"It looks like Yosemite, but it's sandstone ... During a climbing trip in Ceuse, we were passing in this valley of Champsaur. I immediately saw this wall. It looked far away in the mountains. But you know, curiosity can bring you far away 😁. After spending an afternoon finding a path to get to the wall, I was amazed by this place and the rock. I had to come back to bolt the first line here.

When I was back in Ceuse, trying Biographie, in summer 2020, I went up for few days to bolt the first route of our French Yosemite. It was quite an expedition to brought all the bolting gear to the top of this mountain. I did many push to brought the gear during my biographie rest days. I was walking as much as possible, trying to find the way to the top. And when I was too tired, I left the gear on the mountain. Coming back the next rest day to attempt it again. I finally reached the top of the mountain, and bolted this giga route. The rock is really cool, but needed some cleaning. As it's sandstone, I remember a lot of sand falling in my eyes 👀 I guess "Sandman" is good name for this one. I was dreaming of this route before sleeping"

What does Project Big mean to you?
I’d say, Flatanger is the Yosemite of sports climbing. It’s the rock quality, the potential, the number of difficult routes, it’s simply extraordinary. It’s a beautiful place looking over the fjords to the sea, the cave is massive, it’s steep, offers so many hard route options; as a climber, this is a place you’ll always want to come back to.

“Everybody wants to have a world champion at 16, and a long career. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but I’m seeing too much pressure put on younger athletes, and an increasing number of injuries because to this.”

"Do we want to raise the next generation of skeletons?"

Moritz Welt, who previously has done 16 routes 9a and harder, has made the FA of Lazarus (9a+) in Frankenjura, after some 30 sessions. (c) Lars Decker

Can you tell us more about the FA?
So the route was my main objective since last fall. It was a long-standing project bolted by Markus Bock, and I think I first tried it about 2 and a half years ago. I think it's one of the best lines around and involves some really nice movements with a lot of drop knees etc. Tho it's quite bouldery the final crux for me was power endurance. It's approx. 15m long and on the steepest part, it's about 50°.

I think it really was a good lesson in patience for me. Before trying this I'd never been able to fully focus on one single project over a longer period without getting frustrated.

Are there still many bolted projects in Frankenjura?
I only know a few, not more than 10, and some of them might be even impossible... but I think there is still a bit of potential for bolting new stuff.

What are your winter plans?
Now I'm training for bouldering mostly, already having a Ticino trip planned for end of december/beginning of January.

Siara Fabbri, who had 8A as her personal best five months ago, has done New base line (8B+) in Magic Wood. The 29-year-old is working full-time as an antimatter researcher and has previously this autumn done four boulders 8A to 8B. (c) Simone Tentori

"Wow, what a journey! Just so happy to do this line and relieved for the send. It ended up being a solo night sess in the snow with a spicy wet top out. Many sessions into it starting this year, but the best feeling to have it so dialed that on the send it flowed and I felt strong. This block taught me a lot, and a lot of special memories here with amazing people."

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I started trying New Base Line this year, and in the Fall, I felt close but fell a few times toward the end on the cross move after the sidepull. I came back a few weeks ago after a little break, and after dropping the last tricky move to the gaston because of some bad beta, I knew I could send it the next session. I made it back after a big snow and fortunately the boulder was dry except the top and I ended up sending at night in -4 in the snow. It was an amazing experience and such a cool boulder with so many details! Luckily there were pads up at Stairway to Heaven I could borrow so one pad up to NBL then 6 trips up to Stairway total, it was tiring but kept me warm!

How did you warm up in such freezing conditions?
I was already warm from the walk up and did a 30 minute warm-up on the boulder where I tried to rest very little. To stay warm I had two big down jackets and down boots, and I kept my hands inside on my stomach between goes. I did get numbed out on the send and for the topout couldn't feel the holds - which made the wet part extra spicy.

What is your climbing background?
I've been climbing for 8 years but during my PhD I didn't have very much time to climb outside, and started climbing more outdoors this year in Ticino, Fionnay, and Magic Wood. My focus now is bouldering outside and I'm really excited for many more lines to come!

Can you tell us more about your work as an antimatter researcher?
Switzerland has some of the best bouldering in the world as well as the most advanced scientific research facility and only place which produces antiprotons - CERN. I work there as an experimental physicist in the ALPHA Experiment. Composed of a team of roughly 60 people, we make precision measurements on antimatter atoms which help to answer the question as to why the universe as we know it is matter-dominated. We are also aiming to discover the gravitational interaction of antimatter with matter - for example, would an anti-apple fall up or down on Earth? It is super fun working there and a lot of the time I feel like a big kid who gets to build things and see how they work.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo has repeated Alex Megos’ Chan Chan Bastards 9a+/b, aka The journey in Colombia in Margalef. It is a link-up of The Journey 9a+ and the top of Jorge's big project Cafe Colombia. (c) Ignacio Sandoval Buron

"This season I feel better than ever and the feeling in my project is getting better! 😃🔥 I have always liked these two routes a lot and the truth is that it has been good training to now continue with my main project. Also, with new beta for the final crux that is maybe the sending beta!? 🤪💥" More comments on his Insta.

The first Boulder World Cup in 2023 will take place in Hachioji in Japan, April 21st-24th. At this event, competitors will start receiving points in order to qualify for the Olympic qualification series that will take place in the Spring of 2024. The exact details are not yet defined but it seems there will be 48 males and females that will do four Boulder & Lead events, where the Top-10 (but possibly 12), will make it to Paris 2024.

The first 3 + 3 Olympic spots will be given to the medalists at the World Championship in Bern in August 2023. Then 5 + 5 invitations will be given to the Continential winners in the Autumn. There is also a country max two quota, plus France is guaranteed 1 + 1 spot. Furthermore, the last 1 + 1 spots can be attained via a "Universality" quota. More info.

In practice, the setup will likely encourage athletes from the USA and Japan to focus on the World and the Continental Championships in 2023, due to the quotas. It's also likely that some of the top competitors, such as Ondra, Schubert, and Garnbret, will skip some World Cups in order to focus on the Championships, as they are shoeins for the 2024 qualification series.

Between June 2nd and July 15th, there are three Boulder and four Lead WCs coming up in Europe. Then, two weeks later the Bern Championship starts. It will be interesting to see how the athletes, especially the non-Europeans, will select which comps they will focus on. In any case, it might be that many of the best will skip the Boulder WC in Salt Lake City in May, making it the best event for the others trying to get some "easier" points. The same can be said for the last Lead event in China in September.

Bayes Wilder, who last year did his first 8c+, has been on a three week climbing trip around Lleida where he did 20 routes, (mainly onsight or flash), 7b and harder. In one day, the 11-year-old sent (video) in Santa Linya and Mistic 8c in Margalef. On Insta, here is part of how he described the hectic day.

"After sending La Fabelita, the two facts that it was still early in the day and that I felt strong and fresh made me super psyched to head back to Margalef and get on my other big project, Mistic 8c (5.14b). We went straight to the Cova Soleiada when we got back and I re-warmed-up on a 6c at the crag. Then I got on Mistic and did it on my first try of the day. I was so psyched that I had done both of my projects in the same day. It seemed unbelievable!"

We reached out to his father Matt, who's no stranger to high-end climbing, to give us some more insight.

What does a regular climbing week at home look like for Bayes?
Same climbing schedule of 3 * 2-hour sessions a week with his climbing team. Sometimes he stays after and climbs for a bit longer. We climb as a family an additional 1-2 days a week.

Is he on a home-schooling program?
As far as school goes, Bayes is in regular school. We took him out for 2 weeks and then the last week aligned with one of his vacations. He ended up missing only 9 days of school because one was a holiday. While gone, he still followed along with most of his classes and did the assignments he was able to do remotely.

Loic Zehani has done in Siurana, in just two sessions. The route was bolted by Dani Andrada and then William Bosi did the FA in 2021. "8 ultra powerful movements including one that gave me a hard time going from a small two fingers pocket to a vertical hold. The second part is less hard. Nice little route anyway."

Three days later he also did Wild Publico (9a). ”This route starts with a very steep section on pockets including a dyno on a mono then a resistant section when you reach Pal publico (8c). After a good rest, there is still a hard section with very slight slopers and a nice and easy end at the top of the cliff.”

In total, the 19-year-old has done more than 50 routes 9a to 9b out of which almost 20 FA at his home crag Orgon.

How do the grades in Spain compare with your FA grades?
I would say that it’s quite difficult to compare because even if I put four and three tries for the two 9a's in Spain, both are very explosive routes and far from easy. The only thing I can say about my FAs at Orgon is that I think they are fairly well-graded (within half a degree anyway). For the three 9b’s I proposed I think 2 are well graded « Obsession » in 2019 and « Harlem » in 2022, maybe « Chikane » would be more of a big 9a+.

How long will you stay in the area?
I am currently going back and forth to France but in January I plan to start a few months' stay in Catalonia...