Tristan Chen has sent Desperanza (8C) in Hueco Tanks (TX). It is a lower start to Esperanza (8B+) established by Daniel Woods. Only 18 months ago, he was diagnosed with Leukemia and a couple of months later he had to do a Bone Marrow Transplant.

”After the events of last year I feel as though any hope to a sense of purpose I possessed was shown to be illusory, as if scoured clean with my marrow. I feel like this climb was one of my last moorings to hard bouldering and I’m left floating in a void ready to deemphasize bouldering for something else yet to be determined. Whether that be a different form of climbing, finding a new career, a new hobby, or simply pushing forward towards a light from within. The future remains uncertain.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried it a fair amount in the spring after repeating the Esperanza, but I wasn’t able to complete it then. I think I fell on the last move at least ten times, which was quite frustrating because I found that move to be easy in isolation. This time around I never fell on the last move, but I did dab once after sticking it so I had to repeat the climb a different day. This actually happened to me on my first first fifteen (except snow prevented me from topping out that time) so it’s only fitting that it should happen this time as well.

How much is added with the sit?
The sit only adds a six move V7 [7B] into Esperanza so it’s quite easy to think that it’s not much harder, but the bottom moves are quite extended and take away energy in such a way that the rest of the boulder becomes harder. By the time I did Desp I was able to do Esp pretty much on lock as a warm up and cool down. To me it felt a bit harder than Dreamtime or Pegasus, and a step above the other V14’s I’ve done this year, so lower end V15, but still maintains the grade.

Katie Lamb has presented some short clips on Instagram doing in Squamish, already reported, and Decided (8B+) in Mizugaki. In Kishira, the 26-year-old also sent Fractal (8A+) and leads the 8a ranking game with eight boulders 8B and beyond over the last year. (c) Keenan Takahashi

Štěpán Volf has done the first repeat of Martin Stranik's Warrior (8C) in Labské údolí. The 27-year-old has previously completed seven 8B+’ and interestingly, he's done them all over the last 27 months.

Can you tell us more about this climb, Warrior?
Well, I tried it briefly last winter doing all the moves pretty quickly in a session (8A+ into 8A into 8A in my opinion) and already back then I knew it was just a matter of time. Good conditions did not last for long so I waited and trained for this season and came down in 4th session this time - 8 in total. Had more battle with endurance and cold as it has 22 moves (16 moves in roof, than 6 moves to top out) and for good friction it has to be around 0 degrees. I am supper happy about this one and curious what else this season brings!

Jakob Schubert says about his recent upgrade of Clash of the Titans to 9b. © Michael Piccolruaz

"It's been more than five years since I first tried the "Clash of the Titans" route at home in Tyrol. It was first climbed by Alex Megos in 2017. Alex rated it 9a+ at the time, but it always felt substantially harder to me. I've climbed quite a few 9a+'s and 9b's, but none of them took as much effort as this route. However, after sending it rather quickly last year, I was no longer sure if it really deserved an upgrade, so I was hesitant to post the ascent and have a clear opinion on the difficulty. After all, the route doesn't fit my preferred style, which is crimping, but there are quite a few open handholds on this route that gave me a hard time. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to climb the route with Stefano Ghisolfi, who also took a look at the route and gave his opinion.

In general, I think we saw some kind of grade inflation in sport climbing over the last years and I feel it’s the responsibility of everyone who is capable of climbing the hardest grades to also give their honest opinion. That’s why I’ve downgraded some routes in the past. For the same reason, I now suggest an upgrade for “The Clash of the Titans."

Manon HILY, who was #3 in the Briancon World Cup in 2023, has done Los últimos vampiros hippies (8c) as well as La Bongada in Margalef. The 29-year-old has now logged 13 routes 8c and above.

Sera Gearhart has done Senderella Right (sit) (8A+) at 221. This was her sixth boulder problem graded 8A+ to 8B in 2023.

“This boulder has one hard, super awkward throw into two potential exits. For me, this exit was more approachable! I was able to do the boulder the first time I stuck the move. We only have one week left of our trip, and I came to this boulder because it's not very sharp and I have been struggling with my skin because of other things I'm working on.

Sam Prior has done his first 8C by repeating Mike Adams’ Serenata at Impossible Roof. ”A great feeling of progression that I wasn’t actively seeking.”

Can you tell us more about Serenata?
It’s been a funny year really because I stopped doing any formal training or conditioning last year and my son was born at the start of this year. So I really wasn’t expecting to see an uptick in form, I think perhaps I needed to chase it a little less and just enjoy it a little more. Which I have!

Anak Verhoeven reports on Instagram that she has sent Fabela pa la enmienda (9a) in Santa Linya. "This send feels like a personal victory toward the end of this climbing trip ⚔️ after several morale underminers the past month, in particular a sudden back problem [probably a ligament inflammation]. Sending this one is encouraging and I’m glad I can simply still climb." (c) Javi Pec

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I climbed on this route on and off during my stay here in Santa Linya. At a certain point, I had to take a break due to a back problem and pain. When I felt better, I did all the moves again and then climbed it on my first redpoint try. In 2017 I had already done La Fabela and also the Enmienda part (by coming from the Ciudad de Dios start), but this was the first time I linked those two together into ‘La Fabela pa la Enmienda’, a classic 9a that goes all the way to the top of the cave.

Jesse Grupper, who six weeks ago secured an Olympic ticket, reports on Instagram that he has flashed Pure Imagination (8c+) in Red River Gorge (KY). The beta he got from Alex Megos and the night before they had watched a video. (c) Eric Hörst

"The sun was moving fast, there was a queue on the route, and it was now or never. I convinced myself that it would be okay if it didn’t go, while reminding myself of all the reasons I was ready. Getting through the initial crux, I felt a sense of relief. I wasn’t crazy for having this dream - regardless of what happened next."

Ryohei Kameyama, who has previously completed a dozen boulders 8C or 8C+, has published a video of sending Toru Nakajama's Flux (8C) in Gero City in Japan. "I could climb it on the first try after practicing the moves for two days."

What is your winter plan?
I'll try Burden of Dreams (9A) again next year. I have been there two times and spent three weeks there in total.