valley. After sending a few of those, I thought it was time I test what I could do and go back to some unfinished business: Castle Has Fallen 5.13b/8a, Buttercup 5.13c/ba+, and God’s Own Stone 5.14a/8b+ were at the top of the list. I honestly thought it would take me longer to accomplish all of them. I gave Castle Has Fallen a couple goes the year before but strained my shoulder in the crux and walked away. I gave it one project burn this season, then went back and sent it my 2 nd go on Day 2 “working” the climb (total of 3 attempts this year). Buttercup I tried a few years earlier and fell at the crux quickdraw, not willing to skip it and risk falling higher. I had tweaked my finger with my beta in the crux anyway. This season, I gave it one bolt-to-bolt quick session, then walked it, improvising in the crux on my first redpoint attempt, clipping the crux draw as I went. When I got back on God’s Own Stone, my first go (Day 1) was horrible. I thought “how did I ever get close to redpointing this years ago?” My 2nd go (Day 2) was much better. I focused on the individual sections just trying to do the moves and make the clips. I struggled figuring out the crux. My 3rd go (Day 3), I stuck the crux move from the dog and went to the top, twice. Now I felt optimistic. I gave it 3 more goes on Day 4, sticking the crux and going to the top but only off the dog on my 3rd attempt. Scrounging a partner to go back there was a challenge but I found someone for Day 5 and walked the route, clipping the crux draw, on my first attempt.

This is my fifth 5.14 and first not in Washington State. It’s been a goal of mine to achieve that although I had hoped it would have been a route in the Frankenjura. I don’t put any emphasis on my age but having just turned 50 and sending 5.14 feels pretty good. It gives me hope that I still have time to achieve some other long standing climbing goals.

What were your level in August and how can you explain sending 8b+ at age 50 with so little climbing until August? Any specific training?
I was climbing 5.11 for a long time, maybe top roping 5.12- then I gradually started leading 5.12-, then 2 weeks before I left I was leading 5.12+ and linking the hardest lines I could as inside projects. I just gradually started challenging myself in onsighting, link ups, back to backs, difficulty. It was really about pushing only hard enough that my elbow didn't get inflamed and then seeing how it held up to see if I could notch it up in some way.

There wasn't any specific thing like hang board, or 4x4, or other "training", it was a combination of what I already understand about what I need, the resistance I was going for, and aiming to increase power without hurting myself and all on a rope. so creativity really helped, too.

"The process behind these lines started in 2019 with the research, the find and the selection. Once I realized that something interesting could come out of those rocks, I started the cleaning process which is the most artistic one. This part can be rich in surprises: you never know how things develop and evolve and I love it.

Then the last part of this process was mostly about logistics, understanding how to protect the falls and of course climbing. Riverside bouldering has for me a unique line: the line that stays not too far but also not too close to the water. The rock texture on this idealistic line has a perfect balance between being polished and rough. The thing is that it is hard to follow this line. And this setting reduces the chances of finding what is for me a king line. So the exploration process in this environment required a lot of doubts and questions.

Most of the boulders are scattered and isolated. I guess there is potential for future lines as well, but my guess is a hypothesis and not a certainty. I like to think there are some untouched rocks out here, but still to be explored. The North West of Italy has many boulders which have been developed. Mostly from historical climbers as Marzio Nardi, the B side climbing crew, Christian Core and so on. Some areas exist, but my focus has been mostly orientated on single pieces."

Which are the hardest until now and how many sessions did it take to set up?
No idea; these lines have been developed from A to Z almost always by myself so every rock required loads of time and days as the climbing was just a part of it.