Mikel Linacisoro, who did his first 8c+ at age 13, has sent Estado critico (9a) in Siurana and onsighted Gaur zortzi (8b+) in Mugarra. The 24-year-old frequently made VL/8a headlines as a teenager and his third and last 9a he sent almost 2.5 years ago. (c) Javi Pec

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried the route like 2 years ago and already know all the moves and sequences. One month ago I moved to Catalunya, now I’m living here. So I decided to go and try it again last weekend and already fell on the last moves... and this weekend I went again and I climbed it 💪🏼😁

Can you tell us more about the comeback to the 9a scene?
Well.. there is no "comeback to climbing", hahaha, but last years I have been climbing much less in rocks becouse of the university, and I was mostly climbing indoors and competing with the spanish team. Now that I finished the university, I have time to climb a lot, so I moved to Barcelona and I’m training here with David (Albertos Gines Lopez coach), Alberto, and the rest of the team. During the week we train in the gym, and on weekends we climb outside! So now I hope to be back on 9a game much more hahaha.

What are your winter and 2025 years plan?
My plan for the winter and 2025 is to continue training hard during the week, and climbing on rocks in the weekends! I decided to stop bouldering competitions this year, so I can focus much more on lead/rocks... I want to compete on the Lead World Cup 2025 also, so it will be a mixed season between plastic and rocks. But its the first time that I’m focused 100% climbing and I’m looking fordward to see what we can do. One month of trainings here and I’m back in the 9a grade and 8b+ onsight, so I’m very happy and motivated for the season!!

What did you study and what about work?
I studied medicine, its my other passion in live haha climbing and medicine. Now I decided not to work and study anymore, because its impossible to share work in the hospital and climbing at my 100%. So it will be 2-3 years focus on climbing (we will see how much time, depending motivation and money for living haha) and then I will be back to medicine and back to work and 📚.

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Miles Perry has, after some 25 sessions, done the FA of Path of least resistance (9a) in Logan Canyon. ”So psyched it’s finally done! Big thanks to Anthony Txertudi for envisioning this line nearly 15 years ago and the Logan climbing community for all the support on this one.”

The 21-year-old started climbing in 2019 and in just a year he flashed his first 8A boulder. Then in 2022 he made the FA of Unwind (8B+) which has not been repeated. Since the he has sent five 8c routes.

How has the recovery been since your rupture injury in February you mention on Instagram?
I got kind of lucky because I ruptured my a2 on my pinky finger which meant that I could still climb in a 3 finger drag and the path project happened to be mostly open hand pockets.

Also when it came to getting back to full health on my fingers I had to take a month of of climbing and then slowly started climbing on jugs or on 2 finger pockets which seemed to help my pinky even though I wasn’t climbing on it.

How come you skipped the 8c+ grade?
I didn’t intend to skip 8c+ it’s just that the bottom of Parh is shared with a climb called Super Whiteout which is 8c/+. It just finishes on a v6 we’re Path finishes on a V10 so I decided to call it 9a!

Jana Svecova reports from her one month trip to Brione where she sent Pamplemousse (8A) , Forever More sit (8A+) and Supertussi Low (8B+). In the VL ranking game she is #4, including having done one 8C boulder.

”From my last visit of Brione, there was one boulder I had started working on but couldn’t complete due to a pulley injury that prevented me from pulling properly. That boulder was Pamplemousse, originally graded 8A but now more commonly settled at 7C+. I managed to send it on my first day in Brione on my third attempt, and I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the trip.

The next boulder I chose as a "warm-up" to get familiar with the local rock was Forever More. I sent this one surprisingly quickly—in about 1.5 hours—so the trip continued really well! 🚀

Feeling confident after such a strong start, I dove straight into my main project: Supertussi Low (8B+). Low, because I started from two lowest holds possible and other guys sat under the boulder and started from where they can reach so they skipped one move.

I took a rest day before tackling it, as I had already spent three sessions on this boulder during my last visit to Brione. This year, I felt much stronger and thought the process would be quicker—but the reality was quite different.

I ended up spending almost my entire trip on this boulder, but the experience taught me so much. For example, if I can do the move but it feels hard and uncomfortable during the projecting process, keep seeking different beta until you figure out every detail and the moves feel easy/doable even if you add the moves before. Or how can I motivate myself again to finish a boulder when I’m frustrated that I can’t try any other boulder, especially since I thought I’d complete it in a maximum of three sessions on this trip.
 Once I regained my motivation, it took just two more sessions to send the boulder—an amazing moment!

Later the 27-year-old did, Graceland (8B+) in Allgäu, giving it a personal 8B grade.

”So the boulder Graceland you do the first move with your right hand and you go to quite a good hold. From there you do very stretchy move, with your left hand, to a lower hole and bump again to higher one and with your right hand again to the lower hole from where you continue up the boulder. I couldn 't these stretchy moves so I figured our my own beta where from the starting holds I do a cross into kinda okey hold, then grab a small, sharp crimp and I go to the lower hole with my right hand and with left to the higher one and I am in the same position as the guys that could reach those moves above. With my "short person" beta probably 8B?”

Michaela Kiersch, who two weeks ago completed Dreamtime (8C) , has done Kings of Sonlerto (8A+) and Darkness (8A+) in Brione. (c) Brett Lowell

Can you tell us more about those two ascents?
Kings was on my dream list for a long time and it was cool to do it with Giuliano [Cameroni] spotting. Took me maybe 5 tries and I did the top on a rope before doing it from the bottom. On Darkness I flashed the right 7C and then maybe 5 tries or so for the 8A+.

Chaehyeon Seo, who was #6 in the Paris Olympics, has onsighted Fish eye (8c) in Oliana and redpointed Open Your Mind Direct (9a) in Santa Linya.

Seo made her first VL/8a headlines at just 11 years old by onsighting an 8a. At 14, she climbed her first 8c+ and in 2022, she added two impressive achievements to her record: she onsighted L'antagonista (8c) and sent La Rambla (9a+). Her competition track record is equally impressive. In 2019 she won the Lead World Cup after having won four straight events at age 15. Two years later she became the World Champion.

Can you tell us more about the trip and those two ascents?
We planned to stay in Santa Linya for a month but the weather and the rock conditions were too bad so we tried to climb at Oliana. It was not the best because many climbing days were in fog.

While in Santa Linya, I tried Open your mind because it's very famous route and I need to adapt for the rocks. Rock was slippery, but before it I climbed on wet rocks so it felt quite ok, so I could send it.

In Oliana I tried Papichulo (9a+) for my project. First few days I was checking the moves and making the moves perfectly and the weather was also good. But the last three days were too humid and rainy, so I felt ready but rocks were too bad. As I waiting for the rocks get dry I just tried Fish Eye for fun. The lower part went smoothly, and in sudden I was at the top part crux. I was focusing so much. Last crux was at the last 3 meters, so I fought there about 10 min before I could send it.

Noah Wheeler, who previously in 2024 has done two 8C+’, has repeated Austin Hoyt’s The Big Bad Wolf (8C) in Gunks (NY). Huge props to Austin for putting up the first 8C in the Northeast! Deciphered the sit movement with the east coast boys this summer and sent in a few today. Chossy start - I crumbled a hold on the send go - but super enjoyable movement which builds in an incredible way and culminates in a gnarly right hand satch from an unstable position. Feels like shouldery/crimpy 13 [8B] into powerful 12 [8A+] which seems to make the grade accurate.”

After 10 incredible years, it’s time for us at Vertical-Life to turn the page and focus fully on developing our digital climbing platform. As part of this transition, we’re saying goodbye to the Zlagboard—a product that has shaped our journey and connected climbers around the world.

We still have some Zlagboards left in stock, and this is your chance to grab one at a special price of €99. It’s more than a training tool—it’s a piece of Vertical-Life history.

The Zlagboard has been a huge part of our story. We’ve sold over 10,000 boards, hosted countless of Zlagboard contests, and watched climbers push their limits, from beginners to world-class athletes. For many years, the record held firm at the 02:44.35 time set by Ramón Julián Puigblanque. Last year, Günther Unterrainer raised the bar with an impressive 03:05.98!

The Zlagboard app will remain fully functional, supporting climbers to train smarter and climb harder for years to come. While this chapter ends, the Zlagboard’s legacy continues—we’re in discussions with potential partners in the climbing training industry to carry the project forward under a new name.

Finally, we’d like to share that our books will now be distributed by Panico Alpinverlag. This ensures our climbing guides remain accessible to climbers everywhere, continuing to inspire adventures for years to come.

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Melina Costanza, who last month won the US Nationals in both Lead and Boulder, has completed Direct North (8B+) in Buttermilks.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I originally went to Bishop to try The Swarm (8B), but we went to the Grandma boulder to warm up and I ended up doing all the components of Direct North. I knew I could put down the link quickly, but for some reason I had kind of an epic time on the whole line. I had a heartbreaker fall off the last move before it dumped snow for a couple days, but I stuck it out and sent the line once it cleared up. Big adversity training problem for me. Never ended up going to The Swarm the whole trip!