Gabriele Moroni has done Der heilige Gral 9a in Frankenjura. The Italian is a former successful competition climber who got the bronze in the Euro Boulder Championship in 2004 at age 16 and then he stopped competing in 2018 when he also won his first World Cup. Gabri is also a Frankenjura expert having previously done six 9a's and one 9a+ there.

How come you have developed into being a Frankenjura expert?
I spent a lot of time in the Frankenjura in the past that I got to know many of the crags and harder routes. This was my first trip after some years of absence and now I am very psyched to spend more time there again. It was a last-minute decision to spend the holidays in Germany. Once I got to the FJ I realized the route was pretty dry so I immediately started trying it. During our 10 day stay, we had the typical Franconian weather with several rainy days. But eventually, the route stayed more or less dry and I could finish it on probably the last 2 days window of decent weather!

You’re an olympic champion, how do you feel? (c) Lena Drapella
I'm very happy, still trying to assimilate it a bit better. We were all dreaming about the possibility of winning a gold medal when we thought about Tokyo but, honestly, I didn't see it possible at all. We came with the illusion and the objective of getting into the final. And once there, the goal was to enjoy ourselves. I don't really know how to explain the result. I think the key was that I knew how to manage the mental part well. I didn't think so much about the result or what I had to do to win, but I focused on climbing and doing my best.

How did you experience the last test of the final, the lead final?
When I finished my turn, I saw that 38+ put me first. I started to calculate to see what had to happen to win the gold, but when Jakob Schubert managed to overtake Adam Ondra, I didn't want to celebrate too much in case I had made a mistake in my calculations, I didn't want to celebrate anything too early. When I saw that it was gold, I was very happy. We are friends with Jakob, the Austrian climber, and it was very nice. It was an honour to compete against him, against Ondra and against all the climbers in the event. Just a few years ago I was watching videos and dreaming of being like them, they are legends of climbing.

Who did you think of when you saw that you won the gold?
In my family, who have always been cheering me on and supporting me, covering thousands of kilometres. And my coach, David Macià. We are a team, I couldn't do anything without him. He is 50% to blame for what we have done. I've been training with him since I was 11 years old and we understand each other very well.

Do you think this gold will help climbing to grow?
I think the fact that it is on the Olympic programme will help the community to grow a lot. It has been growing over the years and it is a very visual, very attractive sport that can get people excited. In terms of competition, what I and the rest of the guys on the Spanish national team need is a private facility so that we can work in peace and do our own training sessions and not depend on a commercial gym, where we train with clients who don't compete. It is complicated to prepare for competitions like this. Before the Games we had to go to Austria to train, for example.

Why do you like climbing?
I like climbing because it's what I've been doing since I was a little boy and, in the end, it's part of my life. Besides, I really like competing, that feeling of nerves and tension of only having one attempt and not being able to fail and the good atmosphere we have among all the climbers.

Jonathan Flor reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Zeleputza 9a+ in La hoya de la leze, which was bolted by Iker Pou. "A amazing line of pure endurance, on an incredible wall full of great projects, so this has only just begun, over the next few days I will try to work on other lines I have pending together with a great team of motivated climbers. 🙌🏼" (c) Gorka Karapeto

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Vadim Timonov had an amzing trip to Rocklands this summer doing three 8C's, three 8B+' and a flash of The Guest List 8B.

Alex Garriga, who the last five months has done five 9a+, including a personal downgrade of a confirmed 9b, has done three more 9a's in Ilarduia; Harropuza, Escaqueo de Mulero and Celedon. The 22-year-old finished his University degree one month ago so there should be plenty of room for more and harder ascents. (c) Alfonso Martinez

"Ilarduia is one of the best crags in Spain. Celedon is possibly the best route, a perfect endurance route. Now I am trying to climb as much as I can. Let's see what happens in the next months 😂😂"

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Moritz Welt, who previously has done 14 9a's, has done his hardest Thor's Hammer 9a/+ in Flatanger. On his Insta he describes the whole process. (c) Franz Kaiser

"My main objective of this trip has finally come down! And it turned out to be one of the biggest fights I've ever had, mentally and physically. For 3 weeks I only struggled with the first 10 meters out of the total 60. But since the rest of the route is still crazy hard, I didn't even know how it'll go as soon as I pass this first crux. Well, 3 days ago, after changing my beta multiple times I somehow managed to do so and surprisingly I made my way even through the second and third crux, and reached the final rail. I was afraid to fall there and that's exactly what happened, 2 meters below the chains, 5 moves of ~7a to go.

▪️ I didn't know if I would be able to pass all the cruxes again in only 2 more climbing days, but the will to send was stronger than the fear. On the next climbing day I came back, fell on the first crux once, and finally, on the second go of the day, I fought up the whole 60 meters to the top. ▪️ This is for sure the most rewarding send I've ever made, and another big step for me to reach a new level. Grade-wise, I will go for the 9a+, although some people considered it to be rather soft. It simply felt one step above any 9a I've done, so for me, at least the consensus of 9a/+ must be fitting."

What is next?
Just enjoying some fun easier routes on my last day here and then heading back home. I have to go for my mathematics study in the university again, so I'll mostly try my Frankenjura projects. But maybe a short trip to Austria soon.

Marco Müller, who previously has done all the six 9a's he has tried, has after some 15 sessions, done the second ascent of Sascha Lehmann's Schwarz Mönch in Gimmelwald, suggesting an upgrade to 9a+. On Insta he says, "This route felt significantly harder than any other 9a's I've climbed, which is why I think it might be 9a+."(c) Benjamin Weber

Could you please say something about the process of how you took it down?
I really enjoyed the process of trying this route. The first time I climbed the first part ("Renardo Rules" 8c), I came into the crux of the extension pretty pumped. After that, with each session, I was able to tweak my climbing and find some microbeta. Even though I fell at the same spot on almost every attempt, it felt better and better until it finally worked out.

Tamas Zupan came to Sustenpass for the first time in 2015 and directly started to dream about flashing Sputnik 8B. Then during a very cold night session three weeks ago, magic happened. Video of Insta

"Each year I went out, looked at the boulder, and then determined that next year. Then, I had to stop for almost a year due to a back injury. It was hard to recover myself both physically and mentally. I was motivated and made a special, almost 1 year training plan to get stronger, including 6 months of climbing in 60 degrees overhang wall (where else) and campus, all with 17kg extra weight. I also paid attention for eating and stretching, which wasn’t really typical for me before. In this time I could avoid injuries and I was already in my top shape at the end of the vest period. I continued training and waited for the snow to melt in Sustenpass.

After a climbing day in Brione, I decided to go to check the boulder with my friend Tomi Agócs. It was around midnight. 4-5 celsius, all holds were dry, except for the top out, which was completely wet. After about 30 minutes of warming up, I was captured by the feeling that I had no chance of falling today. I could call it “flow”. (It was like when Yoda lifts the X-wing using force out of the swamp, or when Neo “starts to believing at last,” or when Thor gets Mjölnir back.)

Suddenly I felt like a superhero. Apparently, I wasn’t, but my brain believed my body. I sat under the boulder and simply climbed. The starting move, - which is one of the cruxes - went relatively statically, and I preferred to send the big cross move to prevent my feet from accidentally slipping down. After the cross move, the chalk had already soaked from my hand, a small step was broken, so I had to pull myself together to do the remaining 2 meters. It took me over 5 minutes… But it worked out!"