David Bermudez Carbonell, with seven 9a’s under his belt, has done Merendola (9a) in Cuenca. (c) Javi Pec

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried this route a bit last year and I left it relatively close. After sending El Carnicero de Rostov I started trying again Merendola in the half of december until I could send the route on the last day of the year. It's a route with a lot of endurance and sharp holds. It ends with an awkward boulder where you have to pull from an undercling that you grab from a far position.

Anna Kelley, who two months ago sent her first 8B, has done Lethal Design (8A+) in Red Rock (NV). Last year the 18-year-old was 8th in the Youth World Championship and this year her focus is the World Cup.

Can you tell us more about LD?
I actually had no intention of trying Lethal during my trip. I went to try Book of Nightmares (8A) but felt spanned out so decided to feel out the moves of Lethal. I did all the moves pretty quickly and then did some links. After, I just decided to give a try from bottom and ended up taking it to the top! I think it suites me pretty well, the biggest crux for me was fighting the pump and numbness on the top out slab.

Andrea Chelleris, who last week did his fifth 9a in 2025, starts 2026 by sending Direct into your Fabelita (9a) and Fabela pa la enmienda (9a) in Santa Linya. ”1st 9a of the year 2026. Wow legs and arms got so pumped, such a good route 2x 9a in the same day🔥.”

Can you tell us more about the two 9a’s?
Today at first I didn’t even want to climb because it was my third day in a row and the skin wasn’t that good, but the weather forecast wasn’t good for the next days, so I decided to give it a last day before going home as it was going to be rainy. In the warm-up I felt okay, then I went for Fabela pa la Enmienda, which is a 125-move beast. After the chain from Fabela I could rest well for the last part. When I arrived at the crux (100–105 moves from the ground) I was a bit tired but not as much as the last two times, so I made it through. I rested again just before the last 10-move push, and later I clipped the chain 😁

After 2 hours of rest I did a little activation on the hangboard and cleaned the first crux, waited another 20 minutes, but I failed. I got back on the ground, rested 40 minutes for the last try before dark. I was tired but psych was high, so I screamed on my way up through the crux, rested as much as I could to be sure that I could be fresh enough for the cruxes of Fabelita.

Gianluca Vighetti has had a great trip to Isili which begun with a one day ascent of Terzo Tempo (8c+), that took it down from 9a. Later he did the FA of Not so Isili (9a+) and Nara Cixiri (9a). “I propose 8c+/9a for this line, slightly harder than Terzo Tempo. It starts on Terzo Tempo than it goes all the way up-right until before the last crux of Halloween.”

Can you tell us more about your 9a+ FA?
After doing Terzo Tempo I asked if there were some lines that still waited for the first ascent. Not so Isili was the real ultimate hard route of Isili. It connects the crux of "Terzo Tempo" with the crux of "La signora con La Falce 8c" with a really long and pumpy traverse in the middle. I think this route could be 9a+, maybe a soft one because I felt it a little bit easier than Lapsus but it is much more my style.

Simon Lorenzi reports on Instagram that he has repeated Sean Bailey’s Shaolin (9A) in First Creek Canyon. The 28-year-old has previously done the FA of Soudain seul (9A), repeated Alphane (9A), Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Burden of Dreams (9A). Including some 8C+’, the active competition climber has the most impressive boulder tick list in the world together with Will Bosi. (c) Yulen Calleja

”Shaolin was my main goal of the trip; I had tried it a little last year and trained specifically to be ready and fit! Everything went super smoothly. It’s the first time a 9A has worked like this for me: at every session I was making progress, without rushing, just staying patient until everything clicked. It was also much easier mentally than last year, because I was with my friends, we had an Airbnb, we were comfortable, joking around outside the boulder. The whole experience was really enjoyable!”

Alex Johnson, with 8B+ as her personal best, has sent Gringo (8A+) in The Swell. Between 2008 and 2010, the 36-year-old won two World Cups and secured second place twice.“ Gorj, maybe one of the best in the state. Insane backdrop. I love the desert.” (c) Tim Kemple

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
This climb has been on my wishlist for a long time, and I’m stoked we finally made the trip to the desert. The boulder is beautiful, the movement is super fun, and the scenery is stunning.

I managed to do it quickly, which felt like a strong reflection of where I’m at right now and the work I’ve been putting in. It feels like a meaningful punctuation mark on 2025, and it’s motivating to head into 2026 with this momentum.

What are your 2026 plans?
First and foremost, back to the Swell! I fell off the end of another 12 [8A+], would have been insane to do them back to back, but alas.

Trips to both Joshua Tree and Vegas in January. Then just hopefully checking more things off my all-time wishlist, but mostly local-ish for now, no major trips planned yet. Utah winter is still yielding, it’s been amazing.

Sam Weir, who had his best year last year sending seven boulders 8C and beyond, has repeated Tagada (8B+) in Chironico. “2nd ascent. Harder than all my 8C of last year so I suspect this one is regular 8C.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Tagada is a small power boulder revolving around an undercling opened by my friend Clément Lechaptois a few years ago. After a few sessions I managed to work it out. Clem opened it at 8B+? but it was harder than the 8Cs of last year for me so I think this could be more in the 8C range. He is out there fighting grade inflation all alone 🤣