Laura Rogora, who two weeks ago was #3 in the Olympic qualifier, has repeated Stefano Ghisolfi's Lapsus (9a+) in Andonno. Previously, the 22-year-old has done more than 20 routes 8c+/9a and harder which is almost twice as many as the runner-up, Anak Verhoeven. (c) Fabio Fin

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I came to Andonno on Wednesday. On the first day, I managed to climb the single moves, but it was a bit wet. In the following days, it rained and it was cold, so I didn't climb much, I climbed Noia, and tried the upper part a bit more. Then on Sunday, everything was dry. I made my first attempts and fell at the final boulder, but I was tired from the previous attempt and couldn't take advantage of the rest before the crux, so I knew I could do it. Today the conditions were perfect, and I felt good. On the first try of the day, I reached the chain.

Can you tell us about your training and your next goal?
I will train for the qualification for Paris. I train 6 days per week one or two sessions per day doing climbing or weight lifting.
Almost no rock climbing during the training period. After season I have two weeks off from training. My trainer is Vincenzo de luca.

Stefano Carnati, who sent Erebor (9b) last spring, has sent Vecchio Leone Sit (8C+) in Brione.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the number of sessions needed?
I did the stand 5 years ago. Then I briefly tried the sit last year 3/4 times but with little dedication. This year it took other 3 sessions!

What are your winter plans?
I’ll be heading to Slovenia next week for my PhD, so I’m really looking forward to visiting some crags there as well! I’m currently attending my 2nd year of PhD in environmental and chemical sciences and I must spend a period of at least 6 months abroad and Slovenia was the choice as I’ve found a research group interested in my topic!

Yuetong Zhang from China was the sensational winner of the ticket to Paris through the Asian Olympic qualifier in Jakarta. Last year, she was #14 and #15 in the Youth World Championship and this year she has, on average, been #31 out of 11 World Cups. From the complete results, we can see that she was #5 in the qualification and then #4 in the semifinal before she made the best run of her life in the final. In the end, she was just 1.4 points ahead of Miho Nonaka and 6.5 points above Futaba Ito, both from Japan. Complete results

“Before this competition I didn’t think I could make it. I don’t know what to say, it’s all a bit too fast, but right now it is exciting and surprising. It is a dream come true. I thought maybe the best I could do here was a podium and the gold was impossible because there are many strong girls. The Japanese and Korean girls, and China has another strong girl in the final, so I’m really surprised.”

Chris Sharma reports on Instagram that he has done the FA of Black Pearl (9a+) in Mallorca. Earlier this year, the 42-year-old, opened Sleeping Lion (9b+) and he says that his latest DWS might be his hardest ever. In 2007, he established Es Pontas (9a+) and later he put up Alasha (9a) and Big Fish (8c+/9a), all in Mallorca. These four FAs are the hardest DWS in the world. (c) Matty Hong

Climbing.com has the full story, where he among other things say. “It represented a progression in deep water soloing for me, and it was a very personal goal that I’ve pursued over the last four years,” says Sharma. “It’s one of a handful of routes that have been on my bucket list.”

8a followed up with some questions:
How did you project the route?
I tried it a lot on a rope especially the crux. Was really tricky aid to get in and figure out the sequence. The crux is not so high. Maybe 13 meters or so but it finishes on solid climbing quite high.

How many times did you fall from the crux and what about safety?
I fell lots of times. Not sure how many. I would always go with someone for safety reasons.

What is your next plan?
I’m psyched for some hard routes around Catalunya. Still lots of unfinished business 😀

Allison Vest has done After Hours (8B) in Huntington Canyon. The 28-year-old Canadian is #2 in the ranking game after having done seven 8B's the last 12 months. (c) Daniel Gajda

“3rd ascent! Did different beta than Danny and Kyram and tech-d it up quite a bit more. Still took me maybe 7 sessions and think 8B is solid. Such good climbing and wonky grips.”

Adam Ondra has the last week sent seven routes 8b+ to 9a+ in Switzerland and Spain, including an onsight of El Gran Bellanco (9a) in Montanejos. “8c+/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 secon on pinches on the top.” (c) Petr Chodura

The road trip started in Isenfluh where he made the FA of a 9a+ to be named. "Extension of 7c+ across short roof and very hard crux getting out of the roof. Bad slopey holds and marginal kneebars, physical and technical at the same time, then dropable finish. Got very lucky with conditions that were cold and rainy, but for the time of the send it cleared up and and a bit of the wind picked up. Project bolted by Stephane Siegrist."

The next day he onsighted Déjà (8b+) and
Un chant pour Phil (8c) “Tricky sections, tiny holds + big moves Proud to onsight it!” Soyhières

The 30-year-old is approaching 100 onsights 8c to 9a, which can be compared to that no other climber has onsighted more than a dozen such graded routes. It should also be noted that Ondra is known for his hard grades and without his constant downgrades, he would have onsighted well over 200 routes 8b+ and harder.

Jessica Pilz, the overall Lead Cup winner 2023, has during a week in Turkey done six 8c's in Çitdibi and Öküzini; Kaos (8c), Aaron (8c), Beast Maker (8c), Andreas Blues (8c+), Panic Room (8c) and Catch the rainbow (8c). (c) Fabian Leu

Can you tell us more about this team trip to Turkey?
We are having a good time here in Turkey with the Austria climbing team. It‘s my first time in Turkey. The crags here are amazing with big tufas which we don‘t have back home. The route which took me the most attempts was Andreas Blues (5th go) but my hardest fight was in ‚Beastmaker‘ today. so that‘s my proudest ascent of the trip, we have our last day tomorrow.

You did two 8c's in the last day, right?
I tried two 8c‘s today and did both on my 2nd go. Kaos is a bit softer but has nice moves on crimps mostly. Then I checked out Aaron which is a super long route with a bit of everything like tufas, a big roof, and some knee bars (probably many more if you climb with knee pads). I really enjoyed this one and as it was getting dark I really wanted to send it on my 2nd go :)

Alma Bestvater has done Disney production (8A+) and Fake Pamplemousse (8A) in Brione. (c) Kay Födisch

”As the weather forecast predicted very bad weather, I had doubts about how much I would actually be able to climb. It was very rainy, but between the rainy days I still found two dry boulders to try hard. It was a bit tricky to plan around the rain and find the dry boulders, but in the end it worked out perfectly.”

The 27-year-old had been doing IFSC competitions for ten years straight up until this year. Her best results are being #5 and #6 in two World Cups in 2018. With a greater focus on rock, this year, the German has completed ten boulders 8A and harder and she is #7 in the 8a ranking game.

393 images were uploaded and 248 Vengas were shared in an effort to raise awareness for a great cause in the October Climbers Against Cancer Gallery Raffle. A high five to everyone who participated and a reminder that this month the Gallery is back on thanks to KletterRetter!

The photo featured here, which was submitted by Brendan Kuhnert of the aptly named Rocklands stunner, "Perfect", was our favourite of last month's raffle winners.

Keep an eye on your inbox to see if you were one of the lucky winners, if you participated last month, and don't forget to submit again this month for a shot at chalk, skin care and training goodies provided by KletterRetter.

To get in on this raffle and all future Gallery Raffles go to the gallery, and upload some of your favourite moments climbing. The more Vengas your uploaded photo gets, the higher your chances of winning, as each Venga earns you an additional ticket in the raffle draw. At the end of this month, we will contact the lucky winners. Make sure to upload your shots before the 30th so that you don’t miss out!