Christopher Barlow has, at age 41, done his first 8c+ Waka Flocka Flame in Rifle (CO). "I got excited about Waka Flocka Flame kind of accidentally. I had done the two independent lines and started trying the link up mainly as training when it was too hot for other routes. Then, I started getting closer and more obsessed with actually sending it."

Yesterday, he also sent Nostalgie in , as his first 8c in two years.

How have you managed to climb your hardest at age 41?
I think my progress is based partly on simply focusing on foundational strength and power for many years now. I honestly feel more "injury-proof" now than in my early thirties. I think my real superpower is my discipline and rather ruthless time efficiency. I've really distilled my life into mostly family, career, and climbing (and training). It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

What does your normal climbing week look like?
Due to my job (running outdoor adventure courses), my week can vary a lot. I try to align my climbing and training with that - lighter work times are for performance, moderate periods for training, and super heavy work weeks are when I rest. A "typical" week would include 1-2 short strength sessions, a few power-focused sessions, a day of "daddy rock climbing" (when I get to prioritize my climbing), and then another family climbing day, which can be anything from fun (with some focused climbing) to utter chaos.

How do you train?
I train mostly in my garage on a steep, short spray wall, hangboard, and weights. I usually train early in the morning when the rest of the family is still asleep or waking up. My workouts are shorter and very focused. Similarly, I really try to maximize my climbing days. I drive way too fast to the crag and hustle between pitches. I think I annoy most of my partners because I don't do much sitting around talking.

I definitely live at a pretty fast pace. I'm working on slowing down. I'll work after my kids go to bed or early in the morning to offset the time during a work day that I train and climb. I'll send work emails when resting between boulder problems. I'd like to think that my discipline and focus helps me have more time to enjoy fun with my family and the fun of quality effort in climbing.

Jean-Baptiste Jourjon, who made his first five headlines on 8a in 2001, by doing boulders up to 8B, has done Pas tous à la fois (8c) in Rocher de Beverau.

What is your recipe for peaking at age 45?
This summer, I tried to maintain my level of last spring when I did La Novena Puerta (8c+). It wasn't so much visible on the tick list because of warm conditions. At 45 I don't do things radically differently, I probably better listen to my body to distinguish the "good" tiredness of training from the "bad" one that leads to injury. It was already one of my strong points, but I think I'm also better at the mental game to give everything when no one would give me a chance and to continue trying despite ups and downs. When you pass the crux for the first time, it's easy to fall right after because everything looks different from the work go, but generally, I don't. It compensates for my relatively poor level at hangs or pull-ups.

What is next for you?
This weekend, I sent two 5-star lines around my home of Chambéry in old crags we recently refreshed with lots of crazy new stuff. I'm even more focused on climbing than before because if I want to send a 9a in my climbing- life, I should hurry up. Apart from the grail of the grade, I'm looking for a really major line to get motivated. I found it in Céüse, I bolted it 2 years ago, I called it "Générations futures", right now it's too hard for me. I know it's feasible and for sure in the 9th grade. Apparently, I could not convince the strong guys I met to go and try, too bad for them, maybe thanks to this [mention] some others will try.

”In 2021, I travelled to Rocklands. The atmosphere was pretty incredible as it was almost empty because of covid. I was aiming to climb Monkey Wedding (8C)and got very close but got shut down because of a huge split on a finger. I still got to climb another low, but amazing problem called . The year after I managed to climb Monkey Wedding the second day of the trip, and then climbed Book Club (8B+) All those 3 problems are great, and making the edit reminded me of the sweet times I had there with good friends.”

Jessica Pilz, the overall Lead Cup winner 2023, has repeated Jakob Schubert's Kein Licht Kein Schatten (8c+) in Ötztal. Originally it was considered 9a but later an easier sequence has been found, ”3rd go, short and powerful, what a line!! thx Steff [Scherz] for the beta and belay :)” (c) Dimitris Tosidis

Scherz comments on Jessy's impressively quick ascent, " I’ve seen some strong guys trying this route and she, by far, looked the best on it I’ve seen yet. I did this route two years ago and it was a struggle😅. She made it look easy and even did it in one session. It’s a short and powerful route with some low-percentage moves. For her, the challenge was to hit some of the crimps perfectly, as she was pretty spaned out in most parts of the route. Nevertheless, once she got the moves dialled in, she just did it with no hesitation. She's got to look for some harder routes now!"

This was the first time since 2020, that Jessica has climbed a hard route outdoors. The 26-year-old has been one of the most active and successful competition climbers since 2011 when she won her first Youth World Championships. In 2018, she won the senior World Championship and in only the last three years, she has participated in almost 40 IFSC events as well as the the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Last weekend, she won the Austrian Lead and Combined Championship.

"I am super happy to win the overall for the first time. After the world champs in Bern my plans for the season changed a lot because I didn‘t have to compete in Laval at the European Qualifier. Instead, I set myself one last goal for the season to go for the overall. I definitely felt the pressure because I had to finish 4th at least at the last World Cup in China. My season finished last weekend with the Austrian championships. Now I try to go outside as much as possible and try some projects in Tyrol. In November we have a training camp with the national team in Turkey. And that‘s it for this year I guess."

Can you tell us more about the quick ascent? I watched a video of Jakob on the route and the moves looked super morpho, so I thought I won’t have a chance. But then Steff told me he has a different beta which could work for me. On my first try I managed to do all the moves. On my second I already linked the hard middle part, and on third try it went down surprisingly fast :)

It was also super helpful for me that there were many quickdraws close to each other, so I wasn‘t really scared and could check out the moves on my first try easily.

Alex Puccio reports on Instagram that she, on her second session, has sent Chocolate Jesus (8B) in Wild Basin. In total, the runner-up in the World Championship in 2014, has done 250+ boulders 8A and up, which is a female record. (c) Robin O'Leary

Katja Zoner has done her first 8c, Picket Fence at Beauty Mountain. ”Sad I don't get to grab those sick pinches anymore! Amazing, unique holds and movement. Grades are weird and this route suits me really well... certainly didn't feel as hard as I'd expected. Enjoyed some post-crux spice building bad feet hiiiigh above my bolt for the last reach out of the crux sequence.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Picket Fence is a route I have always been curious about. It sits on the Travisty Wall, which is quite unique for the area in terms of holds and movement style, and it has some notoriety, mainly due to first ascentionist Mike Williams’ professed 150+ days of effort to send. It’s a short, bouldery and technical route consisting of pinches, sidepulls, several monos, and tricky feet. I scoped it out earlier this summer and it seemed to suit me well, then I began trying it at the start of September and made quick progress. Excited to see what the rest of the season has in store.

David Firnenburg has sent in . The 28-year-old has previously done roughly 20 routes 9a and harder.

“Summer was pretty hot in Switzerland and climbing in Gimmelwald was unpleasant. Now the temperature dropped and holds feel sticky again. Checked out the moves of ‘Inferno’ around 3 weeks ago when it was still hot. Worked on it the past weekend and sent it in my last try after falling at the last two hard moves once. The route is a combination of ‘Jungfraumarathon’ (~9a) and ‘Gimmelexpress’ (~8c+). It links the hardest part of the 9a with the second boulder of the 8c+ with a good rest in between. I actually don’t like combinations so much but this line climbs nicely. Great endurance test piece with amazing view onto white mountains. Gimmelwald is worth a visit if you cross Switzerland one day!”

What is your next plan?
I am about to finish my psychology studies in summer next year and then planning to do a one year climbing road trip with my girlfriend Andrea in Europe. Good times ahead!

Adam Ondra has returned to Vranjača in Croatia. Last month he did the FA of A je to! (9a+), named after his favorite Czech cartoon, and now he sent B je to! (9b). Adam has done 28 routes 9b to 9c, out of which 21 are FAs. (c) Kuba Sobotka

”Start like A je to, but then go straight up via very hard crux, some easier climbing and dropable second crux. Bolted and tried in August, now on my second day.”

Sebastien Bouin reports on Instagram that he has repeated Stefano Ghisolfi's Lapsus (9a+) in Andonno. The 30-year-old has done around 60 routes from 9a to 9c. (c) Clarisse Bompard

"Lapsus is actually the link up of two historical routes at the crag. It starts in "Noia", the first Italian 8c+, and finishes in the hard part of "Anaconda" 8b+. There are some hard moves in between to connect both of these routes. It makes for a really cool endurance route, on this blue and orange rock! I haven’t climbed a lot in Italy, and it's really cool to discover new crags, which are actually not that far from France."