The Hatchling (8A) is one of the iconic boulders in Rocklands with over 200 logged ascents. In the picture by Kevin McNally, Michaela Kiersch is flashing it. The second picture, from Daniel Gajda, shows that is has fallen down to the ground and Eric Jerome comments;

”No one can say for sure whether The Hatchling was blown over by wind or other natural occurrences or if it was rocked too hard and toppled over by a human. What we do know is that climbers have been rocking it back and forth for over a decade which has contributed to its instability and eroded the base. That in conjunction with record rains and lots of wind this year likely led to its demise. There are now a few very easy problems that we climbed on what remains.”

Alex Ventajas, with two 9a+' under his belt, has had some good days in Gravere where he first flashed L'Extremacura (8c) and later redpointed TCT (9a). (c) Nicolò Conterno/Crimp Films

Can you tell us more about those two ascents?
Gravere is a small and peaceful sector near Turin. I have heard of it because TCT, the line dedicated to Tito Traversa, is a famous route in Italy and I was curious to try it. Even if it’s quite an old-school style, with some chipped and sika-holds, the routes have great aesthetic movements and I really enjoyed them!

L’Extremacura, it’s power-endurance route on crimps and two finger pockets on an overhanging wall. It fits my style and has no hard-to-read boulder, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it flash!

TCT represents the connection between L’Extremacura and the upper and hardest part of “Base Jump” 8b+, with a bad rest in between. There aren’t any extremely hard crux, but the line remains quite intense from the beginning till the end, so you need to climb perfectly the 8c, without wasting too much energy, to keep endurance enough to climb the second part.

How did you prepare yourself for the 8c flash?
This time everything was kind of improvised! I haven’t planned to try the 8c flash. I watched some videos of TCT on the road and, when we arrived there, I was lucky to find my friend Luca Casadei, who motivated me to try “L’extramacura” flash. I reviewed the sequences from the ground with him and then I started climbing. I had very good feelings going up and the more I climbed, the more motivated and confident I became to reach the top! Luca kept telling me the moves and everything went perfectly!

In February, Adam Ondra sent Narcissus (9a), which was his #212 9a and harder. He onsighted the first half, Kalmia-moci (8b+), going straight up and then he rappelled down and actually did the 9a extension on his first go. "Amazing line by Matteo Gambaro. Me and Seb [Bouin] we both used kneepads and took kind of different direction/beta on the very top (what we believe is more intuitive) which makes it much easier. and I think it could be soft 9a like this. The way Matteo did it is much harder and could be even 9a+?"

Max Milne, who started the World Cup season by beeing #9 & #8 in Lead and Boulder, has flashed Bewilderness (8B+) in Peak District. In total, only a dozen climbers have previously flashed 8B+ including Will Bosi who was at the scene giving him the beta as well as cleaning the holds on the top.

“It was quite surreal. I obviously knew i could do it but i'm really chuffed and it was cool that I had to fight. On this one [Bewilderness], a lot of the moves felt fairly at my limit so I had to lock in to get it done. I am proud to have said I was going to do it and then back up what I said with my actions.

I have looked up to Will for many years and we know each other fairly well but for me it is always super special to climb with him as it’s not that often we do get to train or climb on rock together. I have looked up to him for many years ever since I was a kid and I still do now too. So it was quite magical to have him there and help me through the whole process of flashing Bewilderness from the beta, spotting, encouragement and the good vibes. For me one of the best parts of flashing a bloc isn’t just the challenge itself but is the fact that it’s not just you”.

Max warmed up climbing on Badger Badger Badger (8A) which was a perfect warm-up for him as moves are very comp-style with a bit of spice at the top to jump to the good hold and then as me, Will and photographer Jake were grabbing photos elsewhere Max slowly got himself into the headspace for the flash.

The 'lock in' scribbled on his hiangles is a cool story. It is a meme online but Max jokingly put it on his shoes as a nudge to focus and now it is a key part of his routine for comps and he brought it to the flash attempt at Badger.

Janja Garnbret talks about her climbing background, being a women competing and her mindset going in to Paris, in three different videos.

Alexander Feichter has done the FA of The Darkness (9a) in Drittlsond, which is an easier variation of The Lord of Darkness (9b) he did in 2022, but which has not been reported. "Crazy powerful Line! Starting with a really nice crack continuing with the big roof of the Witch!"

What is interesting is that Alexander often projects his routes rope solo and actually often also sends them in this style. "I'm doing it because it makes fun and I really like climbing when my head says let's go. If not every time someone has time to belay you can climb and be safe. Also in the mountains, it is useful if some crux sections are and you need to belay if you are alone. Maybe well known by alpinists. Most of the time I get belayed by others. On big projects sometimes you are alone."

What kind of rope solo system do you use?
You make a fixed point in the other end of the rope and fix it in the first bolt in the bottom. Then you make 2-3 fixed knots in karabiners which you wear on a climbing harness and hang them in the boltes. The distances you have to calculate before or testing it. You can combine it with the Grigri, for the upper part, you can really quickly climb. Demonstrating Vimeo video.

Paige Claassen, with five 9a’s under her belt, has done Black Shadow (8A+) and Mooiste Meisie (8B) in Rocklands. "Choses the straight up original beta - suits me better and makes for a better climb imo. Crux move is maybe coolest move I've ever done. Stellar piece of rock, so much tension required for every single move."

Can you tell us more about your trip and the ascents?
I started the trip with no real vision and a bit lost in what I wanted to project. These are both Rocklands classics and seemed like reasonable choices on a trip with loads of rain and a toddler. In previous years, I had made half hearted efforts at pulling onto Mooiste when passing by. This year, we ended up there again on the way to Olifants Dawn and I figured I’d actually give it a go. All the moves felt reasonable, so I committed a few days worth of efforts. Each day I had a different crux - one day I couldn’t do the early toe release, one day I couldn’t do the middle move to the ear, it changed each day. Once I got close on day 3, things got a bit too serious with timing my rest between attempts. On day 5 I came back after a week of rest and aimed for a more chill atmosphere, with some bantering. That was the ticket, and it came together quickly that day.

Black Shadow is easy to access, so my daughter could join for those sessions and play in the sand. Again, the moves all felt reasonable, I just needed to link them together. I fell off the top a few times before refining beta to a less powerful method.

The sends felt satisfying, as I didn’t feel in the best condition this year due to elbow tendinitis. But there is never much time to celebrate, because as soon as I come down my daughter wants me to join in the sand digging mission, so mentally I move on quite quickly. I always find the most satisfaction looking back on my achievements after a few months distance. That’s when I feel proud of what I have accomplished, whereas in the moment it is more of a fleeting and slightly uneventful thing.

Jonathan Siegrist has onsighted Fuckin' Sphinxus in Ten Sleep Canyon (WY) and Hellbound (8b+), as well as flashed No Country for Old Men (8c) in Strawberry Roan. In total, the 38-year-old has onsighted twelve 8b+’, out of which half the last 15 months, and he is runner-up, after Adam Ondra, in the VL onsight ranking game. (c) Nate Liles

How have you been able to step up your onsight game lately?
To be honest I was never very good at this style (mainly a redpoint climber and never really did competition). But I practiced a lot when I was in France last year. And really the main step for me was just to try onsighting more - to make it also a priority some days. Like anything else you can’t get better at it unless you try. I’m starting to enjoy it a lot more now and actually find a nice flow when onsighting. Before it always felt so awkward and I was climbing with too much hesitation.

I really like flash climbing because it’s easier to find a nice flow with some information but for sure onsighting is a bigger challenge. I hope I can keep improving in this style but it’s hard! It also makes a crag with lower grades suddenly really exciting to go and try your best at. It would be fun to do a whole trip only for onsighting.

Mary Eden sent Necronomicon 8b (+) in 2022 and here is part of what she said. "The challenging roof crack has a 12 ft crux of WC friend .75s surrounded by fists, baggy hands, hands, and thin hand sizes. Necronomicon’s slash grade of 8b/8b+ comes from whether or not the climber can thin-hand or hand jam the crux section of .75s. If the climber can get thin hands or hand jams in the .75 section, then the grade is 8b. If they have thick palms and have to ring lock, paddle hand, or finger bar the crux, the grade is 8b+. "

Maël Musson, who did his first 9a last year at age 17, has repeated Seb Bouin's Little Badder (9a) in Flatanger. (c) Christelle Lafont

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Little Badder is a 55m route that can be split into 3 parts. The first is a 25m 8b approach to a big rest. It's from here that the route really begins, with a series of 3 cruxes. The first is the most unpleasant of the route: a 6C+ boulder crack, not very hard but very painful to climb with very bad feet. From there, we move straight on to the hardest crux of the route: a 7B+ boulder with lots of small, important wedges. We then relax a little on one knee before arriving on the last crux. This is the most physical part of the route, with great movement and swinging on good holds. All that remains is a 10m 7c in a ceiling to reach the belay.

Originally, my trip to Flatanger was intended to try Thor's hamer, another 9a in the cave, for a month. But when I arrived, I couldn't resist starting on some of the easier 8b/c routes, which seemed so incredible. After ten days, I decided it was time for a more serious project and, without really knowing why, I went for Little Badder instead of Thor's Hamer. On my third day on the route I managed to link up the whole end, so all I had to do was add the 8b approach.

During the next 3 sessions I fell into the main crux and almost abandoned the route after falling once into the first small crack crux (which is very frustrating knowing that you already have to climb 30m of 8b and change rope in the middle to avoid the pull). But by persisting, the crux finally passed. It was very motivating for the rest of the process, but the route wasn't finished yet. It took me another 4 days to get through the last physical section to the top.