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!

Sebastien Bouin did the FA of Ariégeois Cœur Loyal (9b) in his home crag Pic St Loup, in April. It is a 20m extension to Legend (9a) which he made the FA of in 2017 after it had been a project for 20 years. "I bolted this route [the extension] 5 years ago when my grandpa passed away. His woodworker name was Ariégeois Cœur Loyal (Loyal ariégeois heart). It was a great opportunity to keep him close to me all these years."

In June, Jana Švecová made the FA of Nova (8C) in Holstejn, giving it an 8B+ grade. Now, William Bosi has made the first repeat and suggested an upgrade to 8C. "Super happy to send this! Now onto the full line of Terranova (8C+) :) Grade wise it felt like the hardest or joint hardest boulder I've done in the Czech so I think it deserves the C but time will tell."

Nova links the second part of Terranova from the sit start of Sedni Si Na Kost (8B+). Jana and Will have had this boulder as an intermediate project for Terranova, which Adam Ondra established in 2011. Here is the latest live-streaming video, where he tries it together with Jana, and says, "it is the hardest 8c+ I have ever tried".

Kwon Gaeun has set a new standard for youth once again by doing Southern Smoke (8c+) in Red River Gorge (KY). At age 10 years and three months, she becomes the youngest person to climb 8c+. Kwon tried it last year and on this trip she did it on her fourth try. Two year sago she did Ixeia (8b+) which was also a record.

Austin Purdy, who did his first 8C+ this summer, has done Topaz (8C) in Wild Basin. ”The past few months I have been busy with work so climbing outside has been more difficult and my focus has been mostly only training in the gym. Topaz was a project I chose as I've been starting to get outside more because I had tried it a little last year, but had to stop because of a tweak in my knee. The process took a bit longer than I expected but the send was very rewarding since this boulder doesn't fit my style in a lot of ways and it had injured me previously. I'm hoping this send means all the training has paid off and I can apply it on some upcoming trips.” More info on his Instagram

Michael Piccolruaz, who was #16 in the Tokyo Olympics, has done Weiße Rose (9a) in Schleier Wasserfall. Alex Huber put it up in 1994 as an 8c+ and then Adam Ondra made the first repeat in 2008 suggesting an upgrade, which later Jakob Schubert confirmed.

”Another dream come true! Such a historical route. It means a lot to me that I got to do the 4th ascent of this kingline at this beautiful place that has become so dear to me! Love the Schleier!”

Pierre Marzullo has done Supercrackinette (9a+) in St Léger. The last week of October, the 16-year-old spent in Albarracín, sending nine boulders 8A to 8B, including a flash of Esperanza sit (8A+).

"A dream came true today 🥹 Didn’t have the words for what I’m feeling right now. I just know that I want to try harder stuff, spend more time on it, and repeat that all my life." (c) Timothée Nitschke

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I started to try it last year and at first, it just fell really far [away]. But I was confident that with good training and muscle memory, it would be doable. I arrived at that point where every try could be the one and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. It finally became too hot and I had to leave the project empty-handed. This year I came back with no pressure for one week not especially for sending at first but just taking some good time at St Léger and it worked! I finally sent the route on the last try of the 3rd day of climbing in a row. I was exhausted but I did it with the mental focus.

What are your winter plans?
Just train a lot for the comps and hopefully send Biographie if it’s not too wet. I’m living one hour from the crag so I can go whenever I want. If there’s good weather the conditions are the best! Burden of Dreams is a really long-term project so I’m not planning to invest a lot this year but I will start to check it and I’ll dedicate more time to it next year.

Michaela Kirsch has repeated Chris Sharma’s classic five-star climb, Era Vella (9a) at Margalef, after trying it for roughly seven sessions. It was put up 2010 and it quickly became the most popular 9a in the world until it was downgraded in 2016. More recently a foot hold broke, which has caused its valuation to climb back to 9a .


Michaela was #22 in her Boulder World Cup debut in 2010 at age 15 and the following year she was #18 in a Lead World Cup. From there, she put competitions to the side, and chose to focus on rock and studies. Michaela did her first 8c and 8c+ at age 21. Last year, she got her doctorate and over the last eighteen months she has completed more than 16 boulders 8A+ to 8B+ and one 9a and one 9a+.

Can you tell us more about climbing Era Vella?
It’s my first time here! I’ve been in Margalef for a couple weeks checking out lots of routes in the style and building my endurance after a long and chill summer break. First few tries felt really impossible to link the sections — a friend told me “it’s all jugs” so you can imagine my surprise when I was fighting for my life on two finger pockets haha!! I didn’t only climb on this route, I’ve also been climbing lots of 8a-8b+ so I think this approach helped me stay relaxed and have fun.