Stefano Carnati, with seven 9a+ and beyond under his belt, has completed Change P1 (9a+) in Flatanger. This is the first pitch of Adam Ondra’s 55 meter long Change (9b+), established in 2012 as the first 9b+ in the world.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I arrived in Flatanger on August 1st, with only two weeks to climb, and decided to focus on this line since practicing the initial part went smoothly. Having already climbed most of the 9a routes in the cave, this was the only one that seemed feasible given the humid conditions we faced during the first days.

The brutal crux took me five days to figure out efficiently, but on the sixth day, I finally managed to link it from the ground! Although my time here is running out, I’m determined to return someday to put in more effort and complete the entire line.

Alma Bestvater, with ten 8A+' under her belt, has sent four 8A’s in Silvretta; Shining (8A), British Airways (8A) (pictured), Welcome to Jamrock Stand right (8A) and Diamond Nuts (8A).

The 28-year-old climber has been competing in World Cup events since 2013, achieving her best results in 2018 with 5th and 6th place finishes. After suffering a severe shoulder injury in 2022, she took a break from competitions. However, she made a strong comeback in 2024, with her lowest finish across three World Cups being 22nd place.

Can you tell us more about your great trip to Silvretta?

My trip to Silvretta was quite spontaneous, largely because I’ve been focusing more on comps this year. It had been quite a while since I last visited Silvretta, so I was excited to return and see how I would perform on some old projects. On the first few days, I decided to attempt two of my previous projects: British Airways and Diamond Nuts. To my surprise, I was able to climb both of them relatively quickly. This was especially meaningful because the last time I tried these climbs was before my shoulder surgeries.

This time, I felt stronger and fitter, moving through the sequences with a newfound confidence. The feeling of sending these boulders after such a difficult period of recovery was incredibly fulfilling.

What made this trip particularly special was the realization that I didn’t just feel as strong as I was before my injuries—I actually felt stronger. This was a huge milestone for me, especially considering it has taken almost two years to reach this point after my last shoulder surgery. It’s something that makes me really proud.

Encouraged by these successes, I decided to try something new: flashing an 8A boulder. I’d never seriously attempted to flash a boulder of that grade before, and I chose Shining as my challenge

The attempt was incredibly close—I almost succeeded on my first try, but in the end, I managed to send it on the second attempt. Although it would have been amazing to flash it, I’m still thrilled with the result.

This trip to Silvretta wasn’t just about ticking off projects or chasing grades; it was more about taking a break from competition training and recognizing the progress I’ve made since my injuries and I’m eager to get back to Silvretta and continue pushing my limits.

Simon Lorenzi made the FA of Soudain seul (9A) in 2021 after 25 session, including just two sessions on the standing start, The Big Island (8C). In the end, he needed to put a book under his knee pad in order to improve a knee bar. Here is how he answered our questions after the FA.

How hard do you think both parts are individually?
For me, it is a hard 8B (like harder than all the 8B I did) into a hard 8B+. But it's weird because this first part is so conditioned dependant. With 12°c it felt way harder than the second part and then if it's between 0 and 5°c it feels like 8B.

How good is the hold in between? Can you chalk there or somewhere?
All the way to the top without chalking up :) So just chalk up once before climbing. The end is complicated on the slopers.

Did you make a replica or just train at the site? What was the key for eventually taking it down?
Training at the site mostly because it's tricky and if I don't try it for a week I lose the feeling. Good short résistance and optimise every detail to spend less energy.

Did you have to use any special tricks being just 168 cm tall, beside your +8 cm ape index?
1: Using stiff shoes instead of soft shoes to put more pressure into the kneebar.
2: Using a stiff kneepad with something under (I first tried with old chunks of wood).
3: Stretch my upper body to gain mobility. Like that, I improved my arm reach a bit.
4: Using a different beta for the crux of the stand start.

Pepa Šindel, who did his first 9a+ at age 14, has sent Pornographie (9a) in Céüse. "Low percentage move to a 2 finger pocket than an endurance finish. Done without knee pad and at 34°C ☠️"

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The main goal of my stay in Céüse was the legendary Biographie 9a+, but than I changed my mind at the last moment and tried Pornographie 9a. It is a 20-meter power-endurance line on small crimps. The main difficulties lie in the difficult intro, hard crux where it is very difficult to stick a low percentage move to a two-finger pocket. This is followed by rest and an endurance finish. The whole time it was terribly hot in France, every day the temperatures exceeded 33°C and the micro crimps just do not stick in such conditions... Last week I fought for a send every single try and fell after the crux due to a lack of endurance or often due to a fatal mistake. That's why I'm glad that I was able to climb the route even in such weather.

Everybody knows the feeling of not knowing how to solve a crux, and good beta saves the day. This is why we’re excited to launch Beta Videos on Vertical-Life web!

What's New?

• Beta Videos: Easily upload and share your climbing beta videos to help others in the community. Whether you're working on a new project or want to offer insights, Beta Videos are a great way to share and find beta.
• Unified Photo Gallery: Now you can upload photos both on the web, and in the Vertical-Life app (when adding ascents), providing a seamless experience across platforms. Share your climbing moments and discoveries effortlessly.

Go to the Beta Videos section, upload your video and tag the route or boulder. You can add a description to provide context and details, and you can be certain that you’re eventually going to help someone send :)

Upload your favorite beta video here

The point scoring system in Paris, including the two zones in Boulder, proved to be both easy to understand and fair. The best overall Boulder & Lead climbers ultimately secured the medals. The scoring at the Tokyo Olympics involved multiplying the results of the three disciplines, which heavily favoured winning a single discipline over consistently strong performances across all disciplines. It's likely that in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, there will be three separate sets of medals. Here’s how the medalists would have been determined in 2024 using both the Tokyo and LA scoring systems.

Tokyo multiplication scoring if used in Paris
1. Janja Garnbret 3 - Sorato Anraku 5
2. Ai Mori 7 - Adam Ondra 7
3. Brooke Raboutou 10 - Jakob Schubert 10

Los Angeles three sets of medals if used in Paris
Boulder
1. Janja Garnbret - Sorato Anraku
2. Brooke Raboutou - Colin Duffy
3. Oceania Mackenzie - Toby Roberts

Lead
1. Ai Mori - Adam Ondra
2. Jessica Pilz - Jakob Schubert
3. Janja Garnbret - Alberto Gines Lopez

In front of 7000 screaming spectators, Janja Garnbret secured her second Olympic gold and started crying. Before the competition, she had said that the pressure would be lower in Paris, as she had already won in Tokyo, but this was possibly her biggest emotional reaction to winning a competition. Also, runner-up Brooke Raboutou and the bronze medalist Jessica Pilz were crying and the atmosphere in the arena was truly electric. It must be said that the Olympic climbing has been an amazing success throughout the competition with great route setting and scoring system, and also thanks to the loudly cheering spectators.

Sorato Anraku was last out in the Lead final with Toby Roberts sitting in the gold chair. The 17-year-old hesitated a bit also in the 360-rotating campus move facing the spectators. Fighting his way up securing first the bronze and then the silver, he fell three moves below what was needed.

The camera focuses Toby who does not understand what has happened but as his team, including his father, is screaming and jumping he realizes he got the Olympic gold. All the 7,000 spectators were cheering for him and the event was yet another success for competition climbing and IFSC. Noteworthy is also that Adam Ondra was tied for #1 in Lead, together with Jakob Schubert, in possibly his last international competition ever. Schubert got the bronze overall as he also did in Tokyo.

Noé Looser, who last year won the European Youth Lead Championship, has done Erntezeit (8c) in Vorarlberg. The 17-year-old started climbing at age 9 and two years later she did her first 8b followed by an 8c at age 13. "I had much fun and climbing outdoors is good for me to keep my motivation high for the next competitions and the training indoors. It's a route with two boulders and a rest position between these boulders. It was uncomfortable and hard to clip the top."

What is your next plan?
My plan for 2024 is to compete in China at the Youth World Championships in bouldering and lead, the European Youth Championships, and the Swiss Championship in lead.

Piotr Oleszczuk, who two weeks ago flashed two 8B’s in Rocklands, has done Spray of Light (8C). ”My first 8C, still can’t believe it happened. I had to come up with a completely new technical beta for the second part since I struggled with the toe hook switch and releasing the toe with my foot in my face, being almost 190 cm tall. It took me 5 sessions.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
First of all, I'm soo happy to finally achieve a goal I've been working towards for the past year. Over the last two years, I've built a solid pyramid, sending eight 8B+ problems, so topping it off with an 8C feels like a perfect reward :). I'm particularly proud that it took me less than four years to progress from my first 8A to sending my first 8C.

I arrived in Rocklands with a plan to try an 8C boulder, feeling pretty strong despite some finger issues just before the trip. My initial goal was to try Monkey Wedding, which Piotrek Schab sent last year. Unfortunately, I found it particularly difficult because it was very bunchy and small-box oriented, and I'm not exactly the smallest climber o ut there. I gave up on that pretty quickly and decided to focus on Spray, which seemed more suited to my style.

As for the boulder itself, it took me five sessions to complete. I managed to do all the individual moves in the first session, but I had to figure out my own beta for almost every move, as I might be a bit too tall for the original close-toehook switch beta and the final cutloose with a foot in my face. During the next two sessions, I started linking the moves together and completed the whole climb without the first three moves. The third move, involving a very painful finger lock, was especially challenging and left me with open wounds on the tops of my fingers after about ten tries.

Fortunately, everything changed during the fourth session, when I was climbing with Zach and Nathaniel. Having them on the same bloc somehow motivated me to pull harder on the painful crack, which helped me unlock the third move. At that point, I knew the whole boulder was doable and I just had to keep it together and send it with only two climbing days left on the trip.

On the second-to-last day, after two hours of fighting and one fall from a 7A ending, I finally managed to link everything together and send it!