Noah Wheeler has repeated James Webb’s Sleepwalker (8C+) in Black Velvet Canyon. ”16- or 15/16 [8C+(-) or 8C/8C+]. Came back this year hopeful but doubtful and felt far stronger on the crux move than I imagined I would. The crux ended up being the last pinch throw but with some tweaks and deliberation I got it done first go of the 5th total session. Psyched on deeper down the wall.”

New video by Noah - Is Sleepwalker 8C or 8C+? Some other repeaters have also indicated it being a bit ”soft” for the grade. The sit start is Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and before completion, Daniel was able to do the stand up to four times in a single session.

Can you tell us more about this boulder problem and the process you went through?
I originally saw the boulder 2 years ago on my first trip to Red Rocks. I briefly felt the holds and wrote it off as a project for the future. Last year I came back with the intent of sending having a few harder climbs under my belt. However the weather was awful for the 2 weeks I was there and I only got 2 sessions in on the climb, where I completed all the moves quickly but was unable to make significant links (notably, the crux sloper bump link was undone). Coming back this year I was both cautious and invigorated by the misfortune of my last trip - knowing that the forecast looked better but that I only had 2 weeks in Red Rocks. In the first session back I felt surprisingly good on the crux sequence and ended up dialing it fairly well. The following session I gave 5 or 6 ground rips, all of which ended with a fall going to the last left hand pinch on the top of the boulder. The next session I managed to top it out first try of the day!

Pepa Šindel, who at age 14 did his first 9a+, has sent Martin Krpan (9a) in Mišja Peč. "I spent the Christmas holidays in the Slovenian climbing area Mišja peč. I climbed the route Konec mira 8c/c+, which I had tried before. Two days later I climbed Martin Krpan, which is an extension of the Konec Mira. I climbed this extension on my 4th attempt and started the new year very well! I ended the short trip by climbing the endurance route, Karisma 8b+."

What are your plans for next year?
My plans for the 2024 season are to continue climbing 9a routes and maybe try some 9a+. Especially Hades 9a in Austria is a big challenge for me.

Sera Gearhardt has started 2024 by sending Fingerslut (8B) in Joe's Valley (UT). In 2023, she did a dozen boulders 8A to 8B and she is #6 in the ranking game. (c) Three Peak Films

”This boulder climbs the start of a 7C+ into a tiny crimp and committing jump to a jug. The jump has a huge swing over a rock. I'm not a very brave climber in general, so even though I found beta to make the swing much smaller than others, I struggled with committing to it from the bottom. I prefer to climb in static positions. I did the move in isolation a ton of times to feel safer and practiced a little on the kilter board with huge swings. On the go, my friends had to yell a ton of encouragement to get me to commit to it.”

Max Bertone, sibling to Oriane Bertone, has sent Mécanique élémentaire (8B+) in Fontainebleau. Previously he has sent ten 8B's and last summer he did his first two 9a's. Last year, Max won all the three IFSC Euro Youth events he participated in and in 2022 he was the Youth Lead World Champion. "First 8B+ for me... I felt it [seemed] so easy for the grade! I did all the single moves at the warm-up of the first session and I topped at the first try from the bottom. Maybe a trav grade? 8A/+ boulder seems more appropriate to me."

Interestingly, the diagonal athletic boulder was put up as an 8C back in 2005 and then Jan Hojer did the first repeat eight years later suggesting a downgrade. Now it has 38 ascents in the 8a database and several have indicated that it might be a little bit soft or 8B.

4sport.ua has updated statistics for climbs graded 9a+ and beyond in 2023. Over the course of last year there were 90 recorded ascents beyond 9a+, which is down just slightly from 2022 which had 100 ascents recorded. Looking further back in 2019, the number of 9a+ and beyond ascents was around 65. Adam Ondra has done over 80 routes 9a+ and beyond and Seb Bouin is runner-up with some 45.

In November, Adam Ondra onsighted El Gran Bellanco (9a). "Great route and great moment shared with ethusiastic locals. Hard to tell about the grade, I climbed without any mistakes, tried hard where it was necessary, climbed relaxed where it was possible. Amazing power endurance section on pinches on the top."

Iris Matamoros Quero has repeated El osteopata (9a) in Mula. This was the 43-year-old's fifth 9a, and his third in the last 16 months.

Can you tell us more about your latest 9a?
I tried the route 10 years ago for the first time, when a good friend bolted it. It's not a very nice area, so the route was never very popular. The rock is of poor quality and some holds have been glued. 8 years ago, before my oldest son was born, I was about to do it but things changed after his birth. Although it was always on my mind, I didn't find the time to go back in a good shape. Last year some friends climbed it and they motivated me to try it again. So this year I took it as my main goal. The route has a first part on 8c, very physical, with very bad feet and some random moves. Then a knee rest in which you rest your arms but exhaust your legs and your core. In the final part, the hardest thing is to get completely rested to the last crux, alone is not very hard, but you have almost done an 8c+ and your body is destroyed.

What is coming up next?
I have bolted another hard one just on the right. I have been trying it to warm up but never done any proper tries. It is really hard and now I am really motivated to try hard 💪💪 and the link of El Osteopata with that will be super hard. In march and april we will go to Santa Linya again, I have an other 9a in my mind😅🙏🙏

Hugo Parmentier repeated Adam Ondra's Hyper Finale (9a+) in August. "I discovered the crag right after the French Championships [where he finished #5] and then did three small trips in between training in Annecy and bouldering in Fionnay with Clem Lechaptois and Marine Thevenet. It was a long adaption to the massive endurance routes of Super and Hyper finale. Especially having trained the power endurance for the comps. So Super Finale took me a lot. Then the boulder problem of Hyper Finale was hard to understand but when it was well executed and I had trained endurance of Super Finale the whole route felt doable."

Lilli Kiesgen has done Le mur du son assis (8A+) in Fontainebleau. "Went down within an hour. Nice one. Relatively soft for the grade. Completely my style!"

Last month we reported that she had done quick work of two 8A+'s and actually more than half of the ten 8A's and beyond she sent last year, she did in one session.

Can you tell us more about Le mur?
We sent to Le Mur du Son (7C) the other day and I just wanted to take a look at Le Mur du Son (7C). Some people were there so I gave it some tries. I did all the moves easily but it was already dark and the top hold was wet, so I stopped.

I was hyped for the sit and tried it a couple of days later. The first two moves are not that hard and the third move is crux. There’s a relatively high foot, two small crimps and you have to move into a small undercling crimp/ pinch. The last move is not too hard but low percentage. I think it suited me really well.

What about going for some harder lines, do you have your sights set on anything?
This trip was more about vacation than projecting. I’ll try some harder projects in the future for sure 😇

Tomoa Narasaki, one of the most successful competition climbers over the last decade, flashed last month Gakido (8C+), calling it 8B+. Following that ascent, he did the FA of the sit start Ashurado (8C).