Mike Bockino has done the first ascent of Skyfall (9a) in Riggins. ”So many tries. 40+ days from 2023 until today. Thanks to Merto for all the belays. Crazy route. I learned a lot from this one. Not sure on the name but that will be decided pretty soon. Grade wise: I don’t have a lot of context here, but for me this route is 14a to a bad shake then a V9/10 roof boulder to a good but not great rest, then headwall of 3 boulders separated by rests. Those boulders are roughly V7, V6 and the last is V5. Someone else will have to do it, could be 14c, could be harder than 14d. I don’t know so will throw out the middle grade. Took me 40 days longer than 2 8c+ routes I’ve done.”

Can you tell us more about the process behind the ascent and your climbing background doing a PB at age 43?
Started climbing 1999, ever since. Routesetting professionally since 2004-present, I am a National Head Routesetter for USA climbing, and an IFSC level 2 Routesetter. I’ve set 7 boulder world cups and around 22 National Championships and 1 youth worlds.

First 8A boulder in 2007, first 8b+ route in 2007 as well. Mostly focus on bouldering but every few years I will get psyched on routes. This one was more special, it’s at one of the first cliffs where I started climbing harder back in 2005 or 2006. It was originally started by the legend, Tony Yaniro when the cave was developed in the 1990s. It’s gone through a lot of different people and settled a number of years ago but nobody really tried it.

I began putting effort into it in summer 2023, taking roughly 20 days that year. Took me almost a full week to sort out the beta for the crux boulder as it involves a very aggressive drop knee and seems improbable when you first feel positions.

I was injured most of 2024, very bad pulley injury and a knee injury in Cresciano in October of 2024. Only did 1 week on it in 2024. Started lead training in May this year, tried the route for 12 more days in June and July, 2 different trips. This trip I sent 2nd try on the first real day. The first day I went up, brushed, did the headwall section a few times to review beta and then sent 2nd attempt that day.

This route is 500 miles [800 km] from home. The pressure was incredible on every trip, and every attempt. Training for it was a fun challenge, every trip I would come home with some small adjustment and something that was lacking and I would adjust my training to match. Most of it is done by climbing, circuits, long duration spray wall and some lead as well. I Focused a great deal on power endurance and then just a bit of aerobic endurance towards the end of the cycle.

At 43 I think people assume you’re heading down, but this is the first time I’ve spent longer than 5 days on a route (previously climbed 8c+) as I tend to boulder more. I feel like I can still get stronger now, I’m also bouldering at a high level each year, since 2011 I’ve only gone 2 years without climbing an 8B boulder and those were due to injury.

Eva Hammelmüller, who the last six weeks has done a dozen routes 8b+ and beyond, has spent the last days in La Ramirole and sent hard again. (c) Felix Mast

La flûte en chantier (8c+): ”What a line and what a place! Thanks Felix for convincing me that a few days is worth heading all yhe way south to La Ramirole, this place is mindblowing. Danke Simon for your beta and merciii les copains for your support in the send go🫶🏽 managed to send it on my 4th try!!”

Agressif you want (8c): ”Great route with funky sequences, many kneebars, and dynamic moves! Thanks Max (mon idol ;)) for giving me some beta!! ”

Can you tell us more about the trip?
Due to the bad weather, we decided to head down south to la Ramirole, even though we only had a few days left - and it turned out to be the best decision!! I loved everything about this place, the beauty of the valley, the steep powerful tufa climbing, the numerous hard routes, the climbing community… Clipping the anchor of ‘La flûte en chantier’ and ‘Agressif you want’ in only 4 tries each was the icing on the cake🥹

Leo Cea, who sent his first two 9a’s at age eleven, has done Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup. A video of the ascent and a short interview is coming up. In the meantime, his uncle Javier gives us the background story. (c) Carlos Lastra

”In May of this year, Leo and his family moved back to his native country, Germany (Leo is Chilean-German), choosing Erlangen as their new place of residence. This made Frankenjura his new climbing home base.

Taking advantage of the last weeks of summer vacation, and still within a preseason training plan, Leo, together with his brother Inti and his father, decided to travel from Germany to France for a week, supported by The North Face Chile. The goal was for Leo to try the same route that French climber Théo Blass sent in 2022 at the age of 12 years and 9 months—the exact same age Leo is now.

From the very first moment, Leo was captivated by the aesthetics of the line and the natural beauty of the crag. He especially enjoyed taking on a style that was quite unusual for him, with several kneebars and many tufa pinches, very different from the climbing in Frankenjura.

Leo progressed quickly on the route and by the second day had already solved all the moves, including the crux. According to local climbers present at the time, just three weeks earlier the key hold for the crux had broken significantly, making the sequence considerably harder.

After six days of work on the line, with humidity constantly between 76 and 80%, and unable to wait for better conditions since he had to return to Germany the next day, Leo seized a moment when a breeze picked up to give the route a relentless try. Standing 1.43 meters tall with a wingspan of 1.48, he successfully sent the climb, which became his fourth 9a (5.14d).”

Mathieu Bouyoud, with 43 routes 9a and beyond under his belt, has done the first ascent of Titanesque (9a+) in La Balme de Yenne.

Can you tell us more about the first ascent?
Titanesque it s the longest route in La Balme, around 50 m long. It takes the Titan route and the end of Les Nuances du ciel, two others 9a routes. Two bolts and ten meters for the link-up were added. Many attempts were made to complete it. A long standing project that l equipped four years ago. I work on it every year.

Bella Jariel, with previously two 8A+’ to her name, has done Mind Stream (8A+) in Smugglers' Notch.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Mind Stream is a short, powerful boulder which sits in the center of Smuggler’s Notch, Vermont. It consists of only three intensive moves. Because of how powerful it is, projecting the climb can be a challenge as it exhausts the shoulders quickly.

I’ve had this climb on my list for a while, but wasn’t able to make it out to Vermont until recently when I moved back to New England. I finally started trying Mind Stream this summer as the temperatures in other climbing zones started rising.

I ended up opting for the beta which Madeline Brandt used, which involves a super high right foot to establish. I fell on the last move on my second session, and finally pieced it together on the third!

I’m very happy to be back to climbing harder after a number of injuries over the past year. Excited to get back on some old projects in the coming the fall season.

Which injuries have challenged you?
I had a volar plate finger injury injury in the fall, and then I reinjured the same finger with an A2 pulley sprain in the spring a few months ago 😬Both took a while to recover from, luckily feeling a lot better now

Stefano Carnati, who the last month has logged 33 boulders 8A and beyond, has done La Mola Mola in Plamproz. ”Absolute banger of a line on a beautiful bloc of banded gneiss with a limestone coating (?) right by the river. The rock quality and movement are just incredible. The easier intro leads to the main crux, with a tough heel hook and powerful compression moves that stay sustained all the way to the top. A little morpho. 10 tries spread over 3 days!” (c) Marco Zanone

Do you think your recent Boulder focus had an impact of the ascent ?
I think the recent boulder focus really helped for this one. I just came back from three weeks in Rocklands, and over the past few months I’ve mostly been bouldering. However, indoors I still kept at least one short-circuit session per week (15–20 moves), so I didn’t lose much the habit of climbing with a bit more continuity. After Rocklands, the first day I put the harness back on was in Ravoire. The routes there are pretty long and the pump felt real 😅. But then switching to La Mola Mola was way better, since it’s short, about 25–30 moves, and basically climbs like a big boulder on a rope: burly heel-hook crux, compression, and some long, reachy moves. The style suited me well. Now I’m psyched to rebuild some power endurance for the next projects!

Simone Tentori, who is on a three months climbing vacation in South Africa, has repeated Nalle Hukkataival's The Finnish Line (8C) in Rocklands. It was the first bloc the 27-year-old Italian laid his eyes on visiting Rocklands for the first time in 2018 and since then it has been a dream. (c) Siara Fabbri

"Six years later, in 2024, I decided to fully commit and see what could happen. By then I’d already ticked a few 8Cs, so I knew the physical level was there. But this bloc came with its own set of issues: the height, the not-so-friendly landing, and the mental game that’s totally different from a lowball testpiece. On this one, even trying all the moves is tricky: from the ground you can only touch the first hold, and to work the upper sequences you’ve got to rap in on a rope. The arête overhangs, so just getting to the holds means swinging in, catching them on the fly, and trying to figure them out in positions that don’t feel anything like the real attempt from the pads. That’s why it’s so hard to lock in the beta the same way you do on other projects you can just try ground-up. In 2024, I’d decided to save my best conditions — skin, body, and headspace — for The Finnish Line. In my first five sessions, I always felt good on it, but never stuck the crux — right in the middle of the line — which defines the bloc’s difficulty. I knew other strong climbers had also fallen there after many tries. So I went home empty-handed… but with a surprisingly good feeling. I think it’s important in bouldering to see these “failures” as part of the success — stepping stones in the process of unlocking a bloc.

This year I came back to Rocklands planning to stay twice as long as last year. Mentally, I was way more chilled. My first days were all about playing around: trying different foot sequences, experimenting with how to grab the various pinches, and not obsessing over recreating last year’s sensations. I just wanted to find the most efficient way to climb it.

First session: just refreshed the moves, but the heat was a bit of a send-killer. Second session: perfect conditions — stuck the crux multiple times on a rope. Started feeling solid. Third session: more experimenting, tweaking the sequence to make it more efficient.

In the third session, after a couple hours on the rope, I pulled on from the bottom and — for the first time — stuck the hardest move of the bloc from the ground. I peeled on the very next move, but I was totally fired up: that was the moment I realized the bloc was actually possible for me. From there, the difficulty eases off — but the height kicks in, so you’ve still got to keep your head together. I checked my skin: good for maybe two or three more goes. I told myself, “If I can hold that pinch on the crux again, I’m walking away stoked.”

Next go, I stuck the crux again, latched the following hold, and kept climbing. I knew the moves well, but my hands were almost numb — that weird feeling you get when you’ve been crimping hard in the cold and lose all feedback from your fingers. On the last two crimps, I had to improvise the foot beta because I literally couldn’t feel my hands anymore. It wasn’t the sequence I’d rehearsed on the rope — I just made it up on the spot. That made the send even more surreal and special. Looking back, it’s kind of scary: with no feeling in my fingers, falling from that height wouldn’t have been pretty. I don’t know if it was fear or just shutting off my brain, but I kept climbing purely on instinct, with a completely new sensation for me." Full report

Moritz Welt, with five 8C’s to his name, has sent Adularia (8C) and Hazel Grace (8B+) in Gottardo.

Can you tell us more about the trip and the highlights?
My girlfriend and I were planning to have a one month bouldering trip to the alps, to enjoy some cooler summer conditions. It was our first time in Gottardo and I didn't have high expectations, my main goal was to check out Hazel Grace. Did that and a lot of nice classic climbs during our first week. Also had a session on Bonjour Finesse (8B) which suited me quite well and went down fast. So I checked out both lower starts on our second week. The start of Adularia did not suit me so well (it is quite morpho and most previous ascentionists are rather tall) but I figured out my own method. Took me four sessions in total to finish it. Happy with how the first two weeks of the trip have turned out! :) Now unfortunately the alpine weather turned pretty bad so we decided to leave and head on to France. :)