Sebastien Bouin, who previously has done five 9b+’ and one 9c, reports on Instagram that he has completed the FA of Wolf Kingdom (9b+) in Pic St Loup. The french says it is a link-up of a 9a start followed by 9a+ climbing and only the 9a approach he has done 50 times. (c) Sam Bie

”What a wave of emotions to complete this project. It’s one of the routes that has inspired me the most in my climbing career. I am proud and happy to add such a route to the climbing scene and to place Pic Saint-Loup on the worldwide map of climbing.”

”Wolf Kingdom is undoubtedly one of my best additions, one of the most fun, and one of the prettiest. I think it will be one of the most tried 9b+ routes in the future, considering its style of climbing. I think this route is my second hardest achievement.”

Notably, when it comes to redpoints, Seb and Adam Ondra have comparably impressive ticklists.

Sungsu Lee, who has climbed five 8C boulders since stepping away from IFSC competitions last year, has sent First Ley (9a+) in Margalef.

Can you tell us more about the trip and First Ley?
Yo, thanks! It’s my first time in Margalef—just a short one-week trip ✈️. I sent it on my 3rd session, so psyched and pumped! Actually, one week is too short for such a massive area. There are both long endurance routes and short power routes, so I love having the choice to pick between them. I have only tried First ley. Tomorrow I think I am going to try Furia de Jabali (9a+). It is my last climbing day in Spain.

After eight sessions, William Bosi has sent Adam Ondra's Terranova (8C+) starting six moves in. In the The Struggle Climbing there is a debate in between Ondra, who thinks it is 8C+, and Bosi who says it is possibly harder.

Leo Cea, with two 9a’s under his belt, has repeated Chris Sharma’s classical Era Vella (9a)* in Margalef. In the Vertical-Life interview from September the 11-year-old Chilean said that his dream was to try Era Vella and his uncle Javier reports. (c) Cris Posadas @gamantri

”Leo had 11 sessions on EV. Most of them with terrible conditions due to the storm affecting Spain. Only on 3 sessions he was able to try to second half of the route. He never complain about the conditions nor was frustrated. He worked with perseverance, calm mind, and enjoyment on every single go.

Due to his height [141 cm], he had to figure out different ways to solve many of the sections of the route. Even on the send go, he climbed EV figuring out on the moment different ways to climb it because the conditions of the route were not optimal (pretty humid and some holds even with water inside). He had to solve moves on the spot by changing the way that he was climbing it before.@

How long is the trip and what about school?
26 days including travelling time. Leo is a very good student. He enjoys school and work hard, so his teachers thought there will be no problem of him missing some class time. They created a plan with his teachers to minimize the impact of him being away for this long. He is going straight back to school as soon as he is back in Chile.

What was the background for the trip?
Last year, in october, he sent his first 8b+. As a gift for him, René, his dad, gave him the climbing guide of Margalef. Leo knew a little about Margalef at that time, but after he got the guide he started to explore Margaled through the guide and fell in love with some iconic routes (demensia senil, victimas perez, era vella, etc). then his eyes and goals were put on climbing in Margalef. With the help of his coach and other experienced chilean climbers, he choose EV as the main project for his first visit to Margalef. At his house you can see many drawings of Margalef routes made by Leo hanging on the walls. This was really a dream for him that came true.

* It should be noted that we have previously reported Era Vella as an 8c+/9a but due to a break it is now considered 9a.

Loic Zehani, who earlier in 2024 has sent 16 routes 9a to 9b, has done the FA of Rio négro (9a) in Chateauneuf les Martigues. This was the 42nd FA 9a and beyond by the 22-year-old.

”Fingery and physical climbing at the beginning with a hard bouldery section ( more or less 8A FB ) in a nice slighty overhang . Then after a good rest , a nice wall with fingery climb. Old project bolted for about 25 years. Very nice route I recommended.”

Sera Gearhart, the #2 in the VL ranking game, has sent Blackout (8B) in Joe's Valley (UT). ”Fell too many times trying to cross under to the jug before getting smart, crimp card retained. Conditions matter”(c) John Oungst
Can you tell us more about the ascent and the number of sessions needed?
I tried Blackout in the spring hoping I could do it in warm conditions before the end of the season. The crimps are really sharp so coming back in the fall it felt like a different boulder. Much easier in the cold! Overall took me a few sessions between both seasons.

Nicolai Užnik, who was #5 in the World Championship last year, has flashed American Gangster (8B+) in Zillertal and repeated Aidan Roberts Unison (8C) in Brione. ”2nd ascent of this absolute kingline! Got super close to doing it yesterday already in my first session but luckily did it today in just a few attempts!” (c) Kim Marschner

Can you tell us more about the flash?
American Gangster was high up on my list for a while since got really close on flashing Anam Cara (8B+) this summer. I was psyched to try flashing this grade again and so I just went for it. Quite surprised it actually worked out on the flash since it‘s quite low percentage!

What are your winter plans and what about comps in 2025?
This winter I’ll definitely try to be outside as much as possible and probably put my focus especially on Alphane (9A). Then slowly switch back a bit more to comps and do the whole season next year again most likely!

Katie Lamb reports on Instagram that she has sent Fallen Angel (8C) in Tahoe. It was put up by James Webb in 2021 and has been repeated five times including Keenan Takahashi’s ascent from last month.

Over the past 18 months, the 27-year-old has climbed three 8C’s and four 8B+ boulders, solidifying her position as the top female boulderer in the world.

Cameron Hörst, who last year did his second 9a+, has made the FA of The Big Wish (9a) in Utah Hills. (c) Daniel Teitelbaum

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Over the last few weeks I have been traveling down to the Utah hills (from Salt Lake City) to climb with my friend Joe (Kinder) in the Fynn Cave. The climb Joe and I were initially trying to complete is a mega project of ours, The Big Bone Project, which we have spent multiple fall seasons trying over the last few years. This year I believe Joe and I finally showed up with the specific fitness required to send this big project, but unfortunately, the fall season in the Utah Hills was short lived (as the cooler conditions didn't come until mid October and then got too cold after the first week of November).

Because of the abnormal weather situation, I turned to trying this undone link up that we dubbed The Big Wish and Joe decided to prep up a new route he bolted at the crag.

I spent the last few climbable days in the cave trying to finish off The Big Wish and managed to do so on the last possible day that the weather was ample! This climb connects an existing 8c in the cave with the extension portion of Bone Tomahawk (the extension in of itself is a solid 8c route). Needless to say, The Big Wish is a proper endurance test piece. For me, this climb feels like one of the harder 9a's I've done.

What is next?
Now I am off to Spain to meet some friends and spend some time climbing in Margalef for the first time! I have wanted to do a trip to Margalef for years now, so I am curious to see what I can do there! Big Stoke!

Sean Bailey has made the FA of Shaolin (9A) in Red Rock (NV) which has been an open project for many years. The problem starts with a five-move 8B sequence that leads directly into the crux. The crux can be tackled either through a static method—Raboutou’s approach, which took him five days to execute in isolation—or with a dynamic, "low-percentage and physical" jump, as Bailey chose, targeting a sloping slot. From there, the climb demands a difficult and tenuous jump to a sloper, a move where Bailey repeatedly fell after starting from the ground.

The 27-year-old has been an active IFSC competition climber for over ten years and in 2021, he won one Boulder WC and two Lead WC's. He stopped competing last year after narrowly having made it to Paris.

Earlier in 2024, the 163 cm tall has sent two 8C’s as well as Lucid Dreaming (8C+) and the FA of Devilution (8C+). Regarding 9a and beyond he has sent more than a dozen including Bibliographie (9b+). In other words, Sean has one of the most accomplished tick lists out there.