Anak Verhoven reports on Instagram that she has completed La Planta de Shiva (9b) in Villanueva del Rosario. Adam Ondra made the FA back in 2011 of the 45m very steep route and in 2017, Angy Eiter did the FFA.

Verhoeven is historically speaking one of the best female Lead competition climbers. She made finals in the WC 36 times in a row. In total, she made the podium 19 times, but in 2019 she stopped competing due to injuries. In the second half of 2021, she was fully recovered but decided to focus only on rock climbing. During her comp years, she did a dozen routes 8c+ to 9a+, and later the 27-year-old has sent another dozen routes graded 9a to 9b.

Álvaro Munguía has done Il Domani (9a) in Baltzola. The steep 27m long route was put up by Patxi Usobiaga in 2003. It has only been repeated a handful times including Adam Ondra’s onsight in 2014, which also was the second latest ascent of the route.

Can you tell us more about your ascent?
I'm a super fanatic climber, I just like to do all routes I can, I don't care if it's 6a or 9a, I want to do all routes in every single crag. I started trying Il Domani in January. The process was a bit slow since I couldn't do the shoulder move on the first tries, but when I managed to do that move, I could do the whole boulder quite solid.

Then I started trying the route from the ground, and in my second go I fell in the boulder. After that, I just kept falling every single time on the boulder and almost every time in the shoulder move. At a certain point, I was doing every time the route with just one fall, and I knew it was close.

Yesterday, the conditions seemed to be really bad since the clouds were almost covering de cave, but surprisingly the conditions felt really good. On my first try, I was super close doing the boulder but I just dry fire from the little undercling hold.

After that, I rested for about a 1'5 hour and I gave it another try, where I managed to pass the boulder quite solid and could send the route. I was really really happy about that.

How come you think it has only been done twice during the last ten years?
The route it’s around 8b+ until the boulder (7C+) and then it's around 8a, so basically you are climbing every single time up to the boulder and then you fall, and over and over, and your have to be really motivated and strong mind to know that you'll fall many times there until one day you'll pass the boulder en 99% you'll send it.

Austin Purdy, who two weeks ago sent two 8B+' and flashed an 8B, has done Stil vor Talent (8C) in Magic Wood.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Stil Vor Talent is an extension to the classic Never Ending Story in Magic Wood, and in my opinion, a very beautiful and logical line that tops out what is normally a drop off. Instead of going to the normal jug that The Never Ending Story (8B+) finishes on, it climbs along the rail before finishing on a powerful 8A/V11 boulder with a committing highball top out. I was excited to try it because it seemed like a good challenge to top out Never Ending story without a rope, or traversing/downclimbing. I ended up falling off of the last move of the entire line twice before finishing up Stil Vor Talent on my second to last climbing day before leaving Magic Wood. Over the past year or so I have been trying to focus more on trying lines that are at or near my limit, as in years past I have often spent more time doing climbs I knew I could complete relatively quickly. This has resulted in me not only doing more difficult climbs, but I also think has helped me level up and do these hard climbs more easily as well. For this trip specifically I mostly tried to not put too much pressure on my performance, but to instead try to enjoy the process and wait for the right moment to do climbs instead of trying to force it.

Ethan Pringle is probably most known for having done the first repeat of Chris Sharma's Jumbo Love (9b) back in 2016. In total, the silver medalist in Youth Worlds in 2000, when he also did his first 8b+, has sent more than a dozen 9a's and beyond.

David Bermudez Carbonell, who previously in 2024 has done two 9a’s, has sent El intento (9a) in Cuenca.

"Very happy about making this mythical route in Cuenca, which has taken me a lot of time. I started trying this route in May of last year but I had to leave it because of high temperatures. Then I went back to it in November, but I also had to leave because of the cold. Two weekends ago, I went back to the route and I felt very close to sending it and today, after falling the last two tries in the previous two moves, I could send it."

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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