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.

Natalia Grossman secured her Olympic ticket to Paris by winning the2023 Pan American Games in Santiago. Previously, Team USA had pocketed three Olympic spots which went to Jesse Grupper, Sam Watson and Piper Kelly. Watson and Kelly both secured spots in speed. Grossman, first won the Boulder round getting 84.3 points and 14.9 points ahead of Brooke Raboutou. When later, Grossman got 88.1 points in Lead, she secured her Paris ticket, although Raboutou was yet to climb. In the end, Raboutou was runner-up 7 points behind.
(c) Complete results
Grossman commented to IFSC: “I feel just so grateful and proud of all the work I have put in. I changed a lot in this past couple of months, in my climbing and in my life, and to see it pay off feels really good. I tend to run really warm when I’m climbing, for some reason, which is funny. So I always have fans on, and even though it was pretty cold tonight, I still had three fans to keep my hands cold. Although I’ve put some pants on for the Lead route, because it got a little chilly!

My friend Oscar was holding his finger up, like, ‘First!’, and I almost didn’t believe it. I wanted to wait until I saw it, just because people tend to say things before they happen… it was a very surreal moment!” (c) Lena Drapella/IFSC

Jesse Grupper won the Boulder & Lead in the Pan American Games in Santiago, meaning he secured his ticket to the Paris Olympics. The Lead expert was #4 in Boulder getting 69.4 points, which left the 27-year-old roughly 15 points behind Sean McColl, Sean Bailey and Zach Galla. "On M3 I actually forgot that [the] timer starts at five seconds, not three, so I totally thought that I timed out. It was really shocking to find out that I actually got the top!"

In his favoured discipline Lead he was dominant, making it to the third last hold with 92.1 points compared to the runner up Sean Bailey with 57.1 points. Third was Zach Galla another three points behind. Complete results (c) Lena Drapella/IFSC

Grupper said to IFSC: "It feels unreal, for sure, it’s an incredible moment for me. I’ve dreamt about this since I was a little kid, and it is so meaningful to see it through to fruition and have it actually happen. I knew that I had some points to make up for from the Boulder round. I was proud of the Boulder round, honestly, I think I’ve pulled out some moves that I don’t know if I would have been able to do a year ago, but I also wanted to fight as hard as I could on the Lead wall. Coming out, I took it one move at a time, I knew that every move would matter, especially on that headwall, and I’m really glad that I was able to pull that out and make it happen."

Mattéo Soulé has done La guerre des Wolfs (9a+) in La verrière after projecting it for some 35 sessions. It is a link-up between La Guerre des Nerfs, which he sent last year, and the Black Wolf project, bolted by his dad.

"It's very hard both physically and mentally since the crux is at the top of the route. I would say it is an 8c+/9a start into a bad rest on a big inverted hold, followed by a crux which must be worth perhaps an 8A boulder. It's clearly the hardest route I've ever done and invested so much."

Can you tell us more about the Black Wolf project?
You have to do an 8c+ approach to get to the first crux which in my opinion is not far from an 8A+/B boulder, then you do an 8B boulder to get to a bad rest and then do the 8A boulder that I also did. This is the hardest route I have ever tried. I think it's at least 9b but possibly harder. It is 25 meters long.

Alex Totkova, who last year won the Youth World Championship, has done Ora Estete (8c) in Vratsa, after four sessions of work. In 2020, at age 15, she sent Victimes del futur (9a) but later her focus has been competitions.

"I am super happy that I am enjoying rock climbing again and I am super excited for what will come, as I get slowly in shape. The route was bolted by my coach Fazata [in the picture] and the FA was from him last year. I am really grateful for the send, because on this day I felt, tired so I had to make it with no mistakes, which is my priority to work on. (Trying to make the moves more technically rather than by force.)"

Can you tell us more about your cooperation with your trainer, Ivailo?
He is my coach for 7-8 years. We train together several times a week. He is like my father for climbing. He is the person who motivates me not only by talking but by his own decisions and actions.

Why have you chosen to not compete in Laval?
We decided to pause the comps and be fresh for the next season.

As autumn arrives, we fondly recall our summer adventures with Tobi Ebner. Join us on a journey through Germany and Austria, conquering crags and sharing stories with fellow Wild Country athletes. Watch the video to relive these incredible achievements:
Jakob Kronberger in Salzburger Land: El Conjuro (9a+?)
Moritz Welt in Frankenjura: Lazarus (9a+)
Birte Gutmayer in Ettringen: Fegefeuer (trad) Chri Kappacher in Steinplatte: Sleepwalker (8b)
Don't miss this unforgettable adventure! 🚗🧗‍♂️

Jakob Schubert reports on Instagram that he has sent Qui (9a+) at the Geisterschmiedwand. The Austrian projected it last year, and he sent it on his second go this year. It was put up in 1996 by Stefan Fürst, as an 8c+, and Adam Ondra did the first repeat in 2019 suggesting an upgrade to 9a+ and he commented, "possibly something has broken, but very possibly it has not got much harder due to breaks." Later Alfons Dornauer and Roland Hemetzberger sent it confirming Ondra's upgrade. (c) Misha P

IFSC has presented the competition calendar 2024, which differs from all previous years due to the Olympics. The calendar comprises of five Boulder and six Lead World Cups but there is a big risk that the interest will be relatively low from the best athletes. The two events scheduled that will likely attract the largest number of top athletes participating are the Olympic Qualification Series events in Shanghai and Budapest.

9-10 April, IFSC World Cup in Shanghai, China – Boulder;
12 -14 April, IFSC World Cup in Wujiang, China – Lead, Speed;
3-5 May, IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA – Boulder, Speed;
16-19 May, Olympic Qualifier in Shanghai, China - BoulderLead
20 -23 June, Olympic Qualifier in Budapest, Hungary - BoulderLead
26-30 June, IFSC World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria – Boulder, Lead;
5-10 July, Olympic Games in Paris, France - BoulderLead
12-14 July, IFSC World Cup in Chamonix, France – Lead, Speed;
17-19 July, IFSC World Cup in Briançon, France – Lead, Speed;
6-7 September, IFSC World Cup in Koper, Slovenia – Lead;
20-22 September, IFSC World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic – Boulder; and
2-6 October, IFSC World Cup in Seoul, South Korea – Boulder, Lead, Speed.

Loic Zehani has done the FA of Quartiers nord (9b) in Orgon, which is a new six-bolt start to Bronx (8c+), bolted by his father. (c) Samantha Ducos

”In total I think this route took me around twenty sessions. Amazing first part, natural and so powerful. Maybe 8B boulder out of the first twelve movements followed (without rest) by 10 movements around 7C/C+ boulder. After that you climb the second part of Bronx (8c+). Crazy morning when I sent it twice in one hour because the wind had knocked down the camera during the first send ... the second send the camera (positioned in the car ) did not fall! The conditions are amazing with a massive south-east wind.”