Erwan Legrand has claimed the first ascent of Le Bombé Bleu at Buoux, a route bolted by Marc Le Menestrel back in 1991. Despite attempts from many of the world’s top climbers over the years, the crux move, a long diagonal dyno from a one-finger pocket to a shallow two-finger pocket, wasn’t completed until 2021 by Nico Pelorson. Erwan spent around 15 sessions on the climb, remarkably sending it without wearing climbing shoes.

The route is also notorious for a 1992 French magazine report claiming Juraj Rečka, one of the best climbers at that time with two 8c’s under his belt, had made the first ascent—a claim now widely considered incorrect. At just 17, Erwan is the son of François Legrand, the dominant competition climber from 1990 to 1995, who won all three World Championships and 15 of 27 World Cup events. More details on Erwan’s ascent are expected soon.

Mejdi Schalck repeated Daniel Woods’ Defying Gravity (8C) in November.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I took 6 sessions to do it and sent it with bleeding fingers and tape 😂 It was always on my dream list. But for me one of the best boulder in the world. Better than it looks in the videos.

Andrea Lostia di Santa Sofia, who the last 15 months has done his first seven 8c+’, has completed Estado critico (9a) in Siurana.

Can you tell us more about the trip and doing your first 9a?
When Alessandro Larcher called me he knew I was one of the crazy few unemployed people that he could count on coming to a last minute trip to Spain. I thought about it for a sum of five seconds then I agreed, I couldn't miss out on a trip to Siurana with Alessandro, one of the people whose company not only I enjoy, but has been a catalyst to my growth as a climber.

So a week later there we were, under El Pati, surrounded by the routes that inspired many before us, routes like La Rambla, milestones in the history of climbing. One of these routes caught our attention, Estado Critico, a kingline following Kale Borroka's tricky then conquering the black striped headwall.

Choosing Estado Critico as a project for our trip was surely a big commitment, with only 6 climbing days Ale was skeptical about trying it seriously, the thought of investing the whole trip on a single route with a good chance not to send it was a thought we had to come to terms with.

That is why Ale didn't go all in on the route up until the very last few days, and managed to climb other hard routes like Directa Jabalì intead of focusing on just one. My tactic was to try Estado Critico for the first tries of the day until my quality dropped, then switch to other routes to keep some variety.

I managed to send the route on my last try of my last climbing day, just before driving to Barcelona to fly back home, at the base of the wall when I was tying up I felt the pressure, I already highpointed on my previous try so I should have been tired but my mind was numb, as soon as I started climbing everything was switched off, perfect clarity and just a general sense of peace and silence.

Amélie Kägi, who last year became the Switzerland champion in all three disciplines in U-17, has sent Flow my tears (8B) in Chironico in just one session. During the last ten weeks, the 14-year-old has previously sent eight boulders 8A or 8A+ included one flash.

Can you tell us more doing your first 8B?
We had a beautiful day in Chironico. Since it was quite warm, we were able to warm up near the boulder in the sun. There was some shade on the boulder itself, so the conditions were pretty good. First, I tried to work out all the moves and find a good beta.

This boulder has some very nice, hard moves, mostly on slopers. I managed to do them all fairly quickly, except for the first move. I struggled a lot with the heel hook on the left. After I figured it out, I did some sendgoes, but I always missed a hold. You have to be very precise to grab the hold, which is quite difficult because you can't see around the edge. After optimizing my beta, I sent this cool boulder.

Sera Gearhart, #2 in the female ranking game, has done Gringo (8A+) in The Swell. ”Scenery unmatched! First move not the crux for me, my skin always felt wrong on those middle holds. 1-2 w/tay.”

So what does ”1-2 w/tay” mean?
It just means that Tay and I both did the boulder the same day back to back :)

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
This is a really beautiful setting for climbing. Tay and I went to the swell over the weekend and climbed the boulder together and with nearly the same beta which is very unusual for us! For me, the crux of the boulder was the middle which I think is a different experience than most. The cross move always felt like I was going to dry fire, and I did a few times. In contrast, the first move felt pretty repeatable to me. One of the prettiest boulders in the area!

Alex Megos, with a dozen routes 9b or beyond to his name, has repeated Jules Marchaland’s Le bruit de l’acid (9b) in Claret. Here is the Vertical-Life interview from last November. ”Worked the route for 3 days and then sent on day 4 after a rest day. Such a good move in the middle!! Dyno from a little pinch to a tufa. Unbelievable that such a move exists not only on the Kilterboard 😂 Very much my style I would say. Not the hardest of 9b's, but also not 9a+ anymore in my eyes.” (c) Sam Bie

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Well it all started with seeing the video of Jules and after talking to him he said it's like an 8B Kilterboard boulder in the middle of the route 😂. That of course got me psyched. The weather in the Frankenjura was not too good a couple of weeks ago so we made the decision to come to Claret to finally climb on rock again. Already on the first day I knew the route is totally my style. I could do all the moves without too much trouble. On day 2 and 3 I worked on sequences and made sure I have the end dialed. On day 4 (after a rest day) the weather was pretty windy, so quite good for sending. I redid the moves for warm up, gave it one go, fell on the huge drive by move, rested for 45min and then did it.

What are your competition plans for 2026?
Not sure yet to be honest. Focus is definitely on rock, but I'm not sure how many (if any) world cups I'm doing.

Luca Bacer, a PhD student in mathematics, has completed Xaxid hostel (9a) in Mišja Peč. ”The best climbing flow I’ve ever had.” (c) Nicholas Hobley

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I first tried the route two years ago, after climbing Sanjski Par, but this has been the first season I’ve really decided to put serious effort into it.

Two months ago I started working on it more consistently and managed to do some good links, although I had never gotten through the first crux.

Yesterday, despite the bad conditions, I did the first boulder and then climbed all the way to the top. Clipping the chains was an incredible relief

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Adam Ondra, who last year flashed three 8B+’ and his first 8C, reports on Instagram that he has flashed The Lion's Share (8C) in Brione. Aidan Roberts made the FA in 2023 and said it was perhaps 8C or even 8C+.

Including also 19 flashes 8B or 8B+, Ondra has the most impressive flash tick list out there by a great margin. More info to come.

”There are more candidates 8C flash for the next few days.”

Willow Petrobelli has made a great comeback after a spine injury sending Pal este (8c) as well as Via del Quim (8b+) in Margalef. (c) Filmbychen

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your climbing background?
I first tried the route three years ago when it was way out of my grade range but it instantly inspired me. The sequences are beautiful the whole way and the top crux just seemed unfathomable to link from the floor!! Then a year and a half ago I found out I had stress fractures in my spine and had to take 6 months completely off climbing or training of any kind. I started climbing again almost exactly a year ago now so to get my hardest send relatively soon after that is something I’m very proud of :)

I pulled back on Pal Este in October for 2 days and was instantly suprised how possible it felt! I was able to makes some big links and planned to come back at Christmas for 2 weeks to try and send. But sadly it rained the whole time and I only got 3 semi-dry days on the route. On the last day of that trip I managed to get past the high crux twice, falling off the very last move to a slightly wet hold. From there I knew it was just the matter of booking another trip :)

I’ve been climbing in Margalef for over 10 years, mainly with my mum. The rock, the place and the people are very very special. I wouldn’t have wanted to send anywhere else :)