Olympic gold medal winner Toby Roberts won ahead of Sorato Anraku, the silver medalist in Paris. Over the last five Lead World Cups, Toby’s worst result is #4 and he comments;

“The route was really, really tricky. I was a bit nervous especially at the start as there were a few sketchy moves. The start, and the press move I wasn’t really sure about. But my whole goal of the competition was to enjoy it and that was the perfect finish. I gave it my maximum fight on that route, I couldn’t have had any more moves even if I wanted to so I’m really happy I got the most out of myself.”

Lucia Dörffel, who was #16 in the Paris Olympics, has done Father and Son (8c) in Frankenjura.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
It was more of a side project. I came to Frankenjura to just enjoy a few days here because I ended my comp season after Villars. It was really warm and I remembered this route I tried a few years ago. I checked it out one day and could send it the other day just in a few tries. I was happy about the send since I felt really tired after the long season. But Frankenjura is always so lovely for a short vacation.

Talking side project, do you have any big projects this autumn?
Unfortunately not because I’m injured and I need surgery at the beginning of October. I ruptured a ligament in my right foot in April two weeks before the WC in Salt Lake City and the OQs. The compromise was to try to qualify for Paris and get it done afterwards at the end of the season.

How has this affected your climbing this season?
It was challenging. Especially mentally in the beginning because I felt in such good shape and then I had to learn how to land on my foot when falling from boulders and also jumping on my foot. It’s also not that stable and hurts sometimes because my tendon is now sniping over my ankle quite often because the ligaments can’t hold it anymore.

Eva Hammelmüller has over three days in Rofan sent Happiness (8c), and Restless (8b+). (c) Felix Mast

Can you tell us more about the 8c ascent?
Happiness” was established by Markus Haid, and is definitely one of the most beautiful lines in the area. The 40m long route follows a steep, impressive prow that gives you a very exposed feeling while climbing. The crux is powerful as well as delicate, and you really want to make sure to arrive there without being too pumped😅. So glad I could finish this climb within 4 tries!!

Kathy Choong has sent the 300 metres Zahir (8b+) at wendenstöcke, in “eco-point” style reaching the crag by bike, together with Eline Le Menestrel. The 32-year-old is a former competition climber with two 9a’s and several other hard MP’s up to 8b+ under her belt. (c) Julien Nadiras

“What a day! On September 2, we woke up at 3:50 am and started climbing around 6:15 am. I felt fresh in the 2 first pitches (6c, 8a). Then on my 2 first goes in the 3rd pitch (8b+), I fell in the crux section. The sun was already hitting the wall but I knew that it could be my last chance as our trip was coming to an end and the weather looked unstable for the next days, the pressure was on my side. On my 3rd attempt, I gave everything, passed the crux section, fought super hard, climbed the 2nd crux…and fell at the very last move just below the anchor.

I was so disappointed to fall so close to the top and with a fingersplit, the situation looked desperate and very dramatic. But somehow, something clicked in my mind and I knew I could do it, no matter the circumstances! I took a rest and at 12:30 pm I went for a very last go. My fingertip was bleeding (not ideal on those tiny little crimps), I was climbing in full sun but I felt confident. Eline was cheering so much, I felt her energy coming to me, I fought really hard on each move, almost fell again at the same last move but finally sticked the last hold and clipped the chains. I couldn’t believe what just happened. But it was not over, I still had 5 pitches (7c, 7a+, 7a+, 7b, 6c and not the easiest one in term of run-outs) before the top with no more skin nor energy. Fortunately I could send the last pitches and we made it to the top at 6 pm. At 9:50 pm, we were back at the parking lot, exhausted but with a big smile on our face.

Eline also tried really hard, she was close to send the 8a and made promising attempts in the 8b+. She was definitely the best supportive partner I could have wished for, nothing would have been possible without her!”

Alex Megos, who two weeks ago did Change (9b+) in just five sessions, reports on Instagram that he has completed Move (9b) in Flatanger. Megos suggests 9b/+ as also Seb Bouin did, doing the second ascent in 2019. On the same day, Alex also sent Illusionist (9a). (c) Henning Wang

"I climbed both routes with two kneepads and at this point I'd like to give props to @adam.ondra for making the FA's of those routes without kneepads. The actual crux of Move doesn't change for me, but to get to the crux is definitely easier with kneepads. Absolutely inspiring that Adam did the FA more than 10 years ago 🙌🏼. He could have given it 9b+ without kneepads in my opinion."

What was the key for the send and how many sessions were needed?
This took 9 sessions. I had a very good day on the route on day 3, climbing all the hard part, starting almost from the ground. That was a little unexpected but suddenly I knew I could do it. But I also stopped refining my beta for a little bit. I'm the end I think the key to sending was to refine the beta a little more and to learn how to recover on the shake outs.

Simone Tentori, with five 8C’s under his belt, has had a great trip to Rocklands flashing three 8B’s; Quintessential (8B), Monkey Business (8B) and The Arch (8B).

”This time in Rocklands, I spent most of my best days on Finnish Line, one of my dream problems. On the other days, I tried to climb while conserving my skin and avoiding excessive fatigue.

Flashing hard problems has always been one of my favorite climbing approaches, and in the past, I managed to flash almost 40 boulders between 8A and 8A+, but I had never succeeded on an 8B. At the beginning of the trip, my friends decided to go to Quintessential, and I wasn’t sure if I should even try it because it's notoriously sharp. But watching them made me so psyched that I told myself, 'Just one try, why not?' And it turned out to be the right one!

Later in the trip, I managed to climb two more boulders in the 8B range on my flash attempts: Monkey Business and The Arch. They both didn’t feel as solid as Quintessential, but I’m still proud of them. The first one involved a really committing move, and The Arch was a real fight against the pump.”

Jacopo Larcher and Babsi Zangerl have done the first repeats of Alex Luger's seven pitches The Gift (8c) in Rätikon. The 350m route mixes traditional protection on the lower sections, with bolted protection on the crux pitches. Jacopo and Babsi led every pitch during their respective ascents, without falling. All in all, it took them 6 days of work. Regarding multi-pitches and big wall climbing Babsi's resume puts her among the five best climbers in the world. (c) Rene Fischer

Babsi comments; "This summer, we decided to spend time on a project in the Austrian part of the Rätikon, which is conveniently close to us. We rode our e-bikes for 35 minutes in Turbo-mode through Gauertal to Sporaalpe and then hiked for about an hour to the base of the climb. Our goal was "The Gift", a challenging alpine route with seven pitches, first climbed by my brother-in-law, Alex Luger, in 2015. He named it "The Gift" because Pio Jutz started the route but passed it on to Alex, finding it too difficult for himself to finish.

The climb begins with traditional alpine climbing, with the hardest sections in the upper part of the wall. The crux pitch is graded 8c, and the pitch after is 8a+ with a tricky boulder problem. Those two pitches are the hardest of the climb. Jacopo and I had a first taste of the route 3 years ago when we climbed up to the crux pitch and then spent some more days on it this season. On our first day on it this summer, we climbed up to the crux pitch, which was nerve-wracking due to the limited protection in the lower part of the route. The crux pitch is a stunning grey overhanging stripe on perfect limestone. It can’t really get any better! A 5-star line, which offers power-endurance climbing with hard, bouldery sequences. It took us the rest of the day to figure out the different betas and brush all the holds, which get very dirty and slippery after the winter, as the grey stripe is often wet. After a few more days of practice and having checked the last pitches, Jacopo made a successful attempt, leading all the pitches without falling, looking very solid.

I had a different solution for the crux compared to Jacopo and definitely more struggle trouble with a long, reachy move. I needed to spend one extra day in the hope of finding an easier solution. Eventually, I found a small adjustment that helped a bit to make that crux move a bit less risky. After one rest day, despite still feeling tired, I decided to give it a try. We started in the morning but we were waiting for the sun to ease off before I started to climb at 1 p.m. I felt nervous when I reached the crux pitch but somehow managed to save some power for the low percentage crux, reaching the final hold with a big pump. I clipped the anchor and all the pressure fell off my shoulders. I was just happy to have lots of time left and no rush for the last two pitches. Everything came together well and we both stood on top of the wall, which was such a fantastic experience to complete another great project together."

Dylan Chuat completed Beyond in April. "This is one of the 5 most beautiful routes I’ve ever climbed in my life, that’s for sure! I’d never have thought that such a small hold on such a big overhang could work and not even be that extreme! A very smooth approach [intro section] to climb, a first major boulder that finishes by jumping onto a tufa, then a transition to a second huge boulder and all this while finishing on the most beautiful colonette in the south of France, apparently! I think that’s the perfect definition of a king line, right? I’m glad to be back in shape after my operations and to be able to climb routes like this again! Now that the vacations are over, I hope to be able to get back on some really hard routes soon!"