Arief Nagara, who did Lethal Design (8A+) last year, has had a productive month doing five 8A's and at Freaks. In total, the 13-year-old has a very wide grade pyramid which includes 43 boulders 7C+ to 8A+. Last year, his 8a headline was 78 boulder 7B+ to 8A. His father Innosanto comments,

”I mentioned to Arief that you'd inquired. He feels the notable thing that he's done is in relation to his progression on ropes. That he basically went from being pretty much stuck at 5.13a/b to doing a 5.14a in just three months. To me what is notable is that he's good at building a broad base for his pyramid--with a lot of climbs at the grade, of varying styles and types of rock. Often his 'first of the grade' is on the soft side, and he knows that, but it helps with the mental motivation, and once there is a breakthrough it becomes about broadening.”

Ben Moon put up Hubble (8c+) in 1990 and lately, it has also been called the first 9a in the world. In 2015, he made a comeback and sent Rainshadow (9a).

Kim Marschner, who has already done eight 8C’s, has done the first boulder ascent of Unendliche Geschichte 1+2+3 (8C) in Magic Wood. The FA was done in 2009 by Peter Würth, who added four bolts to extend the classic The Never Ending Story (8B+). The bolted route has been repeated around ten times with a rope. Elias Arriagada Krüger

How did you arrange all safety logistics?
I tried to even out the landing with sticks. That saved me like four or five crash pads. In the end, I had around 20 pads. Without those it just would have been too dangerous I think. I only used one pad and a sit-start pad for the first two parts. The landing took me about two hours and every day I added a few more sticks to extend it. I took quite a while to get all the pads there, haha. The first day I had to get pads from everywhere in the forest because my friends had their pads stashed at many boulders. It was a bit of a hike😅. Luckily, [the next day] I got the code of a pad stash with 8 Pads, I had 6 pads and some friends had pads as well.

Jessica Pilz, who sent an 8c+ in an hour this Monday, has done Gambit (8c+) Schleier Wasserfall, in just four tries. ”One of the best routes I’ve climbed so far. 3rd go today (4th in total). thx Misha [Piccolruaz] for the patience and belay :)” The picture is from 2021 on Jessy's first attempt of Wagnis Orange (8c). (c) Paul Lewandovski

How many days have you been climbing outdoors since the picture was taken?
Monday this week was my first day outside in 2023. Since the picture was taken less than 5 days, I think...

Can you tell us more about the Gambit?
I checked out the route on Tuesday, but it was too sunny for the upper part, so I couldn’t do all the moves. Yesterday it was cloudy and much better conditions, I worked the moves one more time and then I did my first attempt from the ground. Surprisingly I made it through the roof and fell on the last hard move. On my next try, the moves felt already so much easier and I came to the crux a bit fresher. I got a bit nervous on the runout, which is not hard but you skip a clip and the footholds are not the best, but it all worked out :)

Any thought of starting projecting a 9a?
No plans for future projects yet, because I will have a week of rest now and then I will see if I am still in shape 😅.


Michael Piccolruaz comments the impressive send. ”Jessy is definitely in great shape. It's great to see that she manages to translate her comp fitness also to the rocks. I got to belay her on Gambit, a route I had previously climbed myself, and it was super impressive to see how easily she climbed through the hardest moves, seemingly not getting pumped at all. She has now done 2 classic 8c+, both solid for the grade, in just a couple tries each. Clearly she can climb a lot harder and I'm excited to see what's possible in the next months.”

Adam Ondra has had yet another day for the record books by onsighting two 8c’s and putting up a 9a+ in Ter. The 30-year-old has now onsighted 95 routes 8c to 9a and redpointed 76 routes 9a+ to 9c. (c) Kuba Sobotka

Fantazija (9a+): ”Just right of Umetnost. Bolted by Rajko Zajc and tried by Jernej Kruder. Easier intro into a very intense power endurance masterpiece. Tried one day with wrong beta and got quite close, next day [did it] first try. Fantastic route, but mostly if your span is at 180cm at minimum. If you are shorter, it might go but much harder.”

Kingslayer (8c): ”Hard to find a route so perfect, anywhere in the world. Not so clear for onsight, had to dig quite deep.”

Inferno do vrha (8c): ”Almost as good as Kingslayer :-D epic fight to end the day.”

Dylan Chuat has repeated Samuel Ometz' La Mola mola (9a) at Plamproz. ”FA'ed by the one and only Sam Ometz. I’d been there the very first time at the start of the covid while Sam was trying it out and it was way too hard for me, so I went back a few weeks ago in training mode to get back into shape because I’d become weak.

And it really took me a while to understand the crux of heel hooking, but once I took a fall all the way at the top I understood that little detail I’d been missing, and it worked! In any case too happy to have made [completed] this jewel! Thanks Sam 😘”

Beckett Hsin has done Midnight Express (8B+) in Boulder Canyon. "So much time, effort, and emotion into this one, very psyched to have finally done it. Proudest send to date."

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The difficulty of the climb revolves around the first two moves, and then from there it’s a committing and powerful sequence to the top. Last year, I spent multiple days just trying to link the first two moves together, and I came frustratingly close. After a short break I came back taller, and finally finished it first week of the season.

What is next?
I’d like to build a bigger base of easier boulders, but I’m also psyched to try Echale (8B) and The Game by the end of the year!

Pete Whittaker reports on Instagram that he has done the 100m trad line, Crown Royale (9a) in Jøssingfjord. Pete untied and free soloed the final 20m to reach the summit without movement-hindering rope drag. In 2019, Pete sent Recovery drink (8c+) at the same crag. (c) Andrew Burr

When did you start projecting it?
I worked on the bottom section back in 2018, then did it in 2019. The top section I started working this year, and then I finally linked the two sections together this year as well.

How many sessions did it take and how was the process?
I don’t know how many sessions overall, maybe a bit over 30 if you count the sessions from back in 2018. I also had some sessions just abseiling the line brushing and checking the holds in trainers, but not really climbing that much.

Describe what went through your mind once you realized you had to untie?
Relief, because the rope drag was so bad. Where I untied is a big ledge and incredibly easy climbing to the top. I knew I would have to untie or come off belay at some point, as the wall is 100m but I only had an 80m rope, so it wasn’t unexpected.

How long did the ascent take and how many kilos of gear did you start with?
The ascent maybe took an hour? Not entirely sure, that's a bit of a guess. I placed 17 pieces overall. I started with 8 pieces and tagged up the remaining 9 from the halfway rest. I've no idea about the weight of the rack, I tried to select small pieces in general.

Martin Keller reports on Instagram that he has, after 150 sessions, done the FA of Gateway (8C+) in Cresciano, after the crux hold was broken. Originally, James Webb put it up in 2019, video. (c) Vladek Zumr

The 45-year-old is known for his projecting persistence, having completed Dreamtime (8C) in 2020, after trying it for 18 years, as well as Highlander (8B+) which took him 13 years. He also made the FA of Ninja Skills SDC 8C/+ after some 150 sessions.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the 150 sessions? From not being able to do the single hard crux-moves, to coming very close to send, to breaking (a few times) the crux-hold at the end, to not being sure if it still would go, to having to rebuild the landing after a tree took all the landing out, to fall on the last hard move a year before the send, to finally link all 20+ hard moves on the last night of the season before summer hit - and not slipping off the final mantle and slab at 2am on a solo afterworksession (after a full day of work).

I really loved my time up there as the boulder sits in a beautiful setting, offers an amazing line and some of the best climbing I can imagine with super powerful but also at the same time very techy moves - and a hard mantle to finish up (if you are not tall as jimmy!) - full package!!!

It was also great to test and fine tune some of my (new) training ideas and approaches - very happy on how well it worked - the increase in fitness over winter blew my mind!!! you know how it is with 40+ ... you always wonder when you can't progress anymore... turns out 46 is not the end at all - still progressing ;)

How was the 24 h timeline of he actual send day?
Getting up at 5.50 am. Jumping on a train and while on the train doing some client-feedback for my climbing- coaching (answering questions about the weekly training, tactical approaches for trips ). Then teaching 3 lectures (Business and economics) at technical university during the day. Back on a train in the late afternoon and some more client feedback. Arriving home i went for a 45min powernap. Cold shower. Food. Coffee. Left home around 8pm. Arrived at the boulder in Ticino around 11pm. Usual warmup ritual (mindset work included). Snacking (Choco-Croissant). 1am first try - heel slipped in the crux at the end. Long rest. Going for a walk. More snacking (Carrot-cake ;). Finally had the one perfect go with no mistake, still nearly slipped on the mantel - topped it out around 2am (2nd try of the night). No big screaming. Just very contempt. Long rest on top of the boulder. More Snacking. Back home around 7am I guess. Good thing work started at 1pm that day - not at 8am ;)

Christopher Barlow has, at age 41, done his first 8c+ Waka Flocka Flame in Rifle (CO). "I got excited about Waka Flocka Flame kind of accidentally. I had done the two independent lines and started trying the link up mainly as training when it was too hot for other routes. Then, I started getting closer and more obsessed with actually sending it."

Yesterday, he also sent Nostalgie in Wasteland, as his first 8c in two years.

How have you managed to climb your hardest at age 41?
I think my progress is based partly on simply focusing on foundational strength and power for many years now. I honestly feel more "injury-proof" now than in my early thirties. I think my real superpower is my discipline and rather ruthless time efficiency. I've really distilled my life into mostly family, career, and climbing (and training). It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

What does your normal climbing week look like?
Due to my job (running outdoor adventure courses), my week can vary a lot. I try to align my climbing and training with that - lighter work times are for performance, moderate periods for training, and super heavy work weeks are when I rest. A "typical" week would include 1-2 short strength sessions, a few power-focused sessions, a day of "daddy rock climbing" (when I get to prioritize my climbing), and then another family climbing day, which can be anything from fun (with some focused climbing) to utter chaos.

How do you train?
I train mostly in my garage on a steep, short spray wall, hangboard, and weights. I usually train early in the morning when the rest of the family is still asleep or waking up. My workouts are shorter and very focused. Similarly, I really try to maximize my climbing days. I drive way too fast to the crag and hustle between pitches. I think I annoy most of my partners because I don't do much sitting around talking.

I definitely live at a pretty fast pace. I'm working on slowing down. I'll work after my kids go to bed or early in the morning to offset the time during a work day that I train and climb. I'll send work emails when resting between boulder problems. I'd like to think that my discipline and focus helps me have more time to enjoy fun with my family and the fun of quality effort in climbing.