Michiel Nieuwenhuijsen reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Le Pilier du Désert assis 8C in Fontainebleau after just four sessions, beside two sessions doing the 8A+ stand some years ago. The 34-year-old and 187 cm tall did six 8B+' last year and also his second 8C, The Story of two world's. (c) Bart Van Raaij

Interestingly, Manu Cornu who did the second ascent thought it was 8C+ but the third ascentionist, Nico Pelorson says he leans more towards 8B+ as it just took him three sessions. It should be noted that Nico has previously downgraded two 9A's.

Natalia Grossman, who was #3 in Meiringen, has done her 13th 8A+ the last year, Euro Trash in Little Cottonwood. In the 8a ranking game, including also four 8B's, the 19-year-old is #7. "Felt amazing to spend some time outside! Surprised myself with a 3rd go send and felt really close on euro roof sit!"(c) Sean Faulkner

How was your feeling in Meiringen understanding that you have taken yet another step?
After taking such a long time away from competitions I didn’t know what to expect. I had been training hard during the previous months before Meiringen and I felt strong, however, I definitely surprised myself with my results! It feels really good to have been able to perform well in all three rounds of the competition and I’m very excited for the rest of the season.

What goes through your mind during the finale and how do you handle the mental pressure?
During the final, I had no expectations and I simply enjoyed the moment. It wasn’t until the last climb when I realized that if I got the zone I would secure my spot on the podium. Knowing this information made me lose my focus a little bit, but I was able to recenter myself and find a top on the final boulder!

Mental pressure can be tough at time but learning to release any expectations I may be carrying has been very helpful. I’ve also found that if I remember to enjoy the moment, the mental pressure seems to float away and I am able to have fun and stay positive which allows me to try hard and perform to the best of my abilities.

Adam Ondra makes the FA of Yorkshire 8B/+ but fails doing The Edge problem. A few weeks later Martin Stranik did the FA (video) of possibly, "the hardest 8B+ in the Galaxy", according to Adam.

Dylan Chuat has done his fourth 9a, during the last nine months, Coup de Grace in Ticino. On Insta he comments, "It felt incredible 😍!! I’m excited to find a route really hard which will take me some time to work on and put in a lot of attempts until I make it 😁💪🏼!!" (c) Fedir Samoilov

During the last weeks, the 20-year-old has also done two 8B FAs in Valle Bavona. Last November he was #11 in the Euro Lead Championship in Moscow.

Staša Gejo, who has done five 8A's in 2021, has done her third 8A+ during the last year, Backgammon in Frankenjura and amazingly she took it down on her second session, video.

So how was it possible to take it down in just two sessions?
Well, to be honest, I don't think 8A+ is my realistic upper limit, so I need to try something harder. Additionally, this one really suited me well.

When will you start trying 8B and 8B+?
I tried some, they feel pretty hard, but doable. I need to find something that suits me better 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have time :)

Giuliano Cameroni has done Jimmy Webb's La Rustica in Valle Bavona. "Could never do the crux move for the past years. A few weeks ago I realized that it was possible so I started investing more time into it. Took me three days to stick the crux move and on that same try, I luckily didn’t let go and made it to the top. It was an epic fight haha. Concerning the grade, it personally felt like a very hard 8C."

Previously, the 23-year-old Swizz, has done 18 8C's and harder out of which eight FAs. On Insta he comments, "Perfect rock and moves make this one of the coolest lines I’ve ever seen!"

Solveig Korherr has done her ninth 8c the last year, Odd Fellows in Frankenjura. In the 8a ranking game, the 22-year-old is #2.

"Yippie! Two days this trip + a couple of tries from last year in spring. Fingers felt good on these tiny Frankenjura crimps! After getting heartbreakingly close on my second try already, I kept falling lower and lower. I’m glad I managed to keep calm and to clip the anchor today! :) Thanks Jon for belaying and sorry for the wobblers :D.

I will spend the next two weeks in Frankenjura, but without any specific goals. I‘m psyched to climb a lot and check out some new cliffs as there are so many options to choose from.”

Stefano Ghisolfi made the first repeat of Silvio Reffo's The Ring of Life 9a/+ from 2014 in Covolo. The Italian did it in a quick three days trip and he has now done 40 routes 9a to 9b+.

Philipp Gaßner has done Action Directe in Frankenjura which was put up by Wolfgang Gullich in 1990 and generally considered to be the first 9a in the world. In total, it has been repeated 27 times and interestingly, during the last 2.5 years, it had only been done twice, including Melissa Le Neve doing the first female ascent last year. (c) Basti Scheibel

"Psyched to have finally climbed that one. I’ve wanted to do it for a long time but somehow I’ve only spent there a couple of days over the past few years. This spring I was super excited to give it a serious go. And on the fourth day of this season, I did it with great support from my friends. There is not much left to say about the route. This thing is just absolutely iconic and it‘s still a difficult test piece. Looking forward to moving on to the next projects!"

What was hardest for you redpointing it?
The hardest was to be that certain mental state to be able to climb the route because I knew I was strong enough to do so. Just focusing on the very next move and not trying to calculate if I can send it or not. And even though there was a little mistake during the send go I did not let go.

The first time Philipp made 8a headlines was in 2014, being 14-years-old doing his first 8c+, Reality Check. In total, the German has now done 15 routes 8c+ and 9a. This year, he has also done his first 8C boulder.