Maria Davies Sandbu has after 15 8A'a done her first 8A+, Steinbukken in Dirdal. (c) Martin Mobråten "Had probably 15 sessions over the last 3 years. I learned to stay patient and try hard no matter the conditions.. I had some epics with the conditions/weather on this one, probably half of the sessions were in the rain and Martin had to dry/prep the holds while I was climbing :) one session we even tied up a tarpaulin over the boulder to try and keep it dry... eventually all the work payed off though!"

Daniel Jung comes with the amazing news on Insta that he has done the first repeat of Nico Favresse’s The Recovery Drink in Jössingfjord in Norway from 2013. Nico did not suggest a grade of the 35 meter trad route but saying it was his hardest ever crack. In fact, 8c+ or harder have been mentioned by very experienced trad climbers having tried it. Comparing it to 9a sport routes, this just might be as hard or even harder than some but it seems trad grades, currently going to 8c+, use another scale. One reason for this could be that in trad you are supposed to place all gear on lead meanwhile in sport climbing this ethics were left in the beginning of the sport era. It should be mentioned that Daniel, who has done La Rambla 9a+, did place on lead menwhile Nico left some gear in place on easier sextions saying a more pure ascent could be done. (c) Fred Moix

Lair Thibault has done his third 9a FA in Bielsa, My little princess after 15 days of projecting. "It has the same start as "Soul surfer". A first part that must make a big 8c. Then comes a bad rest before attacking the hard section and then there is 15 meters of climbing where you have to fight the resistance. For me, the second part is also worth 8c. Thanks to Daniel Fuertes for bolting it."

Alizee Dufraisse has done The Arch 8B (A+) in Rocklands. In the 8a ranking game, the former successful competition climber who also have done La Reina Mora 9a (8c+), is #6. "I start trying this project this year and it took me eight sessions, it was hard to manage with my brain because I was really close for a long time but the temperatures were hot!!! I'm really happy to have finally send it today!! Now I can try new boulders :)"

Daniel Woods reports on Insta that he has flashed Eskimo Brothers 8B in Topside and done the first repeat of Paul Robinson's recent The Pirate's Code 8C in Three Corners. "Sent on my 3rd night session. It bakes in the sun all day, so night sessions are the way to go.(c) Chikara Ishizuka Daniel has been one of the very best climbers in the world during the last 15 years having done 20+ routes 9a to 9b, 20+ boulders 8C and 8C+, flashed 8B+ and won a Boulder WC in 2010. How was the 8B beta flash story? Haha that one was a bit better. I got the flu a couple nights before and was up all night vomiting. After a rest day I knew I had to get out of bed and get the blood flowing to feel better. After an intense uphill hike, I got to some easier problems and felt ultra weak on them. I wanted to try something harder so checked out Paul's (Robinsons) crimp line, Eskimo brothers. The condis were perfect and the line straight forward, so I decided to try and flash it and then it just happened How much beta did you get? Actually no beta. Was probably more onsight, but since you can grab every hold from the ground it takes away that true onsight feel. To be honest its hard to truly onsight lower boulders due to that. Was pretty stoked. I'm not the best first try climber haha, so when I get that experience it feels good. Do you not forget your big flash of Nicole's Entlige? (A confirmed 8C that now is 8B+.) Haha, ya that was another lucky moment.

Jule Wurm, world champion in 2014 who retired from the scene in 2015 after having won the European Championship, has done Fragile Steps 8B (A+) in Rocklands. How is your life and climbing nowadays? Life is good! It’s great to be in Rocklands! I spent a year in the US last year for my studies and did neuroscience research for my MD thesis. Did lots of climbing while being in Boston, broke my ankle in spring climbing outdoors and then broke my arm in a gym there in the beginning of October. How did you train to speed up the recovery? For my arm I had surgery right after the accident and they put two metal implants to fix the fractures. Recovery went slower then I had wished, but I tried to listen to my body and did whatever felt okay. I returned to Germany earlier this year to finish med school and did lots of training to get in shape for Rocklands. Lots of fingerboarding, board sessions on a 45 degree wall and TRX training. There still are some hand positions that don’t feel comfortable for my arm, but all in all I’m very happy with where I am climbing wise! What kind of job are you looking for and how will you combine this with hard core climbing? I'm not really sure yet what I wanna do later. I either wanna do research again or work as a doctor, or maybe some kind of public health related job not really sure yet. And of course I hope to always find enough time for climbing no matter what job I will do.

Leah Dempsey has done her second 8A+, Myology in XXXX. In the female 8a ranking game the Australien is #9. (c) Matt Norgrove