Janja Garnbret, who last weekend won the Arco Rock Master's Speed Duel, reports on Instagram that she has made a quick ascent of Underground 8c+/9a). The 24-year-old Slovenian has been the best female climber in the world since 2016 when she won her first, out of eight, World Championships. On rock, she onsighted her first 8b at age 15 and one year later she flashed La Fabelita (8c). She has also onsighted two 8c's but has not yet spent much time projecting routes. Her only 9a, she did at age 18 in a mere five tries.

Martina Demmel has done Chri-Su (8c) in Allgäu. The 21-year-old, has also onsighted eight routes 8a to 8b this summer, which makes her #1 in the 8a female ranking.

”Probably the route that I'm the proudest of yet/lately as it reflects my improvements in antistyles over the last 3 years (13 tries) what allowed some continuous progress. I haven't only struggled with the athletic start but also the resistance part higher up which threw me off once after finally connecting the start... Such an unforgettable moment, especially because of the fight all the way & epic condis during the send (huge thunderstorm around me)! Special thanks to Isi, Roland & Catrin for the memorable times at Rotti! Not finished yet here;)”

Can you tell us what a normal week for you looks like?
I don't have something like a normal week except for the months when I'm in school (from October - February): it's a special programme from the Bavarian police offered for professional athletes with police school from 7 am till 3 pm including 2 days when it finishes 2,5 hours earlier. So I would train (often with the national team members around Munich) for about 3-4 hours on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday + some strength & antagonist exercises two times a week in the morning. If the weather is good enough, the weekends are reserved for rock😊💃😁... the rest of the year varies a lot every week because it depends on the different phases I'm in😅😉.

Jules Marchaland, who was #10 in the Briancon World Cup, has done Punt'X (9a+) in Gorges du Loup.

"Puntx was a hard mental battle for me, I fell 20 times on the last two moves (and they are not super hard). It was a bit like a dream route for me because when I was younger I always saw some strong climbers trying the route. I did it in 18 sessions and fell at the top on my 7th."

How will you prepare for the Koper WC the next weekend?
Just climb outside, and do some endurance training in the gym, classic ;)

Karoline Sinnhuber, who has done 134 boulders 8A to 8B, has logged her first boulder in 2023, Nepomuk (8A+) in Silvretta. Previously this year, the Austrian has done three 8b+ graded routes.

Can you tell us more about Nepomuk and why you took such a long break from bouldering?
I twice had inflammation in my ring finger - first time on the right side, after my pulley injury, and then from December on, on the left side 🙄. So I couldn‘t climb, train and crimp as hard as I wanted - that‘s why I ended up on the rope 😁, the holds are more finger friendly than on boulders. Since I booked my flight to Red Rocks (which got cancelled, thanks Lufthansa), I tried to get back into the bouldering game.

The boulder itself has 25 moves, so the timing couldn‘t be better to try this one now with my lead shape 😂 The first part of the boulder is Niviuk, which was one of my first ever boulders in Silvretta. It took me quite a while to figure out the sequences again, but when i found it, I managed to get through to the transition part every time.

The transition consists of a rest on heels and toes, before you get into the last bouldery moves of ‚Nevio‘. After all theses moves I found the last part quite hard, with all those crimps for the left hand.

The third annual Route Setter Magazine Photo Contest is back! Share your best indoor photos on the Gallery throughout the month of September for a chance to win raffle prizes and, if you're skilled enough to make it into the jury's top-three, you'll earn yourself a chunk of the 2700€ cash purse and maybe even a spot on the magazine's cover.

Gym Vibes is the theme for this year's contest, and the spotlight is on all of the elements of indoor climbing that fuel us: movement, routesetting, design and community. Go to the gallery to upload your submission and to vote for your favourites. The cash prize winners will be chosen by the Vertical-Life jury and announced with the release of RSM #6 in November! Raffle prizes by Saltic are up for grabs, too, among all participants AND voters!

About Route Setter Magazine
In 2016, Vertical-Life launched a software tool for gyms that focuses on routesetting management and analysis, with the basis for indoor ascent logging via the Vertical-Life app. As we talked with our customers - gym owners and setters from around the globe - we felt the need to create a dedicated space for their stories and the past, present and future of their craft. And so, the first edition of the Route Setter Magazine was published in 2018, the first publication dedicated solely to sharing knowledge and innovation in the field of routesetting and indoor climbing. Each year since, RSM covers industry developments and the stories and perspectives of leading routesetters and gym professionals from around the globe. Click here for more information about the Route Setter Magazine, and good luck!

Austin Hoyt spent five weeks in Rocklands this summer and came up with an impressive ticklist including Monkey Wedding (8C). "Magical! 8 days I think, two taped tips and a lot of fucking psych. Thank you everyone who supported me and especially Bryce. Turned into a mental battle for me, god I love this sport." Last week he was featured as being the #1 in the Top-100 boulder ranking game (now he is #2).

BJ Tilden has done the FA of The Ritual (9a) in Ten Sleep Canyon (WY). "Another hard and awesome one in the temple! Not as hard as Pneuma (9a) but seems solid in the grade. Different style but just as high quality." (c) Matt Pincus

Can you tell us more about your latest 9a?
I tried this route a couple of days two years ago and thought it was really cool. I didn’t get back to it last summer, so it was really on my mind for this summer. It took ten days this year. All of which were day trips from Lander to Tensleep. Leaving at noon and getting home at midnight. The route definitely turned out to be harder than I originally thought. The upper boulder is very high percentage in isolation. I was pretty much 100% on it from anywhere on the route, but it was a different story from the ground. The rest in the middle is really not that great, and the route stays on you all the way to the anchor hold.

Interestingly enough, the 42-year-old has his highest score on 8a since he started logging routes 21 years ago. In the 8a 40+ ranking game, Tilden is #2 after Daniel Fuertes.

Sébastien Berthe, who two weeks ago sent Rayu, including a flash of the hardest pitch which he gave a personal 8b+ grade, has done Orbayu (8c). Both 500-metre routes were done ground up in one day. So far in 2023, the Belgian has done La Rambla (9a+), sent 100 7A's in Font in one day and onsighted Ajo crudo (8c). (c) Erwan Rucay

"Last week I sent Orbayu in a day on Picu Urielu, Picos de Europa on my first ever day climbing on it. This 500m 8c multi-pitch is located on the West Face of Picu Urriellu, more commonly known as Naranjo De Bulnes in the Picos de Europa National Park, Spain. The 14-pitch line is in part a free version of Mediterraneo, an aid route established in 1980, and was first climbed free in 2009 by Iker Pou and his brother Eneko. Previous repeats were carried out by Nicolas Favresse and Adam Pustelnik in 2011, Cédric Lachat in 2014, Edu Marin in 2016, Gorka Karapeto in 2017, and Siebe Vanhee in 2020.

On Friday 25th of August, together with French climbers Soline Kentzel, Ugo Monier, Erwan Rucay (last two came to take pictures and climb a bit in the first pitches), we started on the first 7c pitch at 7:15 am. I climbed fast and strong through the first 4 pitches (graded 7c, 8a+, 8a and 7a, but are most probably easier than that) flashing or onsighting all of them. I arrived at the base of the crux pitch around 10 am, feeling fresh, confident and ready to try hard!

The only bad news: the weather was changing a lot, and clouds were dangerously coming closer and closer. The name of the route, “orbayu”, comes from the very typical low clouds coming from the ocean that are literally eating you: wet fog and not much visibility. The least we can say is that we had our dose of Orbayu that day! As soon as I started climbing on the 8c pitch, Orbayu clouds were on us.

My first flash go stopped quite fast: I fell at the crux due to a wrong beta. Then, I spent almost an hour finding my way up to the anchor and dialing the beta. After the crux, the final bit of the pitch has no bolts anymore and is quite tricky: quite physical climbing, slippery pockets (pinscars where aidclimbers would put pegs), hard to protect,... Back down to the belay, I felt confident and optimistic about my chance of success that day.

Unfortunately, my second attempt didn’t really go as expected: the clouds were soaking us… Rock was still dry, but ropes, draws, skin were wet. Rope drag was terrible due to water on the rope, I slipped once, I slipped twice, but stayed somehow on the wall. But after a battle on the crux, this try ended badly: I fell at the last move of the section with a split fingertip, a bloody wound on my index finger.

The orbayu was coming in and out and it was impossible to predict when it would be time to climb. After a really long rest, I put some tape on my finger and I went for the third try. It ended the same way as the 2nd. Things were going bad and my chances of doing it were decreasing drastically…

I felt tired and pessimistic. But Soline, Ugo and Erwan were so happy and psyched! The mood was great and I can only recommend you to bring in your own multipitch project 🙂 I decided to give it a last go, just for the game. The climbing was hard, I was slow and weak. skin hurt. The crew was cheering so much. The battle was on! Somehow, thanks to those guys, I climbed my way through the crux. I now needed to stay really calm and focused. I took my time and fought so hard in the final section, feeling tired and pumped. What a moment to finally clip the anchor after about 30min of fight! Wow, I couldn't really believe what I had just done… It was 5pm (spent about 6-7 hours on that pitch) and we had to be fast: there were 10 more tricky pitches on gears… I onsighted the following 8a and Soline and I kept moving slowly (quite easy climbing but interesting protection and itinerary) to the top of Picu Urielu! “Cumbre” above the clouds, it was 11 p.m. We finally reached the parking lot at 3am, getting lost a few times in the very wet clouds on the way down… Ugo and Erwan were still waiting for us with food, grateful! A nice 21hours-day! Thanks to Soline, Erwan, Ugo, Siebe, Nolwen, Kico and Alvaro!

Note: Hard for me to give an honest opinion about the grade of the crux pitch. Conditions were probably not optimal and I struggled quite hard… Previous climbers gave it around 8c. Compared to the other sport climbs I’ve done around here, it felt similar to the 8c’s I’ve tried. Still, I would not be surprised if it was 8b+. It is probably harder than the crux pitch of Rayu. Anyway, another great climb out there!"

Siara Fabbri sent Creatures of Comfort (8A+) in March. Here is an interview with the antimatter researcher after she did her first 8B+. In the 8a ranking game, the 30-year-old is #5.

Roxane Durand, who did her first 8b at age 34 , and three 8B+'s already this year, has sent Agressif you want (8c) in La Ramirole. (c) Gilles Photography

"A physical, powerful, and methodical path. I put my fingers on it at the end of summer 2021, at first it was abusing me, but today I tamed it! 6 sessions in 2021, 7 in 2022 post-school recovery, and 6 this year to clip this much coveted belay.

My first real 8c, here's the secret recipe: 1 - In the heatwave, return to your post-injury recovery project 2 - Realising we can still move 😊 3 - Lose 20°c in 2 days --> Monostopper the track 4 - Embark with the golden Marjorie Juarez for a day session from Nice, the very last day of my holidays 5 - Whistle at the chain 🤩🥳🎉"

Can you tell us about your climbing background and how you live your daily climbing life?
I started in 2000 and have climbed more and more often over the years. I spent 10 years living near Fontainebleau but I'm more a cliff climber.

I am a Physical Education teacher in high school and since 5 years I live in Nice and have enough free time to climb 3 or 4 times a week on the many crags around Nice like Gorges du Loup, Peillon, Castillon... The climate of the region really allows you to climb in pleasant temperatures 365 days a year 🙂