Jorge Diaz-Rullo has repeated Beto Rocasolano's Hipoxia (8C) in Navalosa. On Instagram he reports that he did it during his third session and that this was his first time bouldering in 18 months. This was the sixth 8C for the 24-year-old who last year did his first 9b+ route. (c) Lucy Walker

” What an illusion to do the hardest boulder in Navalosa, one of the sectors where I started climbing and a very special place for me. There have been three sessions during the hot month of August, although in my last session I had a small window of good weather and quite good conditions, being able to do it on the first try. About the level, I have doubts since I haven't made a block for a long time and I have been testing it with enough heat for those strips, I felt it a bit easier but well, let's see what the following repeaters think.”

Stefano Ghisolfi, who was #16 in the Bern WCH, has made the second repeat, after Jakob Schubert, of Adam Ondra's Kangaroo's Limb (9a+) in Flatanger. In total, the Italian has now done 30 routes 9a+ to 9b+. (c) Sara Grippo

Can you tell us more about the ascent and also say something about your big project?
I tried Kangaroo's Limb as a side project while trying Silence. In total, I worked on it for 8 days but on some of them I did just one or two goes after trying the main project. In the end, when I was feeling ready to send it, I focused on attempts and sent it the day after. On Silence I'm slowly improving on the crux, I could do it in two parts but connecting them together seems still far. Now I'll be back home for the Rockmaster and the World Cup in Koper and then I'll come back to Flatanger for a few more days

Bayes Wilder, who sent his first 8c+ at age ten, has done General Litzenheimer (8c+) in Ten Sleep Canyon (WY) earlier this month. The 12-year-old is a multi-discipline climber doing trad, competitions, boulder and multi-pitch climbing. His father Matt Wilder moderates Bayes' Instagram with many great stories.

Laura Rogora reports on Instagram that she has onsighted Los lunnis (8b+) in Rumenes and Ajo crudo (8c) in Cicera. "I started climbing [the 8c] with the idea of checking the moves. I have not climbed on rock for a long time and there were no quickdraws on the wall. But when I started I felt well and decided to give it a try and move by move I unexpectedly made it to the top. The line is super nice and the route was totally my style, not really overhanging with crimps and partial rest between the boulders."

The Italian, who onsighted her first 8b at age 14, has previously onsighted three 8b+'s which makes her a contender for the most impressive female onsight ticklist. Janja Garnbret has onsighted two 8c's and a couple 8b's and 8b+'s. When it comes to redpoints, Laura has done more than 20 routes 8c+/9a to Erebor (9b).

Japan won three golds and a further four medals in the Boulder event at the Youth World Championship in Seoul. In Lead, they took eleven medals making them the best performing country at the YWC, for the second year in a row. Sara Copar (SLO) and Ryusei Hamada (JPN), who both won in Lead, earned silver in Boulder, giving them both the best overall individual results.

U20:
1. Junta Sekiguchi JPN - Selma Elhadj Mimoune FRA
2. Yannick Nagel GER - Sara Copar SLO
3. Hannes Van Duysen BEL - Iziar Martinez Almendros ESP


U18:
1. Ritsu Kayatoni JPN - Kaho Murakoshi JPN
2. Raito Kato JPN - Jennifer Buckley SLO
3. Thomas Lemagner FRA - Lily Abriat FRA


U16: (c) Dimitris Tosidis/IFSC
1. Hyunseung Noh KOR - Analise Van Hoang USA
2. Ryusei Hamada JPN - Geila Macia Mertin ESP
3. Hareru Nagamori JPN - Natsumi Oda JPN

Kim Marschner has sent Child of Hell (8C) in Gottardo / Gotthardpass. "I tried Child of Hell for the first time last year and came super close in my second session. I fell at the last move because of a foot slip which felt easy to me trying it with the rope. This year after one week of being sick I tried it again on my second day bouldering. I felt much weaker than last year and couldn’t do one move on the rope. Anyways, I gave it a go from the start and surprisingly climbed it on my second try that day.”

What is coming up next?
Magic Wood in one week. But more like vacation with friends. Maybe if the temps are good I will try something hard but no ambitions. And then three weeks surfing in Ireland 🤙🏻

Ainhize Belar has been on a trip to Frankenjura where she has sent eight routes 8a+ and harder including Wallstreet (8c), which Wolfgang Güllich put up as the first 8c back in 1987.

”Apart from its history, the bouldering part is very cool and you have to do everything well to climb through those two finger pockets. It’s a route that you can’t stop trying it until you do it🤘🏽”

Alma Bestvater, who was #10 in the Boulder WC in 2018, has had a productive three week trip to Rocklands where she has done seven boulders 8A and harder including Tea With Elmarie (8A) and Fragile Steps (8A+). (c) Anja Steinhauser

Can you tell us more about your trip to Rocklands?
When I went to the Rocklands, I didn’t know how hard I could climb. In 2022 I had two shoulder surgeries, the last one less than a year ago, and I climbed my last 8A about two years ago. So the expectations were rather low and the focus more on having a good time and climbing a lot of cool boulders regardless of the grades. That I was able to check off so many 8A’s in the end surprised me. Especially because I was able to climb each of the boulders within one session, except for „A Tea with Elmarie“ which I was able to climb in a second session on the last day of the trip. I also tried a few 8B/8B+ boulders but quickly realized that I am still too weak to climb them quickly and therefore decided to do a lot of boulders rather than projecting only a few the whole trip. I will probably remember „Pendragon“ the most because it was my first 8A after the two surgeries and definitely "A Tea with Elmarie“ because that was my biggest fight this trip.

What's on your radar now?
I will try to qualify for competitions again next year, but we will see how well that works out. Staying healthy is my priority for now and giving 100% again in dynamic competition bouldering definitely needs a bit more time.

Austin Hoyt has logged 244 boulder ascents from 4C to 8C over the last 12 months. The 19-year-old is, based on the Top-100 ascents, #1 in the ranking game. Runner-up is Antoine Maire followed by Coudert Camille in third. Here is the complete ranking.

”I would say the main reason I can climb all these boulders is because of my climbing philosophy, which is maybe the simplest philosophy ever. “Climb Everything”, yep that’s it haha. Even when I first started climbing I just wanted to climb it all. From classics to choss, softies to sandbagged, small to tall, it doesn’t matter to me. Maintaining that same philosophy as I continued to get stronger and stronger allowed me to really “climb everything”!”

Ryan Sklenica, who last December did his first 9a, with the FA of Fiction, reports on Instagram that he has done the FA of Hartkäse (9a+) at Nowra. It starts up a 7a+, followed by a hard boulder crux, a long traverse and then finishes up another route. Interestingly it is the first proposed 9a+ in Australia. (c) Lachlan Norris