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Christoph Bräuer has repeated Klem Loskot’s Intermezzo XY gelöst (9a) in Plombergstein. ”First 9a. It took me 4 days and I struggled only on the hard second move on the big pinch. Did it today even though some holds were a little wet. About the grade I‘m not sure if it is solid 9a or a little softer but I don‘t have a lot of references. Still happy about it!”

Jana Svecova, with nine 8B boulders and some 8a routes under her belt, has started to project Stefano Ghisolfi’s Excalibur (9b+). After four sessions she has done all but one move. ”I never took rope climbing outdoors as seriously as bouldering but now I’am kinda into it 🫢”

How come you raise the bar all the way up to 9b+ and don’t start with an 8c or so?
Well, as I describe in the video the route is very similar to Terranova (8C+) in many aspects. I just got really psyched for that route after the discussion with Will [Bosi] who is now very close to send the route. So I went to check it out and the moves are super fun to try and actually not even that hard for me to do (some of them are hard for me but I can definitely work on it and still it’s just two or three moves anyway) so I got really psyched after the first trip and if I get back in better conditions I think I might have a chance to do some links. I wasn’t really taking the difficulty as a factor if I should try the route or not I just like the moves and it feels possible and since I am having so much fun projecting it I can’t wait to get back there.

Jules Marchaland, who did three 9a+’ last year, has repeated Chris Sharma’s iconic Three Degrees of Separation (9a+) in Céüse. ”Crazy route, maybe the best I have ever climbed. Took me 6 days and I fell two times at the last dyno…" (c) Marc Daviet

How hard is the start of the route and how hard are the dynos?
I think the first part is like a soft 8c+ , but it depends on your [preferred] style of climbing. After that (for me) the first dyno (with the fews moves before) is around a 7C+ boulder, and then the two next dynos (also with the few moves before) are around 7B boulders.

I felt good on the dynos. I flashed the 2nd and 3rd one and did the first and hard one 2nd go. This route is just crazy, so fun to try.

Tanner Bauer has flashed Quintessential (8B) in Rocklands. The 20-year-old has a very solid bouldering foundation having already flashed six 8A+ graded boulder problems and completed close to 60 8B’s and harder, including one 8C.

”I've been chasing after the infamous 8B flash for around 3 years now. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of good contenders to do so. I've gotten close to achieving this goal before while climbing in Red Rocks and Moe's Valley but was never able to pull it off. Once my trip to Rocklands was confirmed, I knew I would have another good opportunity to try and finish off this goal.

On my very first day of the trip and my first day ever climbing day in Rocklands, I ended up at the Quintessential. I quickly realized that it would be very feasible to flash this boulder because of its easy accessibly. There are a ton of really good warm ups right near it and all the holds are reachable from the ground. Two things that are really important for flashing hard boulders.

I spent about an hour just touching the holds and deciding which beta I was gunna use. The hand moves are extremely straight forward but there are a ton of different foot options. It came down to two main betas that I had to choose from. The first being a more physical method that required more pure strength. The second being a more technical method that required highly specific body positions. I ended up choosing the beta that was physically harder because I didn't want to blow the flash due to a silly mistake. The more physical beta meant I had to pull harder but at the end of the day, I think it was easier to execute due to it lending to more natural body positions.”

Lorenzo Bogliacino, who two months ago did his second 9a+, has completed Moksha (9a). (c) Mattia De Leo

”I went a couple of weekends to Pic St Loup since I wanted to see the crag for a really long time. I checked Hélix au pays des merveilles (8c+) on my first weekend and already tried a bit the crux of Moksha. Next weekend I did Helix on saturday and Moksha on Sunday. Conditions were bad in the morning but then the air came and I did the route at the end of the day unexpectedly. Had a huge fight on the top part since I was very tired!”

Jonathan Siegrist is #1 in the Top-100 ranking game having sent almost 100 routes 8a and harder, including 32 onsights up to 8b+, over the last 12 months. Martina Demmel who has onsighted 50 routes 7c+ to 8b, is the runner-up. Martina recently answered some questions we had for her regarding her most recent all-around productivity and success on the rock. (c) Mirco dell Osta

You've managed to compete at World Cups and still be one of the best all around outdoor sport climbers. How do you typically approach a day on the rock?
I guess it depends on if the area is new for me because then I prefer to see lots of different routes and to try several of the classics first instead of only trying one harder route the whole trip... while onsight climbing I get the purest experience of flow because I'm so focused on understanding the next move that my thoughts remain in the moment. It's also like opening a present because anything could be in the package and while onsight climbing you also have to be ready for everything all the time. I'm also often avoiding to go too far out of my comfort zone where I don't know if it's possible at all for me because I haven't really unlocked the right mindset for this part...

Will you put more focus on rock or comps for the rest of this year?
Actually I'm not climbing outside that much at all at the moment, for example only three times in May, and I'm surprisingly even more motivated to train on plastic right now... Probably things [motivation] are changing from time to time and I realised that I was still identifying myself as only a rock climber despite having the comps as my priority but I didn't really find the joy on rock anymore and it felt more forced... Now, I'm using all my motivation & energy to give it my all for comp preparation. I'm sure that my passion for rock climbing is not gone, but rather that it will come back even stronger someday in the future.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo, mainly known for his over 80 routes 9a to 9b+, has repeated Pablo Zamora’s Muerte por asfixia (8C+) in La Pedriza. The 25-year-old, with also seven 8C's under his belt, needed only three sessions for the send. (c) Javi Pec

"The boulder is amazing. This is lower start, adding 9 moves into, Flor de loto (8B+). In total, there are 15 moves, so endurance is a part of the difficulty, and some moves are quite difficult, technical with body tension. I considered my style more or less, and it was definitely a surprise climb this midsummer."

Sierra Blair has sent Antimatter (8A+) in Priest Draw, video. Over the last 12 months, she has done four 8A’s and three 8A+’s and she is currently #8 in the female boulder ranking game.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I started working Antimatter at the beginning of May after I sent Flat Black (V10/7C+). Antimatter traverses into Flat Black and the crux is a throw to a right hand crimp after the two boulders meet.

I was able to reach the crux on my first session, but it took until my sixth session to figure out the beta that actually worked for the crux. During the final session a friend was also trying Antimatter and he could easily do the crux section in isolation. I decided to try his beta and immediately was able to do the crux move in isolation. All it took was this simple change to make the crux move go from impossible to doable.

After learning the new beta it took me two attempts to send the boulder. I am beyond excited to send such a cool line and I can’t wait for whatever is next.

Domen Škofic has made the FA of Passaaat (9a) in Hvar and Klemen Bečan, who had bolted it, did the second ascent the same day. Domen, with 25 routes 9a and harder, was the over-all Lead World Cup winner in 2016. Klemen, 41, has won one World Cup and he is one of the best onsight climbers in the world with over ten 8c’s onsight.

”Thanks a lot Klemen Bečan for showing me this place and let me try this epic line. The process of discovering holds and moves was so much fun. At the start we were sure this thing will be a solid 9a+ but on my third day I finally found the perfect sequence trough the top part and all of a sudden the chances of success went up significantly. The feeling of sending this line on the Hvar climbing festival on my last try before leaving was incredible. I had the perfect flow and just enjoy fully all the 50+ meters of this beast.

The best thing was that we did it both on the final day of the festival, one after the another. The line is huge and the crag has so much potential, it’s mind blowing 🤯”