Paige Claassen, who this summer did her fifth 9a, has sent Everything Is Karate (8c+) at Pine Creek.

”Mental battle to get in try hard mode on this trip. Finally gave up, ripped off all my tape, sanded all my fingertips down and gave one last go so that I wouldn’t regret not trying again. Last try last day after a trip extension.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried Karate around 10 days. It felt like an unusual process because it was quite warm so I spent a lot of time just rehearsing beta without trying to send, which I think made it hard to get into try-hard mode at the end of the trip. The route is definitely my style - short and bouldery with a good rest, and lots of pinches. I fell a lot on the last big move and was frustrated because I knew I wasn’t clicking into the mental state to try my hardest, even though I felt very capable physically. On the last day, I tried once and felt very tired and we almost just left to drive home. But I decided I would regret not giving one more go. When I got to the rest, I finally felt the fire that I’d been needing and knew I could do it.

Babsi Zangerl has made the third repeat of Beth Rodden’s Meltdown (8c+) in Yosemite (CA). The 20m almost vertical line that starts with laybacking a thin crack on poor feet, was put up in 2008 as the first 8c+ trad climb in the world. Carlo Traversi did the first repeat in 2018 and then Babsi's partner Jacopo Larcher sent it last year and commented.

"I would like to highlight once more what Beth did in 2008, which was way ahead of the times, both in women and mens climbing history! I honestly believe the shorter you are, the harder this route gets...and yes: fingers size doesn’t matter!"

Zangerl, who's 162 cm tall and has a -2 cm in ape-index, is one of the best all-around climbers in the world, having already additionally completed 8B boulder problems, 9a routes and several big walls, including three of the hardest in Yosemite, up to 8b+.

“I am so happy that I finally sent this route!! Such an amazing line. I think it was the hardest trad line I have done so far. It felt hard for the grade. For me it was a real mental battle. I had to reduce my gear to a minimum to save some power, because to get through the crux was always a low percentage. It was not even close to 50/50 that my foot stuck on the tiny mini-edge. My foot slipped so many times. When I got past this hard sequence today I knew that it was my chance; I had to keep it together. It is still not over there. The upper part of the route was still very hard, and very tricky to place the final micro-nut. I almost fell off on the last two hard moves. Such an iconic line and big thanks to Beth Rodden for the inspiration, you are a legend!” (c) Ben Neilson / Black Diamond

Fabrice Landry, who did his first 8c in 2020 at age 29, has done Chicken Deluxe (9a+) in Saint-Antonin. The route was put up with 17 sika holds as an 8c+ but all but two have since been removed. (c) Arthur Delicque

”Chicken deluxe is an old route freed by Eric Siguier more than 20 years ago with many sika holds. Two years ago, my friend Lucien Martinez tried it and broke some sika holds. The idea of naturalizing the route came naturally with the agreement of the team members. It took us a few sessions to dissect the new sections and re-equip some passages. Last November, Lucien succeeded in clearing the new route. As far as I'm concerned, I had to wait for the return of sunny days and milder conditions than in winter to get out of the way. We were very hesitant about the proposal to 9a+, so we took the side of caution. Even so, we are convinced that it is a very difficult 9a+. There are now enough challenging routes at the crag to interest the strongest climbers, more than 8 lines in the 9th grade, some variants and some projects.”

What is your next plan?
A little rest to start and then repeat "A la limite de la Rupture" (9a), release the last two remaining projects, "Destrucion Masiva" (9a/+?) and "Arqueur Vaillant" (9b?).


Is it fair to call you a late bloomer seeing as how you did your first 9a at age 29?
The story is that I stopped climbing for 5/6 years and then I came back quietly and it was only very recently that I enjoyed climbing difficult routes. I had a need to enjoy life other than through competitions, studies and everything else to finally come back to it a few years later but with a very different approach. Today, the main objective is to develop a high level locally by enjoying and without constraints or commitments, just the pleasure. Let's hope it motivates some strong climbers to come!

Oriane Bertone (FRA) and Toby Roberts (GBR) were in top form at the Laval European Olympic qualifiers. The 18-year-olds first won the semifinal with big margins and in the final, they continued dominating the event. Bertone got 99.9 points in boulder and Roberts scored 100 points in Lead. (c) Jan Virt/IFSC

1. Oriane Bertone FRA 171.9 - Toby Roberts GBR 169.8
2. Stasa Gejo SRB 148.5 - Alberto Gines Lopez ESP 133.7
3. Laura Rogora ITA 145.7 - Sam Avezou FRA 132.9
4. Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR 141.7 - Adam Ondra CZE 132.9
5. Zelia Avezou FRA 136.7 - Yannick Flohe GER 130.8
Complete female results and Complete male results

Bertone when interviewed by the IFSC said: “I was trying to pay attention to the crowd’s reaction whenever I was grabbing a new hold,” said the French climber. “I was thinking ‘Is it this one? No.’ ‘Is it the next one? No.’ And when I took the one I heard everybody go crazy, I turned my head so that I could see the screen and saw my name up there. I don’t even know what to say, I’m crazy happy.

I am very happy with the consistency that I have displayed throughout the whole event: I was first in qualification, first in semi-final, and first in final, and that is not an easy thing to do. I was especially very happy with my bouldering, I’m not very satisfied about my Lead climb because I was pretty stressed."

Roberts; "I have literally no words now. I don’t think is ever going to sink in. Coming into this event, I tried not to have any expectations and just enjoy climbing. It is such a big dream for me, I’ve been training for it for so long. I came so close to it in Bern, but I think I let the pressure get the best of me there, and my weaknesses got exposed. So the aim going away from Bern was to work on my weaknesses, come into this event with a clear head and just enjoy the climbing."

Noé Looser, who last month won the Lead Euro Youth Championships, has sent Nobody is perfect (8c) at Voralberg. In 2020, at 13 she sent her first 8c, Siesta.

Can you tell us more about winning in Helsinki and your 8c ascent?
I am very happy about my competition season this year, I invested a lot of time in it. I was very happy to be back on the rock after my last international competition in Helsinki, and I was very motivated for rock climbing. The 8c route Nobody is perfect is a very nice endurance route with a boulder start. I liked this route very much and enjoyed climbing.

Daniel Fuertes, who since he turnéd 40 has done 13 routes 9a to 9b, has sent Mona lisa integral (9a+) in Rodellar.

”The route consists of two pitches, the first one is Mona lisa l1 (9a), with three very pronounced boulder problems and a very technical end with kneebars to reach the intermediate anchor point, in which there is a very good but somewhat uncomfortable rest. The second pitch is a hard 8b+, very physical and with a lot of kneebars, in total 55/60 metres of pure joy/suffering!!!!

I think is not 9a+ but I don’t know, maybe 9a hard or 9a/a+… other repeaters will confirm.”

Lorenzo Bogliacino, who last year sent Naturalmente (9a+), has done the FA of Prima Classe (9a) in .

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
During the early summer I was struggling to find motivation to climb on a rope due to the heat, so I was doing long walks in La Stazione. I stumbled upon a cool overhanging wall with crimps and decided to try to bolt some routes. Since I never equipped anything I asked my friend Carlo Giuliberti to teach me the art and help me develop the crag. Thanks to his experience and intuition the new crag started to take a shape and immediately he found the amazing line that eventually became Prima Classe.

I also started to love the art of bolting routes and we shared amazing days of work and fun! After a summer spent bouldering and escaping the heat I committed seriously to try the route and I was able to make the FA after 10 days of work. I thought a couple of weeks about the grade after the FA but honestly I feel 9a is appropriate and well deserved for this amazing and obviously completely natural piece of rock. There is still potential for hard routes at the crag and I hope to keep bolting and developing it in the future!

At the moment there are about 15 routes of which some projects. There are still space for some connections and variation but the main wall is mostly finished. Prima classe is a bit less steep but the main wall is about 40/50 degrees overhanging. The routes are about 30 meters long.

Adam Ondra has flashed Jernej Kruder's Peščena ura (9a) in Sopota. ”Freak moment to stick the crux move at the start! Thanks Jernej!!”

Jernej put it up in 2020 and he was on hand giving Adam beta, and he first showed him the dyno crux. Adam's flash was also the first repeat of this route.

"I didn't really try it, because I'm a bit injured at the moment. I forgot the exact feet, so I just tried the jumping position. He's just the best climber in the world...it's called progress. So for me, it was just incredible to watch. He said it was his second hardest flash after that 9a+.

In 2012, Ondra flashed Southern Smoke Direct (9a) and five years ago he also flashed Supercrackinette (9a+). The Czech has also flashed three 8c+'. There are four other climbers who have flashed 8c+; Alex Megos (3), Jakob Schubert, Daniel Woods and Seb Bouin.

Florian Wientjes, who previously has sent 11 boulders 8C to 8C+, has made the first repeat of Ryuichi Murai's Floatin (8C+) in Mizugaki. The German saw videos of the line in 2020 and got really obsessed. "Back then it was just this amazing line but I did not dare to dream about it even after the first ascent. At the beginning of this year, it came more and more into my mind until I decided this year I want to climb this thing." (c) Xaver Louis

How did you prepare for the trip?
Floatin is one of these lines I really wanted to climb. So I decided in the first half of the year that I would go to Mizugaki. I did everything to make this trip possible. For preparation, I started with some basic strength training focusing on fingers and upper body and a lot of board climbing. The last 4 weeks before the trip it got more specific with a lot of campusboard training focusing on contact strength and pull speed.

How was the first sensation trying it?
The first time I grabbed the holds they felt way worse than I expected. I knew I had to give everything to make it possible. I also knew that I gave my very best in the preparation so I never thought that the move was impossible for me. The only thing that came to my mind was that I maybe would run out of time on this trip.

Can you tell us more about the process of projecting it?
In sessions 1-4 I mainly focused on the first move which is definitely the hardest move. I made a little progress every session starting from initiating the bad holds to getting more and more hight to reach the second hold. The second move felt easier and I was able to stick it in my second try. In session 5 I finally stuck the first move and did the second move but fell on the easy top part because I slipped. (The days before it rained a lot and I forgot to clean the top). That was a big bummer... but I knew I could do the move. After 15 min rest I tried it again and was able to link everything together. All in all, I had 19 days in Japan and 9 climbing days in Mizugaki. This trip was all about Floatin but I definitely have to come back to Japan for the more cultural part and to check out the climbing in the southern part of Japan.

Alizee Dufraisse has sent Kingda Ka (8B) in Gottardo after projecting it for 13 sessions since the summer. The background of the 36-year-old, who almost never has climbed more than three times a week is very interesting. In 2003, she became the Youth World Champion but later she changed sports and in 2006 she became the French Champion in pole vaulting. Missing qualifying for the Olympics, she changed sports again and won the French Championship. Later in 2010, she got the bronze in the European Championship. Her resume also includes three 9a's and last year she sent Heritage 8B (+). Currenty, she is writing her PhD thesis in Sociology in regard to changes in professional climbing.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
It is a very beautiful and inspiring boulder which is pretty scary. It has been very tricky for me to find out the beta. Some very balancy moves took like two months to solve. I prefer to invest my time in a boulder I would be proud to do. After like two months of trying it I suddenly found a way with the feet transition and then pretty fast could send it. As the snow was coming it was stressful and I am very happy to be able to do it before the pass closes.