James Webb has done the second ascent of Carlo Traversi's Equanimity (8C) at Kirkwood, calling it. "Potentially a contender for the hardest technical boulder in the world?"

"This is an extremely impressive first ascent in my opinion and really just leads me to the most important thing I’ve learned in this process. I have become a much better scaler. Not just stronger. But better. And having turned 36 years young last week that is a huge success in my brain and the way I see my future climbing. I do train of course here and there but my main focus the last many years has been on being a better more well rounded climber." (c) Patinaeater More comments at Webb's Instagram.

Natalie Bärtschi, who few months ago retired from the competition scene, has sent Unendliche Geschichte 1 (8A+) in Magic Wood. This was the first 8A+ for the 29-year-old after previously having done a couple of 8A's. © David Tomlinson

”I remember my first time coming to Magic Wood over 10 years ago and watching some friends try this iconic line. About 5 years ago I finally decided to give it a try myself and managed to do the moves surprisingly quickly. Unfortunately, progress was far from linear and at some point I was forced to take a break due to some recurring tendinitis. This year I came back with a stronger body and a fresh mind and finally made it happen! This represents a huge milestone in my climbing and I‘m very happy with the progress I‘ve made over the last couple of years.

After retiring from competitions this summer I felt a bit of a void but luckily my love for climbing came back very soon. It‘s refreshing to have my own agenda for 2024 and although I‘m very psyched on bouldering right now, I‘d love to get back into sport climbing and I also really enjoyed my first time DWS this last September in Mallorca. I have one last exam in April to finish my postgraduate training as a chiropractor and after that I‘m planning to take some time off to travel and climb but I haven’t made any specific plans yet.”

Dan Mirsky has done Flex Luthor (9a+) at The Fortress of Solitude, logging it as a 9a. A couple of guys have actually suggested an upgrade to 9b of the route. The 41-year-old did his first, out of four, 9a in 2018.

"Classic day at the Fortress with Waltus Burger. It was cold, hot, rain, sun, clouds, wind and at some point, the condies got pretty damn good; luckily it was my turn and I had that good floaty feeling. Overall, I put in a season of effort last Nov/Dec battling wet holds, epic snows and massive icicles on the route. This year I got 6 sessions in before yesterday, each one making some amount of meaningful progress. I have been feeling really down about my climbing for a while, so in addition to being psyched to send this amazing and historic route, it felt extra good to remind myself that I still know how to clip chains.

As for the Grade... I figured out and used a different method in the crux from the other recent ascents. I think it was likely a hybrid of Tommy's OG beta and Matty's new school beta. I am pretty ok at kneebarring on Western Slope Limestone and I definitely made use of that skill (the left calf pump was real). Is my way easier? Does it change the grade to 9A or 9A/+? I honestly don’t know and you can’t take a slash grade on 8A. I’ll take the low the grade to keep the conversation going but I want a "/" because I’m over 40 and walking up that hill isn't easy either."

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Creating SPACE in Wartime Ukraine –The story of a gym network that remains open to climbing during the war

Prehab for routesetters –Professional advice from climbing specialist physios and doctors

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Progress in Padding – The past, present and future of that cushion we often take for granted

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Jorge Diaz-Rullo sends Ciudad de dios (9a) and spend his day #131 on his big project in Margalef, besides training hard.

Pietro Vidi, who has sent seven boulders 8B+ to 8C this autumn, has repeated Shawn Raboutou’s Roadkill (8C) in Valle Bavona. In the 8a ranking game, the 20-year-old Italian is #4.

"It was quite an unexpected one! I would have never thought to be able to do the first kneebar and for two days I couldn’t do the move. On the third day I randomly stuck the move thanks to Dave's [Graham] precious tips, and I fell on the easy part not being able to keep my mind together. I came back the day after, stuck the move first try and didn’t let go on the high exit! For sure, it is one of the most beautiful lines in Bavona, even though it all revolves around the first move."

Camilla Moroni has sent The Traphouse / Gourmandise (direct) (8B+) in Fontainebleau, after trying it for three sessions. (c) Pietro Vidi

How does this line differ from the 8A+ variation you did last week?
There are two more moves on underclings to reach the start holds of Traphouse raccourci. It’s like a low start. I climbed the boulder with the Brooke’s beta which consists of jamming one finger in a little crack, I chose my middle finger.

What are your winter plans?
Just training. I’m mainly focused on Olympic qualification and I will train all winter for this.

Michaela Kiersch, who over the last ten days has done an 8b+, 8c, 8c+ and 9a, has added to that list with a redpoint of Victimes del futur (9a) in Margalef. (c) Jan Novak

“I tried Futur for the first time the same day I sent zipayorik ez!! (8c). It was one try just to check out the moves — I did them all fairly quickly so I added it to my list! I had 5 climbing days left and wanted to try and manage this one and also try Coma Sant Pere (8c+). Luckily CSP went down quickly because turns out I needed a few extra days on Futur to solidify my beta in the crux which kept changing with conditions. In the end it took 5 days and I sent on my 4th try of my final day in Margalef — pretty magical!”

Melina Costanza🦇 has done After Hours (8B) in . (c) Zoe Herwitz

“I was feeling strong coming off of Nationals last month [where she won both Lead and Boulder] and I knew I wanted to try something hard outside.

Right now, there’s a decent chunk of time before US Team Trials in March, so I was able to get outside between training days! I saw a video of a friend who put up the FA of After Hours and knew immediately this was the boulder I wanted to try! I’d never been on something of the grade before, but it went down quickly and I’m motivated to try some harder things in the near future.”

Is it correct that your previous hardest boulder was which you called 7C+? How much do you normally climb outdoors?
That is correct! I have hardly climbed outdoors at all haha. I’m just getting into it! This is the only 8B I’ve ever tried.

I know a lot of people still give Lethal 8A/+ but I did other 7C’s and 7C+’s that trip that felt way harder.

Simon Lorenzi, who made the FA of Soudain seul (9A) in 2021 after some 25 sessions, needed some 20 sessions to send Alphane (9A) last year. "Soudain Seul was harder to send for me. But as you know climbing is a matter of style."

The sending process of Alphane could probably have been quicker as he also had to tackle injury and skin problems as well as bad conditions. After he did it in two parts in August after just five sessions, he got a shoulder injury that made it impossible to fully extend his arm for a month. Then he injured his left index finger meaning that he only focused on the second half while working on it in November. Then in December, he made one more trip and was close to sending but got skin problems.

"It was a roller coaster because I opened my right index finger at my first attempt of the day. I had this problem 10 days ago and didn't find a solution to try with tape. Finally, I put one piece of tape in a strange way and I sent it on my first try with the tape. I went from being depressed about my skin to sending in like 5 min."