Solomon Kemball, who previously has logged three 8C’s and one 8C+, has completed Foundations Edge (8C) in Fionnay. “Boxed out my mind, quickest I have done 8C but had to fight.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the number of sessions needed?
It took me four sessions over the last week. The boulder is a Dave Graham masterpiece with lots of nuisances and tricks. It has an easy intro into 6 hard moves the first few seemingly powerful but very body position dependent. Into some feet above your head action where you are trying to take as much weight off the fingers with your legs as possible. Finishing with a high juggy top out that gets the forearms well and truly pumped. I worked the top from stacked pads going from the crimp rail to the jug as a warm up and topping it out once before the send go on the day to make sure I knew what to do.

Eva Hammelmüller, who last week sent Hades (9a), has done Paint it black (8c+) in Zillertal. ”Wow, what a beautiful line! Perfect rock quality, amazing place, nice moves! Never sent an 8c+ in a day, so maybe on the softer side or more like 8c? Either way, great climb and thanks for the psyche boys🥹”

Two days later she onsighted Zaachling (8b) in Obere Nasenwand. “HOW?? 6th day of climbing, I only planned to do it as a warm-up, as the first part is relatively easy. However, I just continued climbing and sent the route!! my forearms were on fire afterwards :D.” (c) Felix Mast

How does it feel to be in the best shape of your life?
Feels pretty amazing🤯🤪 Honestly, I can’t quite believe how well everything works out right now. I think I manage to climb without pressure and expectations, which allows me to fight hard on every route and give my very best. I am just incredibly psyched for rock climbing at the moment, and I look forward to trying new projects!

Advertorial: Designed by CLIMBING TECHNOLOGY for mountaineering and rock climbing, TUNER is an I-shaped lanyard with adjustable length (15 to 102 cm), ideal to secure yourself to the belay anchor and adjust your position there. Very easy to use, thanks to its design TUNER I allows a quick and precise adjustment of the climber's distance from the anchor. The release of the lanyard is very intuitive and easy even under load, by holding the device and using the release button, all with one hand only. TUNER I is made from dynamic rope, so as to reduce the shock transmitted to the climber in the event of a fall, and comes equipped with OVX, a very compact carabiner, and Fix-O, a rubber ring that eliminates the rotation and the loading of the carabiner along the minor axis. The functioning of the device is independent from the shape of the carabiner in use. Very easy to install, TUNER I can be connected to the belay loop on the harness via a girth hitch. Weight: 143 g (including OVX carabiner) More info on ClimbingTechnology.com

OVX oval carabiner by CLIMBING TECHNOLOGY is ideal for rock climbing and mountaineering applications, from racking gear to rigging in rope manoeuvres. The oval shape of OVX allows the optimal placement of equipment and ropes and, thanks to its dimensions (it is only 9.5 cm long), leaves more room for manoeuvres. In addition, this hot-forged light-alloy carabiner features a catch-free closure and tapered nose, for a smoother clipping and unclipping of the carabiner and to reduce the chances of ropes, gear or anchors snagging on it. The increased cross-section of the body at contact points improves rope glide and wear resistance. CLIMBING TECHNOLOGY OVX is available without locking sleeve, with screwgate (SG) and with the ACL system (OVX SGL), which makes the carabiner ideal for use on the harness belay loop as it keeps carabiner and device in the correct position, even during the most demanding manoeuvres. Weight: 58 g (screwgate version).

Alex Khazanov, with five 8C’s under his belt, has done La force tranquille (8C) in Magic Wood. The 29-year-old, who won one World Cup in 2018, has been an active IFSC competition climbers since 2009. (c) Liam Fyfe

How many sessions did it take?
I have tried "la force" for one session back in 2021. I could do all the moves but didn't have another day to come back to it. This trip to Switzerland it was raining so much in ticino so I made the drive to Magic wood. The top out and the first hold were wet so I just did the crux moves once again for about 20 minutes to remind my body and finished the session. Came back few days later when it was dry and finally sent. So two and a half session in total I guess 😅

What are the upcoming plans this winter and for 2025?
I am getting married in May so this the biggest plan 😅😂 But as for the climbing I finally finished my competition career and now I have more time for rock climbing. I will have another short tip to Ticino in December and than a month in March. The goal is to finally do Alphane and some other amazing lines in ticino. In summer I hope to spend some time in Ceuce to try Biographie which is a childhood dream of mine. I also coach Ayala Kerem [#2 in the Euro Championship in 2024] so now that I am not competing I have more time to be a better coach for here 😁

Jonathan Siegrist, who previously has done over 80 routes 9a and beyond, has done the third ascent of Adam Ondra’s L'étrange ivresse des lenteurs (9a+) in Céüse. At 39 years old, he holds the #3 spot in the VL rankings, based on a new all-time high score. “One of the best, most demanding and scariest sport routes I have climbed. Easily 9b for me, quite obviously harder than the other 9a+ here... But I'll keep it a sandbag out of respect for Ceuse.” (c) Ryan White

How many sessions were needed and how cold was it?
Too many sessions to count. I tried the route last year, and had great progress but then fell at essentially the last move near the anchor on the final day before the weather came in. This year it was a big goal of mine to come back and finish the route. Unfortunately on the first day here in September I tore my LCL while trying the route, and needed quite a bit of time to recover before my knee felt strong enough to try some of the moves. Then when I was starting to recover from the injury, some insane weather arrived and a crucial hold in the bottom was wet for 5 weeks straight. I did my best to be patient and stay fit. Yesterday was the first time the hold was dry.

As for the cold, actually it is quite hot right now! The wall is in the sun until 4 or so. You really only have 1 or 2 tries before it's dark. Not the best time for Ceuse but in some ways I prefer the fall. You can be alone in the cliff even on a weekend and the autumn colors are amazing. We have made some great friends here in Gap, it really feels like locals only this time of year.

”Scariest sport routes I have climbed”?
Most of the route has normal Ceuse style run outs but the final 1/3 of the route is totally next level, with 15 meter fall potential still in hard climbing terrain. It’s one of the only times in my life I felt afraid on a sport route. Sylvain Millet had a very special vision for this route when he bolted it! The biggest fall was from the final moves really near the anchor (Megos took this fall also), even in the huge run outs it’s still pretty hard. I fell here last season - it was the last day of that trip. But the most terrifying fall was this year, I was trying to rediscover the moves in the run out sections and I took a massive fall at night with a headlamp.

William Bosi, with four 9A’s under his belt, has flashed Janja SD (8B+) in Moravský kras. (c) Teresa Coimbra

How did you prepare flashing your second 8B+ in a week?
So there is video from Martin Stranik I watched and then copied his beta almost exactly. But nothing else different from my other flashed, just quite a lot of visualisation before going for it. But there’s not too much beta it’s mostly physical this one 😁

Did you have full control all the way?
Through the start yes but it was limit coming round the edge of the cave.

What was the plan returning to Czechia?
I’m back here to try Terranova (8C+) again! However it’s been wet so while waiting for it to dry it’s been fun to check some of the other lines.

How is the feeling possibly being in the best shape of your life?
I’m definitely feeling really good at the moment after hard training this summer, so hopefully I can make progress on Terranova.

Laura Rogora continues to strike, this time in Siurana where she completed Estado critico (9a), Kale borroka (8b+) and Dogma (8b+). All three routes share the first half and the second half of the latter two, were done in onsight style. In the past two months, since winning two gold medals at the European Championship, the Italian climber has red pointed four 9a routes and onsighted an 8c. (c) Marco Dugatto

Can you tell us more about that great sending day?
The plan was to climb in Margalef but the weather was quite bad yesterday and after two days in La finestra my tendons hurted a lot so we moved to Siurana. I wanted to try La Rambla (9a+) but it was wet so I tried Estado Critico and I did it on my 3d go. Then I wanted to climb Kale borroka but the topo was wrong so I climbed Dogma. Then I climbed Kale borroka, I know the first part from Estado but it was my first try on the upper part.

Andrea Chelleris has onsighted La poten (8b) in Villanueva del Rosario, meaning the 15-year-old has now onsighted 15 routes 8a+ or 8b, only in October. When it comes to redpoints, he has the last two weeks done two 8c's and El bushido de shiva (8c+). The Italian is also close to send Mangarbo (9a). During the last few years Andrea has been training together with Domen Skofic, who comments.

“ I had no plan to start coaching, especially at this time in my life because I still haven’t finished coaching myself… Then Andrea showed up in my gym a year and a half ago asking to help him with his training. I couldn’t refuse because I could straight away see the enormous potential in this kid. I said to him quite early that if our training is successful he will climb way better than me in just few years.

When we started I had to make completely separate boulders and routes for him, a year later I had to make only some adjustments and now I basically set the same things for both of us. He tells me his goals and I try to help him achieve it. Andrea has an enormous passion for climbing. He’s smart and super calm, sometimes to calm haha but it’s incredible to see how he approaches things in his unique style. I will definitely learn a lot from him as well. It’s also mind blowing to me that he had so much success doing skiing and climbing at the same time. I’m very happy that I got the opportunity to work with him and I’m very excited for the future :)“

Gio Placci, who was #12 in the Briancon World Cup, has completed Flow State (8C) in Val daone. It is said to be easier for the taller climbers but the 166 cm long only needed four sessions for the send. (c) Crimp-Films

“World class. Shoutout to my bro Pietro Vidi for the F.A. About the grade I felt the same of the other 8C I did.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what was most challenging for you?
For sure the last move, a big move to a sloper. After the comp season I’m focusing on sport climbing but the heat in Arco forced me to go to Val daone, a bouldering spot way colder than Arco. The boulder is king line!

What is next?
Erebor (9b), I did already 3 sessions and it felt very good.

How does a normal climbing/training week look like?
3 days on and 1 day off. Always double sessions. Most of my days are 6h training. Interval training, routes, circuits, bouldering and campus.

How much outdoors climbing in a normal week?
I just do two months when the comp season is over.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo repeated Adam Ondra’s Change (9b+) in August. ”I still can’t believe it happened. Being able to pass the boulder problem [pictured] at the beginning from the ground for the first time and then climbing the 50-meter complete line was a physical and mental fight that I will never forget. I gave everything I had, my arms and body couldn’t do more, but in the end I managed to clip the chain.”