Sam Weir, with three 8C+’ under his belt, has repeated Shawn Raboutou’s Child of Hell (8C) in Gottardo. ”King lines only this summer 😎 3rd go. First 8C in a session. Not sure on the grade. Really basic shoulder stability and tension bloc.”

From his Insta video, you can see it rains a lot during the send. What about the friction and the top out?
It had been raining about twenty minutes and knew I had one last try. Glad it worked out! My skin got really cut on the second try due to the humidity but knew I could not try the next day so went all in on a last try. The top out is easy but I was quite scared. Definitely a no fall zone. But I knew I had it and if I had any doubt I could back off and have asked for the rope

What is next?
Just day dreaming about Poison the Well and continuing to train for the fall with my friends. I really would like to start the saga on arrival of the birds as well. But need to finish up PTW first before I change zones :)

Marine Thevenet, with well over 100 boulders 8A and beyond to her name, has sent La cantolle (8B) in Pralong.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I decided to only work in the morning and then drove 2.5 hours to discover Pralong on my own — I had seen some videos of the boulder on Instagram and thought it might be my style. I started climbing around 3:30/4:00 p.m. and began working on all the moves, then linking sections. I really struggled with the first move. Normally, you're supposed to keep your right foot on a small foothold, but I didn't have the reach. So I decided to stubbornly go for the "jump" instead. It finally worked around 6:30 p.m. I then drove back and made it home just in time to enjoy a good pizza and a nice Italian wine! FA by the strong swiss climber Theo Chappex.

David Firnenburg, currently eight months into a road trip with Andrea Kümin, has climbed 27 boulders graded 8A to 8B+ in Norway over the past month — including three 8A+ flashes. Pictured: Under your nose (8B).

Which are the best boulders and areas you can recommend? Which of your flashes do you remember the most?
It’s gorgeous, indeed! Well, I think there a many good areas spread over the country with their own charm. I liked the Rogaland region (around Stavanger) a lot and up here in Trøndelag (like Vingsand and Flatanger). In Rogaland the areas aren‘t really big but spread out so you sometimes have to drive an hour between two areas, for instance. One area where there accumulate some sectors nearby is Oltedal. I enjoyed climbing Dynamitten (8B), Slopestyle sittende start (8B) and Ribbefett (8A) there, for example.

Here in Trøndelag there is Diamanten (8B) in Vingsand and Brick squad (8A+) in Flatanger (Glasøyfjellet) which I highly recommend. The latter I flashed which was a memorable moment for me.

Julia Duffy has completed the 20-draws endurance route Divine Fury (8c) in Maple Canyon. ”Thunderstorm send 😯 New favorite route in the cave!”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
One of my big climbing goals this summer was to do every route in the cave, and Divine Fury was one of the last hard ones I had left. It took me five sessions (though I had already tried some of the moves last year on a different route). On my send go, once I got onto the headwall, it started to thunder and rain, but luckily the holds stayed dry enough for me to send. I am excited to try and finish up the last remaining lines in the pipe dream before it gets too hot.

Which are the remaining lines you plan to try next?
There is a climb called Eulogy (8b+) that I have to do but it is a linkup of two routes that I have done so I think I should be able to get it done. And the rest of the climbs I have to do are chossy 5a-6a that no one ever climbs haha.

Sebastien Bouin reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Vidra La Vida (9b/+) in Hvar. Already one month ago, he reported that he had done the first 9a pitch, Vidra, seven times but kept falling in the extension. (c) Thibaut Marot

”This is one of my proudest additions—without a doubt, in my personal top 5 9b/5.15b routes worldwide. The first section climbs around 8c+, leading into a crux that bumps it to 9a. Then comes a wild 360 crux, roughly 8A/V11 boulder. And to top it all off, there’s a final 8b+/c section—I even fell there during a send attempt.”

At 32, Seb has alteady climbed 14 routes graded 9b, including seven first ascents. On top of that, he’s completed seven 9b+ climbs and claimed the first ascent of DNA, the second-ever route graded 9c. In short, the French climber's redpoint résumé rivals that of Adam Ondra.

Jules Marchaland, who was runner up in the French Nationals last month, has completed Pornographie (9a) in Céüse. In total, the 24-year-old has sent 19 routes 9a to 9b. (c) Julia Cassou

”4 days for the side proj of Ratsa [Vibration (9b)]. I struggled a lot more than I thought. One move at the very top cost me 6 falls. 2 minutes of climbing for 35 moves. I used my runner skills for this short power fingery route. This debate of grading is so shit because if you want a 9a you climb without kneebar. But for me it’s just annoying to use kneepads in such a pure cliff. So for sure 9a without kneebar. 8c+ with. But today that’s the rule. Maybe I climb an 8c+ in an harder way. I don’t care, it’s such a cool route and a good effort.”