Greta di Biase has sent Steini Christmas (8A) in Gottardo / Gotthardpass. Her first 8A, Scary Christmas (8A), the 10-year-old sent in July being 130 cm tall.

How do you approach climbing?
I love being outdoors and I don't particularly like gyms but I still go to them on rainy weekends or if I have to prepare for competitions. During the week I train at home with dad on our panel in the garage; all the gyms are too far away and there is too much traffic to go there. I'm not very strong on plastic especially if I look at the international level; that's my point of reference and I'm always motivated to compare myself to understand my weak points. I have been climbing boulders on rock since I could stand on my feet, and there I learned and am learning to climb, together with my whole family. At the moment I don't like lead I have a lot of fears and I'm nowhere near climbing to my limit.

On the boulders, however, it's the opposite, even on the high ones I'm comfortable and I feel that that's where I'll be able to climb to my limit. I like to try any hard or easy line that appeals to me, clean new ones for both myself and other kids, especially my little brother. My favorite place is Fontainebleau for the atmosphere, the rock and the pastry shops! I climbed my first 7a there, I was 6 years old. The second is the San Gottardo pass; Here I have currently managed to climb two technical and harder lines: Scary Christmas and Steini Christmas, both 8a. Given my height, the first line I climbed was harder, especially the initial step, the rest of the moves were my style and I solved them quite quickly. I want to become stronger and more complete, both in competition and on rock, set records and become among the best climbers in the world, climbing and discovering new places around the world. All these are dreams, but as long as I can I will work hard to achieve them.

Moritz Welt, who previously has sent 18 routes 9a and 9a+, has done Wolfgang Gullich’s classic Action Directe (9a) in Frankenjura. Since the FA in 1991, it has been repeated 30 times.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The first time I've tried Action was about 5 years ago. As I grew up and started climbing in Frankenjura, this route was obviously one of the main targets I've always wanted to achieve. It always intimidated me more than other hard routes here. I don't know if it's the historical status or just the violent climbing style. However, the first time I properly projected on it was 2 years ago. I basically fell off the last couple moves for a full season, stopped progressing and gave up on it again. Then nothing happened, until this summer when I decided to spend my Frankenjura fall season on finally finishing Action. I still don't really know why, but already on the first session I felt better than ever and surprised myself with an ascent on the second.

It has been a great year for me in Frankenjura, haven't tried many different routes or spent many days here, but with Corona and Action I've finished both of my nemesis routes. And I'm really psyched to start into fall season with a fresh mindset!

Brooke Raboutou reports on Instagram that she and her brother have sent Box Therapy (8C+) in Wild Basin. "Shawn and I managed to do the ultimate dream: sibling send of box therapy, same day, back-to-back tries. To have our parents behind us shuffling pads and videoing was the cherry on top."

She first tried it last year and this year it only took the Olympian a few sessions to send it and her personal grade opinion is 8C. Daniel Woods put it up as an 8C+ and all the three previous repeaters have not commented on the grade. (c) Finn Stack

In the last 12 IFSC competitions Brooke has entered, her worst results was #5. Shawn has previously done two 9A's and overall he has one of the most impressive ticklists in the world.

Their parents are Didier Raboutou, one of the best rock and competition climbers some 30 years ago, and Robyn Erbesfield. She won the first World Cup she entered and in 1995, she won her last and also the world championship. In the 30+ World Cups she entered her worst result was #5 and she won the WC four straight years from 1992. Equally impressive is that she did her first 8c at age 49.

Victor Guillermin, who won the bronze at the Euro Youth Championship last month, has done Condé de choc (9a) in Entraygues. This was the seventh logged ascent in the 8a database since June. "Really cool and bouldery route 🔥🔥 with three big jumps... I was too weak to do the jump at the beginning during the send so I took the crimp🤫"

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I first tried this route this summer and did 2 goes to touch the holds... but it was really hot and I couldn't solve the first part of the route (8A+ crimpy boulder problem). Two weeks ago, I returned to Entraygues, and I managed to find a beta for the first part, and a beta for the second part (8b+ route). This weekend, I felt ready to send the route, but I couldn't pass the first part on Saturday, I was always falling on the last move, a big jump to a crimp (the picture). Then on Sunday, I decided to change my beta to not fall at this move again. Tanguy [Merard] told me to take a small crimp instead of doing the jump: physically it's a bit harder but it's less aleatory. Then I put in a try with this new method, and I was able to pass the boulder problem for the first time! Resting in between the two parts, I knew that I had to climb perfectly not to fall... luckily, I made no mistakes in this second part (with two other jumps) and I was able to send Condé de Choc, one of the coolest 9a I've ever climbed! A perfect day! I just want to say good luck to Tanguy and Lilian who are both working hard routes in Entraygues... be strong dudes!

Andrea Chelleris, who during the last two years has done five 9a's, has sent Sanjski par extension (9a) in Mišja Peč. "The route is so short and bouldery, I tried it after sending Martin krpan for some days last year from November to December but I needed more power to send it. I returned this year and sent it with no such good conditions."

What is your next plan?
I haven't decided yet. Maybe some onsight climbing.

We have recently implemented several new features and improvements, with a focus on aligning the website and the app. We have made it much easier to see the Vertical-Life app topos when coming from 8a, and implemented several smaller improvements, among them a new date format.

1 - 5000 topos just one click away
Over 5000 crags around the globe are covered in the Vertical-Life app, offering topos, access information, detailed crag descriptions, and offline functionality. They are marked by a colored pin. Via the 'Topos' button on the crag page, we added a link straight into the app to all of these crags. With the app, subscribers can easily navigate to the crag parking, check out the topos, and more.

>>> Use the code "Topo" to get three months of the Outdoor subscription for just one euro! Redeem it here.

2 - New Date Format and other improvements
• Changed date format to "11 Oct 2023" (from "10/11/2023").
• You can now click on the followers counts of other profiles to find others you might want to follow
• Improved 8a search with synonyms (e.g., "Carnage sit" finds "Carnage assis").
• Fixed search bug hiding non-ranking users.
• Enhanced the add ascent form, fixing issues with certain names.

3 - Vertical-Life App updates
• Aris Theodoropoulos' and Katie Rousso's updates for Kalymnos and app-only crags are all available in the app
• First crags of the new Schweiz Extrem West by Filidor published, more to come.
• South Tyrol guidebook available in print and app, covering 105 crags, including 11 new ones.

Up next is a big release in which we will synchronise all Vertical-Life and 8a ascents, routes, and logbooks, as well as the look of the app and website.

Anak Verhoeven reports on Instagram that she has completed Cosi se Arete (9a) in Rodellar. She wound up doing the route two times in one day, finishing off her second redpoint of it by headlamp. In total, the former very successful competition climber has done a dozen routes 9a and harder. More info to come!

"So, I waited until it was completely dark and, in the meantime, I attached my headlamp to my tanktop with a string I had found in my backpack (see last photo). This way it couldn’t drop down in the water and I could also place it back on my head with one hand (I made sure I practiced that first 😄) in case I knocked it off my head. Then I started climbing with a big black void underneath and a circle of light around my head. When looking down I saw the small speck of light from my headlamp reflected in the river. It felt great! I was a little more tired than during the daylight send and I could feel the humidity of the evening. The wall was full of little spiders that had come out at night. I had to move slightly more slowly to see all the holds and be precise, but I just kept going and going and going… 
I passed the first crux, and the second one. I was sure now that I could do it, but the endurance moves at the end are relentless. A few more movements to go… and I clipped the anchor a second time in the same day! Well, that hadn’t quite been the initial plan when I arrived at the crag that day. But what an amazing, impromptu experience... And that crazy idea I had to climb a 50-meter 9a in the dark actually turned out to be possible. 😆"

How did you prepare for the trip?
I prepared for this trip by training in the gym (climbing lead routes) and at home (power/strength training). I was home for about 3,5 months with an ankle injury. So, I first climbed on one leg for a bit, then I could carefully use both feet again without placing left heel hooks and finally, I was able to climb in a normal way again.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I worked the moves of the route for 4 or 5 sessions, before doing a first unplanned attempt on a day I had initially wanted to just make some bigger links. I climbed well and fell high up in the last crux due to an issue with a tickmark (and also a horizontally hanging quickdraw karabiner that stuck right into my eye at the hardest move of the route 😅). 2 days later I sent the route in my second redpoint attempt. And a few hours later I sent it again, but in the dark with a headlamp.

"Angelino Zeller is a three-time world champion in climbing. He is paralyzed from the waist down due to a paragliding accident. Angelino has always been active and has also worked professionally as an industrial climber. However, when he returned to indoor climbing during rehab after his accident, a spark ignited. He began to train regularly and to master climbing without using his legs. When climbing, he works solely with his upper body strength to gain momentum to perform the next one-arm pull-up through targeted swinging, a true tour de force. The Sarree2000 route in the Aosta Valley is his next project. Italian professional climber Stefano Ghisolfi climbed this 8a+ route back in 2015 without using his feet, simply to prove that it can be done.

Drew Ruana did the first repeat of Daniel Woods' The Ice Knife (sit-start) (8C+) last year.

Molly Thompson-Smith flashed Verna (8A) and sent three more 8A's last month, which we followed with an interview.