Brian Squire, who last month did his first 8C after having done a dozen 8B+’s, has sent Paint it Black (8C) in RMNP (CO).

Can you tell us more about the process of climbing this line?
To be honest, wasn’t really too much of a process, planned to come out here for a little while to try to send and then just did it first go. Parked the car at 9am warmed up on it and then was back at the whip and driving out by 10. Tried it once last year but then got rained out for the rest of the season. It’s gotta be one of the best anywhere, perfect start holds, unreal wide pinches at the bottom and some techy core tension straight out the prow of a jutting roof over the river. I used a little different beta than everyone else to my knowledge. The crux revolves around a left foot switch from a heel hook to a toe, then you do a difficult left hand flip to a terrible sloping pinch where most of the weight is in the thumb. I switched my heel to a toe earlier in the boulder so the heel to toe switch wasn’t difficult and that way worked very well for me. I also managed to squeeze my way up Zef (8B+) the day before as a pit stop on the drive out as well which was a good confidence booster.

Madeline Brandt does Mind Stream (8A+) at Smugglers' Notch. The 31-year-old did her first 7C+ two and a half years ago and has since then done 40 such graded boulders and harder.

“I’m very happy to have sent my first 8A+! Mind Stream has a short but very cool sequence. It starts with shouldery back-to-back crux moves through crimps in a roof, and then you gain the lip of the roof foot-first. Last year I did a few of the moves individually, so I was hopeful that this one would be my first 8A+. But, after a shoulder injury this past summer I decided to wait until spring to try it again. I wasn’t sure how I’d fare on it this time around, so I went in to the session with curbed expectations. To my surprise, I was able to repeat the moves I had done quickly, and also managed the one move I hadn’t previously done. A few bottom burns later I was on top of the boulder!”

What is your climbing background and what are your summer plans?
I got started climbing 9 years ago in gyms. Three years ago I moved to Providence, where the very psyched local community got me hooked on outdoor bouldering at Lincoln Woods. After that my motivation skyrocketed! Since then I’ve enjoyed exploring all the amazing blocs in New England, attempting to solve the stone puzzles, and pushing my physical limits through training.

I’m moving to Nashville over the summer for work, so I don’t have any climbing trips planned. I’m just going to get in lots of training and wait for the fall season in the south!

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Delphine Chenevier has done Vagabond d’occid’ANX (8b+) in Gorges de Crossey. The 49-year-old, who sent her first 8c last year, did her first 8b more than twenty years ago and in 1999, she placed #6 in a Boulder World Cup. Pictured is her on the route, le pathogène furtif (8a+).

"I’m very happy to have sent this 8b+, which is a very beautiful long route (35m) but very demanding. This route, opened by a friend, is iconic of the local style (Grenoble): slightly overhanging, very technical and very very crimpy. The route starts with a tough traverse on small pockets and crimps (the hardest part for me) and ends on a crispy vertical wall that requires finger strength and precise footwork. Initially, I thought it would be too technical for me and thought it would be a project for the Spring period. But, I pieced all the moves together much quicker than I expected. In the end, including the sessions I spent to find the beta, I sent it after 5 sessions (less than 10 times in the route). I feel very well in the route during the sending and enjoy very much this great line."

What does a normal week look like for you? Are you able to easily fit climbing in?
Hmm…Most of my week is taken up with my professional life. After that, depending on my job and family life, I try to do an after work climbing session on the rock, an evening session on the hangboard, some regular yoga and pilates exercises in the morning and finally Saturday and Sunday mornings or afternoons with friends on the rock.

What are your summer plans?
Summer isn’t the time when I climb the most because it’s more a time dedicated to family holidays. I’m more interested in having pleasure to climb and discovering new beautiful routes. But why not trying a new little project between now and the summer? Another 8b+ or a 8C [perhaps]?

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Janja Garnbret reports with an Instagram video that she has done the first female ascent of Nalle Hukkataival's Bügeleisen sit-start (8C) in Maltatal. Two years ago she sent the 8B+ stand and this time she needed less than 30 minutes to get the beta and send it. (c) Stanko Gruden from 2022.

"Funny sidenote: wasn’t happy with the video Roman [Krajnik] took of my ascent, so I actually went for another go and climbed the whole thing again ;)"

In the last 23 World Cups, the 25-year-old has participated in, she has never placed lower than second place, in addition to winning six golds in the European and World Championships, as well as the Olympics.

Charlotte Frank has completed American Hustle (8c) in Oliana. ”In the beginning I found this route a little bit weird - I started to like it though, once I found out the beta. Especially the crux with its shouldery moves is pretty interesting.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
American Hustle is one of the 50-meter-long gems on the big cliff of Oliana. Bolted by Walker Emerson and Sam Elias in 2014 and freed by the latter, the line consists of many physical boulder sections with good rests in between. It's characterized by some pretty shoulder-intense and complex moves that seemed a little bit weird to me in the first moment. After I figured out the beta, the climbing felt flowier though. In my case, this route turned out to be one of these projects that you can climb pretty quickly with one stop in the crux – but then you end up trying it for quite a while with one stop. It's even more rewarding if you can link it all together at some point, even without it feeling too exhausting anymore. It's definitely a route worth trying!

Moritz Perwitzschky, has added to the ten 9a's he's already done by redpointing, Corona (9a+) in Frankenjura. It was put up by Markus Bock in 2006 as the first 9a+ in Germany. In the picture, Moritz is doing Black Label (9a) which is the route next to Corona.

"It took me around 10-12 sessions over a few years, as I never felt strong enough, to really focus on it. This year I felt way better on the crux moves and climbed it in the 3rd session. The route consists of a short easy approach into a 6 move-boulder on very tiny holds, that are supposed to be around 8A+/8B...after that, you need to stay calm and focused for 10 more moves, probably around 8a/+."

Loic Zehani, who has already completed 15 FA's 9a+ to 9b, has made the FA of Phoénix (9a+) in Sainte-Baume. (c) Lunar Fox

”Nice route. 30 hard, beautiful and varied movements. Slighty overhang. Finally done after many failures in the last hard move! Thank you to Thomas and my father for finding me THE méthod for the last move . It was time for it to end before it got too hot . About a dozen days, 11 of which were with crappy methods ...”

Moritz Welt has made the first repeat of Alex Megos' Janus (9a) in Frankenjura. "idk anymore, it always felt so hard I thought it must be 9a+, this season it went so quickly."

Can you tell us more about the process behind it repeating Janus?
I tried Janus a few times over the last years, but couldn't really do more than all the single moves in isolation, and thought it felt way harder than other 9a's. Then two years ago I decided to focus on Lazarus and postponed all my other Frankenjura projects. Last season I focused on Corona and Action, so finally this spring it was time for Janus. Already on the first session I felt better than ever and finally finished it in the third session of the year. Now I think hard 9a is appropriate, but no one except Alex and me has done it so far, and still some people consider it 9a+.

What are your summer plans?
Really want to try some of my local FA projects during the next months! 🙂 Only thing I can say is that they're probably among the hardest in Frankenjura! 🙂