Tanner Bauer has flashed Quintessential (8B) in Rocklands. The 20-year-old has a very wide grade pyramid including six 8A+ flashes and close to 60 8B’s and beyond, including one 8C.

”I've been chasing after the infamous 8B flash for around 3 years now. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of good contenders to do so. I've gotten close to achieving this goal before while climbing in Red Rocks and Moe's Valley but was never able to pull it off. Once my trip to Rocklands was confirmed, I knew I would have another good opportunity to try and finish off this goal.

On my very first day of the trip and my first day ever climbing day in Rocklands, I ended up at the Quintessential. I quickly realized that it would be very feasible to flash this boulder because of its easy accessibly. There are a ton of really good warm ups right near it and all the holds are reachable from the ground. Two things that are really important for flashing hard boulders.

I spent about an hour just touching the holds and deciding which beta I was gunna use. The hand moves are extremely straight forward but there are a ton of different foot options. It came down to two main betas that I had to choose from. The first being a more physical method that required more pure strength. The second being a more technical method that required highly specific body positions. I ended up choosing the beta that was physically harder because I didn't want to blow the flash due to a silly mistake. The more physical beta meant I had to pull harder but at the end of the day, I think it was easier to execute due to it lending to more natural body positions.”

Lorenzo Bogliacino, who two months ago did his second 9a+, has completed Moksha (9a). (c) Mattia De Leo

”I went a couple of weekends in Pic St Loup since I wanted to see the crag for a really long time. I checked Hélix au pays des merveilles (8c+) on my first weekend and already tried a bit the crux of Moksha. Next weekend I did Helix on saturday and Moksha on Sunday. Conditions were bad in the morning but then the air came and I did the route at the end of the day unexpectedly. Had a huge fight on the top part since I was very tired!”

Jonathan Siegrist is #1 in the Top-100 ranking game having sent almost 100 routes 8a and harder, including 32 onsights up to 8b+, over the last 12 months. Martina Demmel who has onsighted 50 routes 7c+ to 8b, is the runner-up. Martina recently answered some questions we had for her regarding her most recent all-around productivity and success on the rock. (c) Mirco dell Osta

You've managed to compete at World Cups and still be one of the best all around outdoor sport climbers. How do you typically approach a day on the rock?
I guess it depends on if the area is new for me because then I prefer to see lots of different routes and to try several of the classics first instead of only trying one harder route the whole trip... while onsight climbing I get the purest experience of flow because I'm so focused on understanding the next move that my thoughts remain in the moment. It's also like opening a present because anything could be in the package and while onsight climbing you also have to be ready for everything all the time. I'm also often avoiding to go too far out of my comfort zone where I don't know if it's possible at all for me because I haven't really unlocked the right mindset for this part...

Will you put more focus on rock or comps for the rest of this year?
Actually I'm not climbing outside that much at all at the moment, for example only three times in May, and I'm surprisingly even more motivated to train on plastic right now... Probably things [motivation] are changing from time to time and I realised that I was still identifying myself as only a rock climber despite having the comps as my priority but I didn't really find the joy on rock anymore and it felt more forced... Now, I'm using all my motivation & energy to give it my all for comp preparation. I'm sure that my passion for rock climbing is not gone, but rather that it will come back even stronger someday in the future.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo, mainly known for his over 80 routes 9a to 9b+, has repeated Pablo Zamora’s Muerte por asfixia (8C+) in La Pedriza. The 25-year-old, with also seven 8C's under his belt, needed only three sessions for the send. (c) Javi Pec

"The boulder is amazing. This is lower start, adding 9 moves into, Flor de loto (8B+). In total, there are 15 moves, so endurance is a part of the difficulty, and some moves are quite difficult, technical with body tension. I considered my style more or less, and it was definitely a surprise climb this midsummer."

Sierra Blair has sent Antimatter (8A+) in Priest Draw, video. Over the last 12 months, she has done four 8A’s and three 8A+’s and she is currently #8 in the female boulder ranking game.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I started working Antimatter at the beginning of May after I sent Flat Black (V10/7C+). Antimatter traverses into Flat Black and the crux is a throw to a right hand crimp after the two boulders meet.

I was able to reach the crux on my first session, but it took until my sixth session to figure out the beta that actually worked for the crux. During the final session a friend was also trying Antimatter and he could easily do the crux section in isolation. I decided to try his beta and immediately was able to do the crux move in isolation. All it took was this simple change to make the crux move go from impossible to doable.

After learning the new beta it took me two attempts to send the boulder. I am beyond excited to send such a cool line and I can’t wait for whatever is next.

Domen Škofic has made the FA of Passaaat (9a) in Hvar and Klemen Bečan, who had bolted it, did the second ascent the same day. Domen, with 25 routes 9a and harder, was the over-all Lead World Cup winner in 2016. Klemen, 41, has won one World Cup and he is one of the best onsight climbers in the world with over ten 8c’s onsight.

”Thanks a lot Klemen Bečan for showing me this place and let me try this epic line. The process of discovering holds and moves was so much fun. At the start we were sure this thing will be a solid 9a+ but on my third day I finally found the perfect sequence trough the top part and all of a sudden the chances of success went up significantly. The feeling of sending this line on the Hvar climbing festival on my last try before leaving was incredible. I had the perfect flow and just enjoy fully all the 50+ meters of this beast.

The best thing was that we did it both on the final day of the festival, one after the another. The line is huge and the crag has so much potential, it’s mind blowing 🤯”

Samuel Hsin has done Paint it Black (8C) at Bear Lake Road. Daniel Woods put up what is regarded as a five-star 65 degree roof in 2012. ”This one was huge for me. I’ve always had a hard time getting myself psyched to solo session for one, and feeling like I’m at this level for another. I made some progress early on, but at the end of the day it came down to me committing to sessioning alone on a day that I couldn’t rally the homies that let me put it down. No external motivators, no one to prove to, nothing to gain, just me and my desire to do this rock climb.”

How does it feel to reach 8C and how many sessions were needed?
It feels pretty great! But honestly, I’ve been having this realization recently that every boulder I’ve been doing as of late hasn’t felt like that big of a deal on its own. I used to get way more excited after each ascent, and now each one is sort of “just another boulder”. It’s nice though because it’s made sessions more fun whether I send a rig or not. I’ve mostly just been very excited to see where I’m at now compared to a couple of years ago. I didn’t have the physical or mental ability to perform at this level then.

It took me 6 sessions. The moves fit me pretty well as I’ve been training a similar style recently, but what really made the difference was the morning I did it, I couldn’t rally anyone to go with me, so it was hard to get psyched because I don’t solo sesh often. But I knew I wouldn’t get another chance to climb on it in the near future. So, I basically was like “one more day to get to climb on this amazing boulder, I might as well make it happen”. And then I went out and was just psyched to be there, and I made it happen.

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Zach Galla did the second ascent of Daniel Woods' The Process (8C+) in March, after projecting it for some ten sessions during three trips. "I saw Daniel do the FA in real rock when I was 14 and the boulder has been in my mind as one of the most mega things out there. Feels crazy that it’s remained unrepeated for 9 years, and my climbing has leveled up enough in that time to climb it for its 2nd. The boulder is definitely scary but not too dangerous. the crux jump to the lip is about 18 feet [5.5 meters] off the ground and feels like it will swing you off and cause a weird fall, but I was lucky to never take a bad one from there. After the lip, the boulder starts to get into a no fall zone as you execute around a V8 [7B+] boulder before making it onto some easy slab terrain. It felt as if there was nothing else around me and I was climbing in a bubble. A unique climbing experience I’ve never experienced before."