Molly Thompson-Smith, who was #10 in the Lead World Cup last year, has done two quick ascents of Lou Ferrino sans pocket (8A) and Pilgrim (8A+) in Parisella's Cave.

Can you tell us more about the ascents?
My partner Sam [Pratt] and I actually went to Parisellas for a ‘work day’ to shoot some content for a collaboration. We wanted somewhere sunny and picturesque and the weather looked great in N Wales so we went for it! I’d been once before in 2020 and fallen off the end of Pilgrim & Lou Ferrino so these were the obvious things to try and get done whilst we were there filming.

What about competitions in 2024?
Comp plans for 2024 are probably similar to most others! I’ll do the first WCs in China as prep for the OQS events in May and June. Then we’ll see… After the summer my focus is definitely switching to rock for the foreseeable.

Eugenia Lavrushkina, who started climbing at age 26, ten years ago, has done Amores perros (8A+) in Borzeta. ”I've been avoiding this problem for a long time because I've never thought of myself as a roof climber, and the first crux of Amores Perros is a roof. As I went back from my Fontainebleau trip in October and decided to give it a try. I managed to do all the moves (along with some shorter links) during the first session and thought I would send it fast.. but then somehow I had to spend a couple of sessions linking the roof part because (even though I had no problems with it during the first session) I simply wasn't able to get through it. After some time (due to bad weather conditions) I got back to the boulder and spent 3 sessions falling on the last move (not counting the mantle as it is easy), and then finally I managed to link everything! I am sooo happy to send my project now, taking into account that I am going to Font trip this week, so the time pressure was real.

Can you tell us about your climbing background?
I've been climbing for a little bit less than 10 years, and for the last 3-4 years I've been focusing more on outdoor bouldering (Fontainebleau is my top favourite area). Amores Perros is a great boulder problem with really cool moves, athletic and technical at the same time, but my fav is still Les Beaux Quartiers (8A) in Font, which I sent in April less than a year ago. It's critical to stress that a tremendous amount of credit for all my hard sends goes to my coaches, Maciej Oczko and Nina Gmiter (Motion Lab Sports Kraków) as they are the ones who make sure I am constantly progressing as a climber. When I came to them (exactly three years ago) my max grade was 7c boulder. They are magicians :) I sent my first 7c+ in a couple of months after that so seeing the progress I became really really determined and it paid off.

How do you train?
Usually I climb 4 times a week (sometimes 5 but it is rare), there are some micro-cycles and other cycles, but I am not an expert in that so cannot really say more. I discuss with coaches my climbing goals (trips, grades, expectations etc) and they take care of those cycles :). We're using de-load weeks here and there, I know there is a trend nowadays to train without them but [de-loading], works for me. So those 4/5 training days really depend on a cycle, sometimes it's more strength oriented, sometimes power-endurance etc. In terms of intensity it also depends, usually it is 1 or 2 really intense workouts per week and the rest is like 70% of the max or even lower (esp during a de-load phase). I've been focusing on technique a lot as sometimes I tend to rely on pure strength too much.

Once or twice a week I do hangboarding, lately it's been one-arm hangs mostly and it seems I've [made] quite a progress with those (especially after I started taking care of my shoulders after I had a shoulder impingement). My wild guess is that rotator cuff strengthening contributed a lot to one-arm hangs on a fingerboard.

As I already mentioned I am pretty determined and it helps me immensely to get through some types of workouts I don't enjoy. Like... any type of conditioning (I do this twice a week). Or hangboarding. Or campusing. Well, anything that is not climbing to be honest. And, [I] don't do stretching at all, almost never, perhaps I should but I simply cannot make myself do that and even determination cannot help me here....

Leo Bøe has done Era Vella (9a) in Margalef. The classic 50m long line FA'd by Chris Sharma was, for many years, the most repeated 9a in the world but then it got downgraded and lost some of its appeal. However, due to more recent hold breakage, 9a is once again being claimed. “Beyond happy with this route! So fun to work and always a fight vs the pump. Who is crazy enough to bolt a line like this…?? I would like to thank all the people who came with me and got me motivated to try hard! 9 days of effort.”

Can you tell us more about Era Vella and your personal journey on it?
I did all the moves on my first round, but I realized it would be a proper fight to link all of them together. For me to send the route I had to get out of my comfort zone and enjoy getting pumped out of my mind. In my attempts I fell and went right back on until I reached the anchor. During a session I would do a run from bottom to the top 3-4 times and would need 2 full rest days to recover. Suddenly when I managed to do the route with 1 fall I knew it was about to happen. I was so close, and suddenly falling at the last quickdraw… Usually people don’t fall at that point, but for me the redpoint crux was just doing the last few easy moves.

What about the backflip? How long was the fall?
I was full of adrenaline! I just unclipped the anchor and jumped. I fell to the first quickdraw after the no hands rest so possibly a 30m fall. I have never done something like that before.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo has done the third ascent of Chris Sharma's Sleeping Lion in Siurana. Sharma proposed 9b+, but the second ascensionist, Alex Megos felt that 9b was the appropriate grade. Díaz-Rullo yet to comment on the difficulty. (c) Marco Zanone

Diaz-Rullo comments on Instagram; "Between some things and others, this route has taken me more attempts than I originally thought. It has been very difficult to find the day without being too tired, with good skin and with good conditions here in Siurana.

Sleeping lion has helped me to get in shape and continue very motivated with my next projects, but also, it has served me as a learning experience because at the same time I was working on it I have not been going through my best stage on a personal level. In the end, I did it!"

Martina Demmel first made a second try send of Margafelas (8c) in Margalef. "A surprise at the end of the day. [It] Has the potential for a big classic but unfortunately, a bit crumbly since I even broke 2 edges while sending... not the style you would expect when it's named after the area... found some solid beta & probably my style;)" (c) Vera Bakker

The following day she kept her second try streak going by doing the same with Pati noso (8c+) in Siurana. "I was dreaming about this line for years! While checking the moves on the new upper part, I got a big flapper from the crux hold but somehow, the strong wind kept pushing me to the top the next (2nd) try!! Muchas gracias Marius & Olga! Riding that wave..."

Over the last three years, the German has been the best female onsight climber in the world with 38 onsights 8a+ to 8b+.

Have you tried any harder onsights or anything a little more long-term on this trip?
Not really but somehow I also haven't tried [to onsight] anything in the 8a+-8b+ range, so I don't know if it would have been possible... I've tried something harder but now the weather seems not ideal to go back to the shade [where it's located]. Mostly, I feel too mentally tired to keep pushing or "forcing" myself to use the last few days to try something what for the moment might be out of my reach... So, I'm probably gonna try some single day projects or anything I'm truly motivated for the last few days [in order] to feel recharged when I [soon] go back to training!

Marine Thevenet, who has done over 100 boulders 8A and harder, reports on Insta video that over the last seven weeks she has sent Nobody ist der Größte (8A), Sissyfuss (8A+) and The Great Shark Hunt (8A+) in Chironico as well as Darkness (8A+) in Brione.

Which boulder was most special or meant the most to you?
Haha the most special… maybe Sissyfuss. I injured my pulley on it back in the day and it was really challenging to go back to it. The first move requires pure strength and when I tried the boulder this winter I would have been happy to complete just that one move, as a form of revenge and progress. I actually managed to do that move several times and [then I] fell at the mantle because I didn’t check the beta.

What is next?
Ticino offers a lifetime list of boulders to try - so it is not difficult to find other projects. I am motivated to enjoy the process of projecting on harder climbs for me, it is something I want to experiment these [coming] days.

Meini Li, who did her first 8c at age 10, has redpointed the 40 m long Tornado (8c+) in Yangshuo. The 13-year-old Chinese climber needed six days and 13 attempts for the send. (c) Liu ”Karma” Chuang

Jonathan Siegrist, who has 75 routes 9a to 9b under his belt, has completed Me I Eat Dust (9a+) at the Unknown Crag in central Texas. (c) Ryan White

”2nd ascent of this obscure, intense and amazing route from Cody Roth. Very cool precision style with no rests. Massive thanks to the crew here and to Cody for the motivation! I made rapid progress in my first few days but I underestimated how hard the final moves would be from the ground... My preparation felt to be perfect - so happy to fight through it last night!

It climbs the crux of a 8c+ called ‘I Me Mine’ and then without rest does a long and amazing V12 [8A+] boulder problem”

How many sessions did you put in?
I tried it once when I was visiting 3 years ago and loved the movement. As for working sessions not sure. Been here for 2 weeks but I had some trouble with conditions - it’s so hard to get it perfect here as the cliff faces the sun and the winters are very short in Texas! For this reason night sessions are best.