Molly Thompson-Smith, who was #10 in the Led World Cup in 2023, has done her first 8A flash, Verna in Mardale head. During the same trip she also sent Downstairs Mixup (8A) and Eagle Huntress (stand) (8A)

Can you tell us more about these ascents?
It’s been a challenging time recently so my partner Sam and I wanted to go to the Lake District for a couple days just to get away. I didn’t really intend on trying particularly hard during this trip, but friends of ours were keen to visit Mardale Head which is a small venue with a fair few hard boulders, and we ended up joining them there. I’d seen my friend Aidan flash Verna (used to be 7C+ but then a hold broke apparently making it harder) in a Wedge video recently, so the possibility of flashing it was in the back of my mind. It’s a pretty straightforward line of small crimps on a small boulder so it was an easy one to suss out from the floor, and didn’t take too much figuring out - just hard crimping! I’ve had sore fingers for a little while so flashing this, and it feeling pretty steady, was a really nice reward for all my patience and rehab lately!

We then moved up to the boulder that the group had come for, but with patchy rain and a big grey cloud coming in quick we didn’t have much time for us all to try Eagle Huntress. I’ve recently developed a new super skill of sending the boulder on the last possible attempt before the rain comes in, and that’s exactly what happened on Eagle Huntress stand! This was another small win for me as although the landing is safe, you end up climbing over a downward sloping boulder meaning you could have an awkward fall. Although I’ve made lots of progress mentally and physically with my confidence since I fractured my ankle last September, I still get spooked fairly easily when bouldering outside, so this one was a test of braveness for me and I was happy to not let my fear hold me back!

On our second day we headed to Sour Milk Ghill - a small but beautiful location near Scafell Pike. I wanted to try Downstairs Mixup - a pretty ratty 8A - as well as some easier classics. It took some figuring out and really small crimping, but I was psyched to walk away with another 8A send with some alternative beta for little people! It’s always an enjoyable challenge figuring out beta that’s better for short people so it was fun to play on this one!

Solveig Korherr has done Spanish Caravan (8c) in La Ramirole. "Revenge on this one after the heat wave. 50m tufa madness. Happy to do the kingline of the cliff. There are quite a few very big moves. It’s definitely harder for shorter people." (c) Jon Shen

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I first went to La Ramirole at the beginning of August, when it unfortunately started to get very hot. I had quite a hard time on „Spanish Caravan“, especially in the lower part which shares the same start as „Bohemian Symphony“ which I wanted to do first. There were quite a few very big and powerful moves in between the tufas, where I most of the time felt very stretched. After one week of over 30 degrees at the crag, we decided to change destination and go higher in altitude.

At the beginning of September, we came back to La Ramirole, and luckily had much cooler conditions. The lower part of Spanish caravan started to feel better and better and a lot more flowly than before. It took me a few more tries to figure out my beta and find all the kneebars for the whole traversing upper part until I was able to send it. It was a great feeling to clip the anchor of this 50m kingline that traverses through the steepest part of the cave.

Connor Herson has made the first repeat of Ethan Pringle’s Blackbeard’s Tears (8c+), done in 2016, at the Promontory, after projecting it for seven sessions. The 40m crack was originally put up as an aid route by Matthias Holladay who had freed the first 6c section. There is also a glue-in anchor two-thirds up that goes at 8a.

"Blackbeard’s Tears is essentially a long, steep 5.13 crack to a good rest, to a hard boulder. The boulder consists of pulling a roof and really puts a lot of pressure on my right pinky. Two days before I sent it, I ripped a massive flapper there, so I had to change my beta to get that hold with my left hand instead. I didn’t really expect to send the day I did, but everything worked out and I found myself clipping the chains! Stay tuned for a short video ;)"

Carlo Traversi, who has been working on Blackbeard’s took the above picture and says, "Connor is a very talented climber, especially with cracks. You can get a no-hands rest [after the second anchor] in a few ways but Connor used a bat hang."

Connor Herson made his first 8a headline in 2018 when he did an 8c+, 2nd go at age 14. In the same year, he repeated The Nose 8b+ MP; and was #11 in the Youth World Championship. Last year he did the bolted route Empath 9a (+) on trad gear and later he was #12 in the YWC after being #2 in the qualification round. In August, we reported that he had done two 8c trad routes and a 9a in Squamish.

Last weekend, he was busy putting up the 13-pitch Hairline (8b) which summits Mt. Whitney (4 421 meters) together with Fan Yang. Connor has the full report on Instagram. Interview from last year: ”Multi discipline excellence”.

September is coming to an end, which means so too is the RSM Photo Contest. Scroll through the Indoor Gallery and give your favorite photos a Venga! It’s not too late to sneak in, if you have some photos that encompass the Gym Vibes that inspire us: movement, route setting, design and community.
Click here to get started or to give your favorites some Venga love. With big cash and sponsored prizes for the crowd favorite AND participants AND voters, there’s nothing to lose but time!

Sorato Anraku, 16, the overall Boulder World Cup winner, won the title also in Lead, in dominating fashion, by winning the last three events. In fact, the 16-year-old was so dominant that he would have won by a large margin had he only done the last three events. Alex Megos was runner-up after having been Top-5 in four events, out of the six he participated in. Taking into account also the bronze Megos won at the World Championships, in August, 2023 was his best competition year ever as a non-junior competitor. Fifth overall, Toby Roberts, also just participated in four WC events, which also hurt his overall ranking. Complete results

Jessica Pilz, who won two World Cups and the World Championship in 2018, is the 2023 overall Lead World Cup winner. Janja Garnbret was runner-up after having won the only three events she participated in. If the Slovenian had been #15 in one of the three remaining World Cups in 2023, she would have won. Also, Ai Mori, #4 overall after Vita Lukan, who got the bronze, only participated in three events being 2 - 2 - 1. If she had been #3 in one event she skipped, she would have overtaken Pilz. Complete ranking

Ryuichi Murai did the 8m tall Livin' Large (8C) in August and here is the 8a news including comments from Murai.

Jennifer Wood, who was #11 in her only Euro Cup in 2023, has done the FA of Paklinski Waves (8c) in Hvar. The 27-year-old did her first 8c this summer after previously only having one 8b+ in her bag.

“I’d never heard of Hvar until I saw they had a climbing festival there a couple of months ago! I did some research and it looked so good! Big caves full of mouthwatering tufas! I saw there were quite a few projects too so found out a little, checked they were open projects etc. and got stuck into one 2 minutes from our back door! It’s a really cool line, a pumpy tufa intro into a compression boulder followed by some crimpy squirming. I’d been told the route was thought to be around about the 8c range by people who had tried it previously and for me it definitely felt like the hardest route I have done by a little way so I think 8c seemed fair.”

What is your climbing background?
Largely a comp climber on the GB national team. But I love my annual trips to Kalymnos. I’ve done a few less comps this year though so got psyched to get stuck into harder stuff outdoors and branch out from Kalymnos. Funny that the climbing in Hvar was actually pretty similar!

Team Japan set a new standard winning five medals in the Lead World Cup in Wujiang, China. Sorato Anraku and Ai Mori were dominant winners and there were five males and four females from Japan in the Top-6. Among the women, Jessica Pilz was #2 and the Austrian also won overall. The runner-up among the men was Shion Omata. Bronze medalists were Natsuki Tanii and Taisei Homma. © Dimitris Tosidis/IFSC

Anraku, 16, who had secured the overall victory prior to Wujiang, comments on his third Lead WC win in a row;
“I’m just happy to win another medal here in Wujiang. I’m frustrated not to top the route though. I have the Asian Games next week so I will try there. I love climbing and I don’t want to stop. I’m going to carry on forever.” Complete results

Mori, who won the gold at the World Championship in August, comments on her victory;
“Before climbing I was very nervous, but now I’ve won I’m very happy. I feel a lot of pressure, mostly that I put on myself, I just don’t feel confident. But if I don’t have confidence in myself I can’t win, so I have to tell myself a lot I can do it.” Complete results

It should be mentioned that many of the best climbers from USA and Europe did not participate.