Leo Vail has, after 19 sessions, completed Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup. Since May 2023, the 25-year-old climber from Marseille has been based in Paris for a route-setting academy. After over a year away from the cliffs, he relocated to Nice two months ago. Passionate and more motivated than ever, he started his big 9a project although having just done one 8c. (c) Nicolas Vaillant

“I did my first 8c before my year in Paris. I shared my climbing time between Fontainebleau and training indoors. It was a good opportunity to progress. I felt stronger when I came back, so I decided to work a big big project. TTT was a dream line near house and in my perfect style. It was the first time I worked I route as this. I didn't expect it to happen like this.”

Paul Zauner has, after some 50 sessions, done Hades (9a) in Götterwandl. In 2020 he logged it as a project in his scorecard and commented, ”Life goal to climb this route. Moves are pretty doable but there are no good rests and its damn overhanging.” (c) Luigi Dellarole

Can you tell us more sending your ”life goal” route?
I actually got a lot to tell😁 For most people this is just another young dude who sends another randome 9a, for me it means that i accomplish my main life goal.

Climbing 9a was obviously always a dream but it felt so far away that I never thought its even possible for someone like me. The first time I stumbled across Hades was when I was 16 and my incredible strong friend Gundi climbed this route. I have never been at the crag before but from that day on I was very curious about the "Götterwandl" (Gods-wall).

Beeing 19 years old, I moved to Innsbruck, which is just an hour drive away from Hades and has one of the best Gyms in the world. After doing most of the classics I couldn't hold myself back and gave Hades a try. This was 4 years ago and I could surprisingly do almost all the single moves. That day I fell in love. I was by far not strong enough but the sequences are so enjoyable that I came back over and over again.

As said, the single moves are not the problem but it's consistent ~30° overhanging and there are a lot of hard moves without a rest. The route starts with some physical ~8a+ meters into a rest which is not really a rest but we call it like that because you can clip a draw and chalk up😅 Then you go straight into a 10 move 7C/+ boulder problem with the hardest move at the end so you want to arrive there with no pump whatsoever...

The first time that I arrived at this last heartbreaking move was last spring and I was so surprised getting there that I forgot what to do. Getting there and sticking the move is a whole different story tho, a year ago I sometimes couldn't even do the single move isolated.
This year, for the first time in my life a started with some training as my roommate luckily forced me to go on the spray wall with him once a week. This really helped me to build the missing body tension and I started feeling stronger than ever. About a month ago I felt ready to send bodywise. I knew its possible if the perfect conditions arrive. I just needed to be prepared at every time! I checked the forecast multiple times a day, hoping for temperatures between 13-15° and humidity under 50%, finally last sunday looked promising!

I already knew it a week before and tried to be as ready as possible, making sure to have a climbing partner, doing rest days, getting sleep, eating well, not hurting myself.

It rained a lot the days before and I was worried of some holds getting wet but everything was just perfect. I did my warm up routes as always, and got super psyched while two friends tried the route too. Then it was my time to climb, I knew I had possibly two tries this day if I fell early but i wanted to have it done. I felt ready and you only get condis like this a few days a year. After around 50 sessions I had the moves dialed I just needed to do them without the tiniest mistake. The crux felt so solid, arriving at that last hard move i knew I could do it, that was the best feeling.

For the first time in a hundred tries I felt strong enough to dominate the route. There are still some sketchy dynamic moves and a slab with tiny crimps at the end but I knew I could do it. My mind was going crazy at this last few meters, it just felt sureal to be up there without a fall, after so many days coming here, only trying this one route... doing the last moves in disbelief, trying to focus as u can definitely still mess it up! No idea what to do now, having my life goal done at age 23...😂 onto the next one I guess.

Leo Bøe, who did his first, out of 13, 9a’s last year, has sent Change P1 (9a+) in Flatanger. (c) Adri Martinez

”Double send with Josh and good support from the team! Took me around 5-6 days and done just before the end of the trip. I can’t believe that Change is possible for me! Next year we will try the full line!! The grading is difficult, the boulder either suits you or not. For me it suited well, but still super hard from the start. Low end 9a+ could seem right for me personally.”

Loic Zehani, who earlier in 2024 has sent 15 routes 9a to 9b, has done the FA of Taille Land (9a) in Baume canouille. ”Nice ultra physical route bolted by François. About thirty moves in big overhang and rather homogeneous with two harder sections. I fell about eight times at the top with a very bad and hard méthod, to redpoint directly with a méthod found by my father just before. So a dozen attempts instead of four!”

Marco Sappa, who this summer sent the mixed Sans liberty (8b+) at 3,800 m on Mont Blanc, has completed the third ascent of Tom Randall's La Pura Pura (8c) in Valle dell'Orco. The hybrid route begins with a 15 m 8a traverse, leading into the classic Greenspit (8b). Like the second ascensionist Pete Whittaker, Sappa’s personal grade is hard 8c.

”The first day of trying was the 10 September, I immediately remembered the complex movements of Greenspit. I had to really focus on the boulder traverse and the transition between the boulder and the cave, in which you had to be able to rest a bit and collect the friends needed for the second part.

It took me 7 days of hard work to figure it out and to be able to arrive at the last crux of Greenspit with enough energy to crush it! Pura Pura, it's a crazy endurance test piece, a really Pure line. My journey under that impressive roof is now over☺️! Grateful for how these kinds of climbs and performances keep me motivated, and with passion, effort and determination could fit in my life as a father, husband, alpine guide and Professional Climber.”

Matteo Gambaro, who sent his sixth 9a two years ago at age 47, has completed Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
I've been trying it for a while... a few times over the years but never with continuity and without ever understanding much about it. Last spring I spent several days on the route managing to find a good setting for my characteristics and solve the crux section with a hybrid method between the male solution, definetly too physical for me, usually used, and that of women or mutant kids, too compact for me..

I managed to break the line with a rest but at the beginning of the crux section and the goal remained far away. In August a bad back injury and no autumn season but a long period of pain, fatigue and struggle to recover above all the possibility to climb on such overhanging routes and with the use of the controversial kneepads. At the end of August, after having recovered and climbed some routes and considering myself now healed, I decide to try again. After two days on the route to regain the feeling and re-internalize the sections, unexpectedly I manage to improve and for the first time I feel close to the climb. I decide to try it continuously but I realize that at my age and with my current level I have to learn to manage myself and not try too hard... I risk overtraining quickly or worse, breaking down. So I dedicate one day every 4-5 to the route and gnaw at holds until I always fall in the final two moves. Something always happens..too dry, too wet, no wind, too tired... Too poor

The rains are starting to be frequent and the route risks getting wet and goodbye season. Let's try again, let's take it as training. Yesterday everything finally went as I repeated in my mind every evening and every time I went over the route again and was convinced to climb it. At 50 years old in a month the game remains the same, but managing the body and mind is becoming more and more interesting😵‍💫.

Ludo Delmotte has repeated Alban Levier’s La force (8C+) in Fontainebleau. Since the climb consists of approximately 35 moves, both 9a and 8C have been proposed as possible grades. In Fontainebleau, a unique intermediate traverse grade is sometimes used, and this is how it is reported in the news. VL attempts to distinguish traverse gradings by using the term 8Cc+.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
This line is composed of “Act 1” (8A) followed by an upside down rest, then the hardest part “Act 2”(8B) and finished by “Morpheus” (7C).

Four years ago, when I did “Quoi de Neuf” (same beginning but ending up on the right) the left exit (La Force) seemed impossible to me.

Two years ago, I finally started working on “La force” but did not try it in 2023. This year I came back into it. I did 4 sessions of only trying the moves. Then I started “sending session” and I did it at the 2nd try. In total I did Morpheus more than 50 times for training. It tooks me 17 sessions and I fell in the final section (morpheus) 5 times.

For me, it is the most beautiful roof in the world. Right next to where I grew up.

All the climbers who made the podium timed out, but Jessica Pilz reached two, and three, holds higher than Ai Mori and Annie Sanders, respectively. Pilz needed to finish at least second in Seoul to secure the overall title ahead of Janja Garnbret, who had won all three events she participated in during 2024.

“It was quite a long route so I knew I had to be fast. It was kind of part of the game on this route. I really didn’t expect it. I think it’s only my third World Cup gold medal so I’m quite happy, and what an end to the season.”

Last year, Sorato Anraku claimed victory in both Lead and Boulder at the overall World Cup. Three days ago, he secured the Boulder title once again, and today, he triumphed in the Lead event in Seoul, edging out Lee Dohyun on countback from the semifinal. Team Japan dominated, with nine climbers finishing in the Top 12.

”I’m just happy to get a gold medal this year, finally. This competition Toby [Roberts] didn’t compete, so I am happy now, but I have to train more for next year. I want to beat Toby. His concentration is so high.”