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

Laura Rogora, the double Euro Champion six weeks ago, has had some great days in Verdon, onsighting Spanish Caravan (8c), flashing Le feu occulte (8b+) and Agressif you want (8c), as well as redpointing La flûte en chantier (8c+). (c) Claudia Ghisolfi

How close were you to fall on the onsight and the flashes?
At the beginning I made a few mistakes and suffered a bit on the start but fortunately then there where a lot of kneebar where I can rest. On the upper part I couldn’t figure out the best beta and I risked to fall several times. It was a 45 min long batte and in the end my calfs where totally destroyed😛.

The 8c flash was quite at my limit, there where e few wet holds so I had to give my best. The 8b+ was more under control because it was longer so the single moves where easier.

Evan Hau, who the last seven years has bolted and sent six routes 9a or 9a+, has done the FA of Queen Bee Direct (9a) in Coliseum. ”One of the original mega projects envisioned by Matt Pieterson at the Coliseum. I've been trying this route off and on since 2015. At that time I walked away from the direct start thinking it was too hard and ended up climbing a linkup variation also bolted by Matt Pieterson which ended up being Queen Bee 8c. I revisited the direct start in 2020 after doing Sacrifice and was able to do all of the individual moves but difficult conditions made it hard to get quality time on the route. Finally this year I tried to focus in on sending it. I thought I could do it in April this year, it ended up taking until October but I'm happy I got it done. Had some last day vibes and pressure today as we fly to Spain tomorrow. I think the grade is 9a/+.”

Can you tell us more about the long process behind and the number of sessions?
I had a lot of sessions on Queen Bee Direct over the years, over 50 easily. I don't keep count when it gets that high.

I had come close a few times about a month ago but couldn't get it done between mental mistakes, deteriorating conditions, foot slips. It was mostly about staying focused and keeping the psych alive to believe I could still get it done. I trained hard for this route all last winter, mostly circuits replicating crux sections, because I thought I could send in the spring but through the summer I mostly just climbed outside.

What is the plan in Spain?
In Spain we are going to hope for good conditions in Rodellar and my plan is to work on No pain no gain (9a+).

Nicholas Allan, 17, sent Khoikhoi (8C) in August. ”I first tried Khoikhoi in march and was immediately psyched on it. I wasn’t able to try it as much as I wanted because it’s very condition dependent but always had it in the back of my mind. The weather was never good and I wasn’t able to give it any close ground burns until my 6th session where I dropped the top several times. Went back the next day and managed to send it second go from the bottom. One of the best boulders I’ve done and so psyched for it to be my first 8C!”

David Bermudez Carbonell has ticked Seta total (9a) in Cuenca after some ten sessions. Two years ago, the 15-year-old had 8b as his personal best and now he has done 37 routes 8b+ to 9a. "Very proud of sending this 30m endurance testpiece. I started trying this route after the summer but I was not in good shape and I didn't have enough strength to do the lower part, which is the hardest." (c) Javi Pec

What is coming up next?
I'm not really sure but probably try some harder routes here in Cuenca. Also, I would like to go back to Cuenca and start projecting a route that I finished bolting which could be around 9a+.

Can you tell us more about your first bolting experience?
Bolting is an awesome experience. Every climber should try to bolt a route at least once. I like to create a route of a line that I saw there when I was younger. Bolting is a tough activity, especially in Cuenca where there's no high-quality rock and you must clean a lot. It is around 28 meters and is around 35 degrees steep, with 9 bolts plus the anchor. It has very aggressive moves with very poor footholds. The route has not chipped holds.