Max Bertone, little brother to Oriane who did his first 8c+in 2019 at age 12, has done his first 9a, TCT, at Gravere, video. "3rd attempt. I fell at the last move at the 2nd one, so I was almost sure to send the route this time. Felt soft but it's the first for me and I don't have enough experience to propose a personal grade. Great line!"

You just pulled off a third try 9a ascent?
🤣 I actually did it in 3 days, I had only 1 try per day because of the crimps hurting my fingers. The first attempt was close to 1 hour! I didn’t watch any videos so I had to find the beta myself.

What are your summer plans?
My summer plan is to continue climbing outdoors around Briançon, and maybe participate in the World Cup in Briançon if I’m taken [selected] 🤞.

Last year, Max won the Youth World Championship and this year he has won the two Euro Youth Cups he has participated in. When it comes to bouldering, he has done five 8B's and he was #4 and #5 in the Euro Cups last year. (c) Tom Redfern

Vojta Trojan has sent Condé de choc (9a) in Entraygues. "5th go - 100% my style, hard boulder into really good climbing on the top. 3rd preclipped!" (c) Emile Pino

This was his sixth 9a in the last year and now having a total of eleven, it won't be a surprise if even harder sends are on the horizon.

Can you tell us more about Condé? Do you have a 9a+ on your radar?
I’ve tried the route once, when I was here 3 weeks ago for La moustache qui fâche (9a+). This time I came here but the top-out of Moustache was all wet so I went for Condé once again and sent it surprisingly quickly. The main objective is still Qui Fache Moustache and I hope to finish it this trip!

Sera Gearhart has logged her first 8B, Evil Backwards in Mount Blue Sky. "I thought I'd do this boulder quickly because everyone told me I was doing the hard part. Turns out, that just wasn't the crux for me! Hardest move on this boulder was the cross in the "v9" outro. I'm really proud for seeing it through when it got epic. Shout-out to Tay for being the kindest and most supportive when I was really down on myself. On to the next."

Last week, 8a reported that she had given Carnage (8B) a personal 8A+ grade. Up until 2022, she had only done three 8A's, but over the last 18 months she's done 21 boulders 8A to 8B.

How would you explain your great gains over the last 1.5 years?
I really changed my approach to climbing about 2 years ago! Taylor [McNeill] was a huge influence. I started focusing more on specific goals rather than climbing as much as I could. I stopped training and rested way more and really started to focus on my mentality and tactics. I started climbing almost exclusively outside. I'm excited to take what I have learned and try adding a bit more strength and training back into my approach this summer, maybe it will lead to more of a level up!

Skibidi Rizz God has done Carnage (8B) in Guanella Pass and Evil Backwards (8B) in Mount Blue Sky. In the 8a junior ranking game, the 13-year-old is #2.

His brother and coach, Samuel, who just did his first 8B+, Warrior up, has filled us in on Becket''s approach to climbing.

"Beckett started climbing with me when I transitioned to climbing from gymnastics. For a couple of years, it was nothing more than a hobby. When he was 9, however, he had a season where he made Divionals and Nationals for the first time, both in the same season. That was maybe the first time that really got him interested in trying to get better. The following year, he had a better season making finals at Nationals, which is when he realized that he had really improved.

That got him very excited to continue training harder, which really kicked off when I started training a small group of a few focused athletes during Covid, including him. Then, shortly following, I started to take him climbing outside. He learned to lead climb and a couple of weeks later, I took Beckett to Rifle Mountain Park, where he did his first 5.12s. Then, last spring, I think he really started to see the fruits of his training pay off when he did his first 7C+ boulder and then started coming on alpine trips with me week to week. He realized his strength when he started to climb hard boulders, which only fueled his motivation to train even harder.

The last year I really saw that passion for trying hard push him. He's told me that his goal is to really find what his limit is, and push that. He's very hard on himself when he doesn't think he's doing enough though. As his coach, I want to help him achieve his goals. But, especially as his older brother, I also want him to be able to love the sport as long as possible. So helping him keep his expectations in check is important. I write training for him. He trains on his own, and he trains hard. He also takes every opportunity to get outside he can get. Our dad has been a great support in this, giving up many weekends to take him to whatever his latest project is. I've been really grateful to climb with Beckett so much in the last year and look forward to all the years of going out with him and our younger brother, Asher, to come."

Akira Waku, who at age 48 did Hydrangea (8C) in 2019 , has repeated Ryuichi Murai's Birth of the Cool (8B+) in Shiobara. Waku started climbing at 35 and didn't have any previous sports background. As there was no gym around he built one which he still runs.

Can you tell us more about your second 8C?
The number of working days was 5 days in 2021, 30 days in 2022, and 7 days in 2023, for a total of 42 days. Every single move of the original part up to where it joins Karamba was difficult. At first, I couldn't link them at all. In the second half of 2022, all the moves were finally solved and the connection try started. In 2023, a stoic weight loss and conditioning went well, and as soon as I entered awakening mode, I was able to break through the core stability, and I was able to send it.

How do you train?
Training is mainly 3 hours 2-3 times a week of finger and weight training with the beast maker and fingerboard at home. I don't go to the gym very often. I go outdoors on weekends.

Currently, the 52-year-old is working Nexus (8C+) which is a harder variation and in this video we can see he is pretty close sending it. Ryuichi Murai did the FA and it is still unrepeated. "It will be a line that connects to the 8B+ that I climbed the other day after doing 10 moves of 8B to 8B+ with my own moves. It's a long line with a total of 40 moves. I started trying it immediately after climbing the 8B+. It seemed like I could climb with a good feeling, but the season where I could exert my strength has come to an end. In Japan, July is the rainy season and the rocks get wet. July and August are summer months, with temperatures exceeding 30°C. The next season will start in September when it gets cooler. Until then, keep training."

In the female and male Combined national ranking, Japan is #1 with 4 870 points, followed by Austria with 4 399 and Slovenia with 4372 points. Complete National Team Ranking.

Noteworthy is that Jakob Schubert will not do the two upcoming World Cups in Chamonix and Briancon as his focus is the World Championship in Bern in August. The same goes for Tomoa Narasaki. Furthermore, neither Adam Ondra nor Alex Megos is registered for Briancon.

Janja Garnbret topped out the final with ease, just like the quali and the semi. The route setters created a spectacular rotation move where Janja stood facing the spectators. Janja has now won 40 World Cups out of which 25 have been Lead events. Jessica Pilz took silver and Brooke Raboutou bronze, and both timed out climbers timed out before falling. Complete results (c) Vladek Zumr

Garnbret told the IFSC, “It feels incredible. I’ve always loved Villars. I’ve always loved coming here and I feel a bit like it’s my competition and it’s home here. After Innsbruck I felt confident and I can see my Lead [comp] shape is there. I have been climbing with confidence and that’s how I have climbed in the finals here.”

The youngsters are coming up strong and fast, but this go around, it was the three of the most senior competitors on the Villars' podium. Jakob Schubert, 32, won his 20th Lead World Cup. The Austrian has now won 25 WC’s which makes him the men’s record holder. Adam Ondra, 30, was runner up followed by Alex Megos, 29. The average age of the other five finalists was 19. Complete results (c) Lena Drapella/IFSC

Schubert told the IFSC, “It feels so amazing, it’s been a while especially in the World Cup. I spoke to Adam [Ondra] and Alex [Megos] in Innsbruck, the field is so strong now it’s an achievement just to make finals. Going against these old guys, and the youngsters, it was amazing to come out on top today. It also feels amazing to be on the podium with two great friends. We were discussing if this is the oldest podium. The old guys dominated today.”