Martin Stráník, #2 in the Boulder WCH in 2007 and #4 in the Lead WCH in 2021, has repeated Adam Ondra's To Tu Ještě Nebylo (9a) in Labské údolí. "Hardest route on CZ sandstone! Tried occasionally the last years and this spring focused on it more and did it on my 4th session. So cool route, intense 17m of climbing without rest." (c) Jan Simanek

What is the route's background?
Germans bolted from the top, which is against the rules, then bolts were removed and Ondra Beneš started bolting from the ground. He put three bolts and then Adam [Ondra] added the 4th bolt. Adam made the FA and the others ascents are: Alex Megos, Felix Neumarker and Ondra Beneš.

What are your competition plans this year?
All lead WC, Prague and Brixen boulder WC ;)

Soratu Anraku (16), the Lead Youth World Champion the last two years, won the semifinal in the Salt Lake City Boulder World Cup and topped all four boulders in the final. Tomoa Narasaki won the qualification and was runner up in the semi. In the final, Tomoa flashed the first boulder and in the end, he only needed six attempts for the four boulders. Toby Roberts got his first podium after being third and fourth in the previous rounds. Complete results

Overall, the route setters were spot on with the difficulty of the boulders with more tops than usual, although nobody topped all 13 boulders. Mejdi Schalck, who won both the two first rounds in Asia, did not participate in SLC.

Duygu Haug, who did her first 8b at age 36, has done "Kanatlarım var Ruhumda" (8c) in Çitdibi. ”Pure happiness and emotional! Some routes mean a lot to me and this route is one of them and shining on the wall. Thanks to my husband [Tobi] for bolting, for patient belayings and creating amazing line as always. My pleasure to climb your routes. Can be soft or not I can not say something for the grade but I had some spicy moves as short person.” (c) Ann Smolenskaya

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the name of the route?
The route name “Kanatlarim Var Ruhumda” (eng: My Soul has Wings) comes from a famous Turkish pop song. The song is about freedom for women in relationships, it is telling about a girl that doesn’t want to commit only to one connection. Also it’s about finding your own way with all mistakes, failures, happinesses... The song described kind of good the process which I had with this route. I touched this route first time 2 years ago but I never committed 100% to focus on it. In between doing a lot of other climbing, I came back from time to time to the route without too much expectations. Finally my wings carried me up to the chain without too much bad wings :)

How much do you train and climb in a normal week?
I do only rock climbing , 4-5 times a week. I do not train. Sometimes we climb a lot of routes in a day in between 7c-8a (the routes which we climbed before). Try to climb the routes with different beta or skip the rest position and not doing kneebars.

Austin Purdy, who the last month did his fourth 8C, has sent Delirium (8C) in Mount Blue Sky.

Can you tell us more about the ascent? Sure! I tried Delirium for a few sessions two years ago and got fairly close to sending, but the weather ended up getting too warm and then I had a few small injuries so I never made it back. This year I decided I needed to get the boulder done so I started biking up the road to Lincoln Lake before it opened for the season to get good conditions and so I had time to do the problem before it got too hot. It turns out I didn't actually need much extra time though because I sent it without too much trouble this time around.

How long is the biking, what about pads and what is the altitude?
It is around 6 miles uphill and the climbing at Lincoln Lake is at around 12,000 feet [3 650 meters]. I used an electric bike with pedal assist and I think it took around 35-40 minutes with the pads strapped to the back.

Last year, Natalia Grossman won all the last five Boulder World Cups. Later she got a bad food poisoning which created stomach problems for many months and she also spent time in the hospital. Last month she was #8 and #13 in the Asia World Cups before getting back on track and winning all three rounds in Salt Lake City. Complete results

Grossman: “Asia was pretty hard for me, so just feeling physically better was already a huge help for me and my mental game. It’s cool to be home, I think this is the best crowd from any World Cup I have ever been to.”

Cedric Lachat, who previously has done nine 9a+', has made the FA of Fantasia (9b) in Vercors, which was bolted by Romain Gendey. "I’m a little bit less strong physically but I find that I climb better compared to a few years ago". More info at Fanatic Climbing. (c) Simon Destombes

"For me, it’s without doubt the hardest route I’ve climbed, so I suggest 9b, however, I wonder if it’s not easier for taller climbers because some movements seem hard to me due to the span required. In any case, for the climbers of my size (Cédric is 1.72m tall), it’s ultra intense and a real challenge!"

Cedric won 17 medals in a storied World Cup career. In 2007, he took the bronze at the World Championship in both Lead and Boulder. Seeing as how he has also done some very hard multi-pitches, the 38-year-old should be regarded as one of the best multi-discipline climbers in the world.

Pablo Zamora reports on Insta that he has done El proyecto de tu vida (8C) in just one session. This was his fourth 8C for the Spaniard, all of them done in the last eight months. (c) Beatriz Sanchez

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your thoughts about the grade?
It is a block located in Hoya moros, Salamanca. Nancho Sanchez made the first ascent. It is a ceiling of small crimps and finally a slab. It's a style I'm very good at and I was able to do it surprisingly quickly. I would not know what to say about the grade because being my style and it came out quickly so it seemed easy to me.

How can you explain having progressed so quickly the last year?
This year I have dedicated myself to improving my technique and going out much more on rock and I think that is what has made me progress a lot.

What are your summer plans?
I will go up a lot in the Hoyamoros area, which I really liked and I will also go to South Africa.

In the third Boulder World Cup in 2023, in Salt Lake City, Natalia Grossman (USA) and Hannes Van Duysen (BEL) flashed all their five boulders. Miho Nonaka (JPN) and Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) won the two other qualification groups needing seven respectively six attempts.

Japan got all their seven participating females in the Top-23 and all their seven males in the Top-27. Also the USA got great results with a total of nine athletes making it to the Top-20 semifinal. Jernej Kruder (SLO) #42made his 84th Boulder WC which is an all-time male record for the discipline. Complete results

Natalia Grossman: “I’ve been dealing with some stomach stuff, which is hard to deal with when you’re traveling. It’s just nice to be home and be able to do what I normally do. My one goal for tomorrow is to focus on the present, enjoy it, and have fun.

Miho Nonaka: “I’m very happy about my round, I love being here, the vibes are very good in Salt Lake City, I enjoyed it a lot. I don’t know if I would say I feel at home here, I definitely feel comfortable, I usually stay for a longer time, and the crowd is really enjoyable.”

Brooke Raboutou takes a nasty mono finger lock and sends The Traphouse / Gourmandise (direct) (8B+) in Fontainebleau on her first session. Paul Robinson put it up as an 8B+ in 2011 and most have agreed on that grade.

Is Brooke using another sequence compared to how you did the FA?
Yes, it looks like the kneebar for the first move and that finger lock are definitely different beta than I used

Drew Ruana reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Howl at the Moon sit (8C+). In 2019, he was #13 in the Combined World Championship and close to making it to the Olympics. After quitting the competition circuit he has since 2020, focused on bouldering and with close to 30 8C's and ten 8C+, he has one of the most impressive tick lists over the past three years. He's also undertaking a full-time University program. (c) Jono Ruana

Can you tell us more about doing your tenth 8C+?
I spent a long time last season working on this climb [the 8C stand]. It’s a much harder variation than The Ice Knife (8B+). This season I did the stand in 2 days and the sit the next day. I have like 5 more 8C+ projects I’d like to do this year if things go well. I’ve been building my pyramid for years and it seems to be paying off, did my 75th 8B+ last week too.

How does a normal climbing week look like? How many sessions and hours do you climb?
Not too much, I don’t train at all inside or off the wall. I climb outside 5 days a week or so for a couple of hours per day. I’ve been working on writing 2 books about climbing harder so it’s been a lot of work. I basically would go to school, write on book, do homework, go outside, come home do homework then go to bed Then on rest days focus on getting ahead in school and on my writing. Really exhausting to balance full time school with climbing hard and also writing but that was normal for me and it’ll be normal for a bit more.

Can you say something about the two books?
One is about building climbing intuition. What’s the difference between a beginner climber and a climber that “gets it” and how do you get there? The other is about outdoor bouldering at or past your limit.