Sebastien Bouin had a record breaking 2022, doing the FA of DNA (9c), Suprême Jumbo Love (9b+), Nordic Marathon (9b/+) and he also repeated Change (9b+). Add to that another ten 9a's and harder over the last year, making the 30-year-old one of the undisputed champions of redpointing.

What does a normal climbing week look like at home and as well as during a trip?
At home, I usually climb outdoors during the day and train in the gym during the evening. It permits me to keep my motivation up and improve my physical capacity. I usually do 2 days on, one day off. On a trip, it's a bit different, I try to be as fresh as possible to do my best in the projects. I can train if needed, but I will keep under control my shape, and try to not be as much tired [over fatigued].

What is it that inspires you the most in climbing?
Finding a beautiful and hard project in a stunning place is what I am climbing for. I am always searching for this.

How many routes have you bolted and made the FA of?
30 ? 40 ? [I] don't really remember all.

Which of your FA's do you think are most likely to become must-do-classics?
All the routes in Pic St Loup and La Ramirole I think. All these routes are quite amazing in a stunning place. La Rage d'Adam (9b+) is maybe the favourite because it's the only one which is not a marathon. (c) Julia Cassou from 2019.

What are your 2023 plans and ambitions?
]which he sent last week], Norway, Italy, Spain...

What advice would you give to upcoming youngsters?
Keep dreaming about your project, and keep your motivation high, it will bring you a long way.

William Bosi has repeated Ultra Instinct (8C) at Forest Rock and here is the video. The FA was done this spring by Orrin Coley after working it for three years. The 24-year-old is a superior #1 in the 8a ranking game, his 12 399 points is the highest ever achieved on 8a since we started with the scorecards in 2000.

Can you tell us more about UI and the potential sit start as well as continuing the roof?
It took 4 sessions in total, one last year where I did the higher start. Then one where it was mostly wet and I couldn’t really try. Then finally to redpoint sessions last week. It’s a cool boulder as it’s just big pure power moves! There is definitely potential for a sit start and I’m hoping to try that soon but I think it will make it a lot harder! You could also continue into the roof I think but it would start getting way too high

Cameron Hörst, who made his first out of nine 9a's in 2019 at age 18, has made the FA of Martial Law (9a+) at Robber's Roost. In the 8a ranking game, the 22-year-old is #13.

"Martial Law is a direct, harder start to an existing route called Arrested Development (8c+). The direct start was bolted/prepped by Andy Raether and Joe Kinder. A couple of weeks ago Joe invited me down to Vegas to try this Martial Law project with him. After a couple of sessions on the climb, I got super psyched and felt like I could do it with some effort."

It is a super bouldery and resistant route about 20-move, nonstop, intro section straight into the crux of arrested development. The grade seems to feel like a super super hard 9a or 9a+. Im deciding to propose 9a+ because I feel like it is harder than the 9a/+ I did (Bone Tomahawk). I also discussed it with Joe (who has done numerous 9a+ FA’s) and we both feel it is of the 9a+ standard. Getting to have the FA of Martial Law is a huge milestone in my climbing career. I am super thankful to Joe and Andy for welcoming me to try it!"

Today, he also sent Dad Bod (9a) at the same crag, calling it 8c+.
”Believe this is the 4th ascent? The Way Andy and Owen did it is def 9a. However, in the first (hardest) crux there is an obvious right knee scum that makes it V9/10 rather than V12. It is way too obvious not to use, so it will be the way people do it moving forward. I propose the climb should be checked at 8c+.”

Austin Purdy, who previously has done five 8C's, reports on Insta that he has repeated Drew Ruana's Insomniac (8C+) at Lake Lincoln. In the 8a ranking game, the 25-year-old is #4. (c) Maddie Sturm

"After I sent Delirium (8C) and We Can Build You (8B) earlier this year I began to think that sending Insomniac, which is the combination of the two, could be possible for me. However, given the difficulty of the line, I assumed that this would be a long process, so instead of immediately trying to do the boulder I spent a lot of time trying to refine the individual pieces as much as possible so that I could hopefully execute them perfectly when the time came. This made the process very enjoyable for me, because it did not feel like there was any immediate pressure or expectations to do the boulder and I was able to focus on the small improvements I was making instead. Eventually, a day with perfect weather came and I felt like it was finally time to give the boulder real send attempts. All the time I spent refining my beta on the boulder felt like it paid off and I was able to have one magical go where I executed everything absolutely perfectly and found myself on top in disbelief! Doing this boulder was very rewarding for me, not only because it is the most difficult thing I have ever done but because it also showed me that I am still improving and growing as a climber, even while essentially being a weekend warrior and working a full-time job [software engineer] the last couple of years."

What are your summer plans?
If the weather stays good I will likely try to do more hard boulders at Lincoln Lake, like Drew Ruan's Distortion (8C+) or try to do some other classics I haven't finished outside of the Wolvo cave like Let the Right One In (8B+) or Warrior Up (8B+). Once it starts to get warm though I will likely be more focused on training for fall objectives.

What does a normal climbing week look like for you?
Most weeks I climb 5 days. I typically spend 3-4 of those days training in the gym and the remaining time climbing outside depending on weather, work, and how motivated I am on climbing specific things outside over in the gym.

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The last man out on the final boulder was Toby Roberts, as he had won the semifinal. The 18-year-old is in the fourth position and even if he makes the zone and spends a long time approaching the top, on his first attempt, nothing changes, he remains fourth. On his third try, he makes the first crux again but starts struggling again trying to use both his knee and elbow behind a volume. Again it does not work and he tries a new beta for the finish with an extreme kneedrop and pushes to the next volume. The crowd and the commentators go wild and the music is pumping even louder. Inventing another new move he approaches the top and with a last toe hook he secures the top, with 15 seconds remaining on the clock and the whole crowd is on their feet screaming.

Talking to several athletes and also coaches, the common opinion was that this was possibly the most thrilling finish they have ever seen. Jongwon Chon, who has been on the WC circuit since 2013 and in fact saw his teammate lose his first position, commented. "I think this was the most impressive fight I have ever seen on a boulder."

The first question in the IFSC live-streaming interview was on the same theme. I think [this was] the best fight on a boulder I have ever seen, ever. How does it feel?
Words can’t explain it, I feel absolutely incredible. The fight on that last boulder, I have no words, I had to give it absolutely everything. I left it all on the boulder and I can’t quite believe I won my first World Cup. It’s so surreal.

"Because we see the scores in the back I knew I had to top, so I was just trying to stay calm and look at the boulder as just a boulder and not think about anything else, but it’s pretty hard when you are in that environment. The crowd was incredible and part of the reason I got up it."

All in all, it was a well-deserved victory for Toby as he on the second boulder touched the final hold.

1. Toby Roberts GBR 34
2. Dohyun Lee KOR 24 (3)
3. Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 24 (5 & 6)
4. Meichi Narasaki JPN 24 (5 & 11)
5. Sorato Anraku JPN 22
6. Tomoa Narasaki JPN 12

"This was good fun and I had quite good control of the first three boulders," Toby Roberts (18) comments winning a great semifinal in front of 2 000 spectators. Tomoa Narasaki said he appreciated the different styles of the boulders with a lot of coordination and powerful moves and also the support from the big crowd. Japan got four to the final and Korea one. Interestingly, all the Asians mainly boulder or do circuits as their training. There is no structured training and they basically just show up at the gym and start bouldering.

Talking more to Roberts and his dad, who is his coach, they have a more analytic approach and try to focus a lot on weaknesses. They have been focusing on Paris 2024 for many years now. (An interview is coming up.) Noteworthy is also that both Roberts (18) and Soratu Anraku (16), who was #2 in the semi, have until 2022 had better results in Lead.

1. Toby Roberts GBR 34 (6)
2. Sorato Anraku JPN 34 (7)
3. Tomoa Narasaki JPN 34 (8)
4. Dohyun Lee KOR 34 (12)
5. Meichi Narasaki JPN 23 (6)
6. Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 23 (7)
Complete results

Stasa Gejo flashed the first boulder and was in the lead ahead of Oceania Mackenzie and Natalia Grossman. Then it started to rain and in the background, we could hear and see a heavy thunderstorm just passing south of Brixen but close to 2 500 spectators remained with hundreds of umbrellas. Grossman flashed the second boulder and moved to the first position.

The third boulder was the easiest with two flashes and only Mackenzie failed to top before Grossman's struggle started. On her seventh try, she finally stuck the sideways dyno and she remained in the first position. As Chaehyun Seo flashed the last boulder she overtook the #1 position from Gejo and put some pressure on Natalia starting last. Then, the overall winner 2022, put in cruise control and topped the last boulder with ease and the whole arena and the commentators went wild. (c) Vladek Zumr

1. Natalia Grossman USA 44
2. Chaehyun Seo KOR 34 (3 attempts)
3. Stasa Gejo SRB 34 (5)
4. Ayala Kerem ISR 34 (10)
5. Oceania Mackenzie AUS 23
6. Johanna Färber AUT 12
Complete results

Grossman commented to IFSC; "I’m pretty excited right now. This one was a little challenging. The third boulder gave me a run for my money. I kind of started rapid firing which is something I’ve been trying not to do but I think just knowing I only had a few attempts left, sometimes it just takes me a while to learn a move. It’s just repetition."

It should also be mentioned that overall, the route setting with Matthias Woitzuck in charge, has been great. Several solutions have been possible and used for most of the boulders and talking to him, you understand that he and his team are working hard and put a lot of thought and analyses into their work. Directly after the final, several hundred spectators approached the mattresses and started trying the boulders. There will be another very late night for the route setter as their plan was to set everything for the semifinal before going to bed.