William Bosi has made the first repeat of Aidan Roberts' Spots of Time (9A) in Hellvellyn. "Can't believe it! What a king line. Hopefully, this sees some more attention definitely deserves it." (c) Band of Birds

The British climber stopped competing in 2021 and started focusing on routes. During 2021 and 2022, he successfully climbed six routes graded 9a+ to 9b+. Since then, his attention has shifted to bouldering. At 25 years old, he has now completed four 9A boulders, giving him the most impressive bouldering tick list out there.

How many sessions were needed and are you doing the same beta as Aidan?
It took me 8 sessions and only one move we use the same beta. I do the first move off a heel then I skip the intermediate/move and go straight to the high left edge. Finally, for the last move I also skip the intermediate by doing a bigger more powerful move to the good lip hold.

Is it possible to say which 9A is the hardest and easiest?
Very hard to say as they are all quite different styles. Both BODs and SOT are very board style problems and I would say BODs was harder for me but I didn’t find the new beta people are using now, so that could change it. ROTSW and Alphane are so different it’s hard to compare but I think both felt easier than BODs. SOT felt more similar to those two but it’s perfectly my style. Currently, I think the jump between 8C-8C+ to 9A is maybe too small so the 4 9As I’ve done would be on the lower end of the grade. Keen to try more hard lines to help figure this out soon. Hope that makes some sense Very unsure at the moment.

Ina Plassoux Djiga, who last month won the European Cup in Bologna, has sent La théorie des cordes (8c) in Saint Léger. The 25-year-old made her debut in the World Cup only four years ago.

Can you tell us more doing your first 8c?
The most beautiful route I’ve done so far. This route is divided into three parts: a first part on very physical tufas, a second part which is more an endurance one with a big arm lock as the last move, and finally as a reward, a great slab that must be worth 7c, where you still have to stay focused.

For me, the difficulty of the route was mainly in the lower crux, which I find very difficult. In January, when I returned to the route after a year away due to injuries and then competitions, I completely changed my methods to try to optimize this section as much as possible.

I had promised myself that if I made it past the first section, I wouldn’t fall at the crux of the second one. Since I didn’t use my knees after the bottom section, I was a little worried about making it to the end of the second part. In the end, it worked, and I kept my word, falling only once...on the move right after the crux.

The morning I topped the route, it was raining so hard that we didn’t even think about climbing. In the end, I managed to squeeze through the drops to the top at the end of the day. I’d planned several weekends in Saint Léger between October and November to climb the route. Even though the conditions weren’t optimal, the tufas at the bottom were still completely dry, which was super important for me to be able to do the route.

I’m very happy to have done this route and I’m looking forward to discovering other great lines in this sector in this grade this winter!

Connor Herson has repeated the 35 meter granite crack Magic Line (8c+) in Yosemite (CA). In 1996, Ron Kauk sent it with pre-placed gear and then his son Lonnie did it in the same ”pink-point” style in 2016. Two years later Lonnie did the first clean ascent and upgraded it to 8c+ due to the added difficulty placing the gear.

Connor first gained attention in 2018 by sending an 8c+ on his second attempt at just 14 years old. That same year, he also repeated The Nose (8b+) and placed 11th in the Youth World Championship. Since then, he has emerged as one of the top trad and big wall climbers in the world.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
I first tried magic line in December of last year, shortly after I sprained my ankle so I was wearing oversized shoes and just checking out moves on toprope. Then I returned for a weekend in January - on my second day I tried it on lead and fell at the very top! I thought I would do it quickly, but I returned a few more times that season and didn’t get good conditions again, and soon the waterfall was too high and its spray was reaching the climb.

This fall, I returned to the valley with magic line as my primary objective. My first day I had a solo session toprope soloing on it, then the next day I decided to give a lead try, and somehow I sent it! It felt very flowy but insecure on the send go — I was executing the moves well, but I was very pumped and every foot placement felt like it was going to slip. I was confident I’d fall almost until the moment I clipped the chains!

Claudia Ghisolfi has spent two weeks in La Ramirole where she in the last few days sent Agressif you want (8c) and Spanish Caravan (8c). "For me 8c is ok. Definitely, I prefer Aggressif than Spanish. This last one is too long. My legs hurt now. Ok, the moves are not that hard and you can rest everywhere but mentally, it is not easy. Maybe next year I'll train my legs too before coming in la ramirole!" (c) Laura Rogora

Can you tell us more about the trip?
It rained a lot these days but fortunately, I did several routes and my boyfriend, Alessio Voghera, who is not a professional climber, could climb his first 8c+ la flute en chantier. 😊 can't be happier about this trip!

Austin Hoyt, who last week did the FA of Mr.Nobody (8B+), has done the FA of The Big Bad Wolf (8C) in Gunks (NY). "Wow! I can't believe it went down today. I was so nervous all of last night that I almost bailed. When Adam first FAd the stand, "Three Little Pigs (8A+), it felt impossible. I spent four days just trying the crux move never doing it. Fast-forward to this year, we went out to try the low moves, and somehow in 90 degrees, I did them all. While it felt good, linking any together felt nearly impossible and I had only done the actual crux of the stand for the first time that day. After another two sessions, I finally sent the v12 stand and got right to work on the low moves again. It took another six days to iron out all my beta and feel prepared enough for send goes. Finally, on sessions eight, all the pieces fell into place and I took it to the top. To me it feels like v13 (8A+) into the v12 stand. Regardless of the math side of things, it feels like the hardest thing I've done and one of the coolest! All in all, it took me about 15 days in total I think! Unbelievably psyched." (c) Siri Siharath

Owen Whaley has completed Grand Illusion (8C+) in Little Cottonwood. Nathaniel Coleman put up the 25 moves roof climbing and also 9a+/b has been suggested for it, as it takes some two minutes to climb.

"This line has been at the top of my list since the first time I laid eyes on it. Perfect granite tufas, pinches, and crimps all the way from the bottom. I've been improving on the different sections through the seasons and started feeling really psyched last Spring when we dug out the boulder from under the snow and I started refining the 8B section. All summer I focused on power endurance, always with GI in the back of my mind. A few weeks ago I flowed the "Slug Link" and knew it was game on. I started getting closer from the ground every session, a type of linear progress I've never really experienced.

All I remember from the send was doing the 8A+ moves and noticing that it was raining much harder than it had been all night, I felt in control all the way to the lip but then slightly panicked because of how slippery it was. Luckily we put a kneepad over the crucial hold. Doing it on Instagram Live was super special, shoutout to the boys. It's almost bittersweet, so many good laughs with so many different people. One I will always remember."

Thilo Schröter, who over ten days in August, sent five boulders 8B+ or 8C, reports on Instagram that he has made the FA of Tsunami (8C+) in Lofoten. It is almost ten meters high with the crux at four meters.

"This is the boulder I’ve invested the most passion into, ever. It’s also one of the most beautiful and perfect lines I have seen. The difficulty and challenge it presented was exactly what I was looking for. Too good to be true type shit.

The day I sent was another one of those classic Lofoten days with constant showers. I was certain that I wouldn’t be able to give proper attempts, and in my mind I was just having another training session. All of a sudden a strong wind picked up. After a while the rock on the ground which I used as a reference for how wet the top would be, started to look relatively dry. I saw a slight opportunity, and started giving goes. Every go felt better than the last, and on my third attempt of the day I stuck the crux move! Psyched out of my mind I found myself standing on the ledge at the bottom of the slab, which was still a little humid. After waiting for at least a minute to get rid of the shakiness, I turned my focus back up to max, and started questing up to the top. It went smoothly. I took a minute to soak up the moment overlooking the rugged landscape, before I realised that another storm was charging in over the fjords. While rappelling down it started raining again. I stood on the pads looking at the boulder in disbelief - timing couldn’t have been any better."

Tim Würthner, with seven 8B+’ under his belt, has repeated Michael Piccolruaz’ La grosse Tarlouze (8C) in Magic Wood. The 22-year-old is also a competition climber who this spring was #5 in a Euro Cup.

Can you tell us more about doing your first 8C?
First of all La grosse tarlouze consists of three sections: you do the whole The Never Ending Story (8B+) which consists of two parts (they are considered two boulders themself and are 8A+ and 8A). For me, the first part (8A+ of about 13 moves) never felt that difficult when I had worked my beta well. It just gets you a bit exhausted for the second, more max power intens part. Coming through this without being to tired is the key to do the full line. At the last section you first traverse on a rail to the left, those moves aren’t too difficult. Then you enter a small rest on a slopy jug before the last crux, which mainly consists of a dropdown move to two slopers.

It’s the longest I ever projected a boulder. Previously I never had the patience to work on something over a longer time but rather wanted to do stuff really quickly, probably within just one trip of a few days. However, I always felt like I wanted to see how far I would progress on a boulder if I tried it for a longer time. Initially I aimed to work and do the boulder this spring/summer, but in the end I had quite many competitions until the Worldcup in Innsbruck in july. At that point I was quite exhausted (physically and mentally) from the season and took some rest. However I also had two important comps coming up in september and thought preparing for those and sending the project would be too much, so I went just for working on it at first. In august I had some rather rough sessions on it because it was to warm.

However, I surprised myself with all of a sudden making it to the last crux at the first proper sending try, as soon as I was there in cooler temps in september. In this moment I realized with some work on it I could already have the capability for it this season and commited to it. I drove to magic wood a few more times to give send goes and at the end of september I finally had the level to climb it. All in all, from first trying never ending story about five years ago, I spend 19 sessions on it, 13 of those from march till september of this year.

Advertorial: ”The 5th Leonidio Climbing Festival is now an established institution that highlights the unique natural beauties, the rich cultural heritage and the exceptional sports potential of our region", comments the Mayor of South Kynouria, Mr. Emmanuel Dolianitis “This year, with the Leonidio Challenge and the participation of top athletes such as Neil Gresham and Nina Caprez, the festival is being upgraded to an international event that will attract the interest of the global climbing community. We warmly invite all lovers of climbing, nature and culture to honor us with their presence in this unique celebration that combines sports with tradition and ecological sensitivity."

Leonidio Challenge - A Unique Climbing Marathon
This year, the Leonidio Climbing Festival is offering participants the opportunity to take part in the Leonidio Challenge, a climbing marathon open to climbers of all levels, which will take place on the most beautiful and scenic cliffs in the area. In support of the event, participants will be able to use maps and detailed topos provided by our long-standing partner, Vertical Life. There are many valuable prizes on offer. The minimum requirement to be included in the ranking is to have climbed a total of 250 metres on the crags listed in the APP.

Music Concert
On Saturday night at 21:00, Bliss, a band formed in 2000 in Athens, will close the evening with an exciting concert. The trio, who released their first demo "Bodycode" in 2002, have traveled a long path of musical evolution. After years of live performances and intensive rehearsals, during which the band deeply explored their sound and musical style, in 2011 they released their first album entitled "Gabbatha". The music of The Bliss is characterized as modern alternative progressive rock / metal, with strong influences from the grunge scene of Seattle and elements from Greek traditional music, promising a unique musical experience for the festival participants.

For detailed information, the full program and online registration, visit the official website of the festival: Climbinleonidio