Alex Ventajas, who two months ago did his first 9a+, has onsighted Panonoramix (8b+) in St Léger. The 23-year-old has previously done six 8b's onsight and in the 8a ranking game he is #6.

Can you tell us more about the great onsight?
This was my very first 8b+ onsight. I felt close on other occasions, and as training, I often begin to climb a new route with the mindset to try to onsight it. This time I actually wasn’t thinking about that, because my idea was to try the moves of the 8c that shares the first chain with this 8b+. I think the hardest part of the route is the first five quickdraws, where there is a boulder which would be around 7c ish. After that, there is a power-endurance section till the first chain, where the 8b+ ends. Probably the fact that the crux was at the beginning helped me because I could look better at the holds from the ground, imagining how to do those moves. Also, when I managed to do the first hard section, I thought that it could be possible that the heaviest part was done, so I felt even more strong and motivated to do my best! In the end, I reached the 8b+ chain and I kept climbing through the L2, falling as I was getting out of the last crux of the 8c, just two moves before the last easy climbing section to the top!

Amandine Loury has done Kaos (8c) in Öküzini. In the 8a ranking game, the 33-year-old moves to #4. "A very big thanks to Tobias for this amazing route. It’s a very nice powerful endurance route with so beautiful moves on various holds. This route will remain in my memory." (c) Gilles

Keenan Takahashi sent A Little Life (8B+) in Buttermilks, last December. "Simply stunning, perhaps my best moment ever climbing. Stoked for other people's thoughts... seemed pretty heinous albeit definitely morpho. One of the hardest highballs I'd reckon... go on youths, prove it ;)"

04: Etienne Abriat FRA - Lea Kempf AUT 06: Thomas Lemagner FRA - Martina Bursikova SVK
08: Jan Stipek CZE - Imane Ridouani FRA
Complete results
In total, 369 youngsters competed in the European Youth Cup in Graz, which is a new record. This meant that the event had to start Friday evening for the youngest categories. France got three golds in the European Youth Cup in Graz, Austria. Martina Bursikova, Jan Stipek and Lea Kempf won both rounds.

Sergii Topishko has during a four weeks trip to Switzerland done 24 boulders 8A to 8B included seven flashes. In 2021, the Ukrainian was #8 in the Combined World Champion. Since February 2022, he has been living in Europe with Germany as his base on a two-year asylum. Article with Team Ukraine from the Brixen World Cup last year. (c) Leonid Osadchyi

Can you tell us more about the trip?
The trip was really amazing, was not that cold, as when I usually used to go in winter, but almost no rain and cool enough. I was focused just on 2 8C projects this time, was pretty close on one, but I think +13*C was a bit hot. The only way to send something really hard, you had to wake up around 4 AM and climb till 8 AM, but I found this idea not really good, cause there are so many boulders in Ticino I wanted to try. Discovered by myself a new boulder place Val Calanca, that is pretty much nice, especially the Selma area, that looks exactly like Magic Wood. Need to go back there again to finish some unfinished lines. So hopefully Ticino again in Autumn or Fontainebleau, or both.

What kind of beta did you use for the seven 8A flashes?
Every time when I try something new, I am always really focused on my flash go. I just clean everything, put tick marks, and sometimes watch a video before the first try. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

What are your upcoming plans? I am thinking to try in Maltatal this or next weekend. Summer- probably Gotardo, psyched to try finally Hanzel Grace. And Fontainebleau for sure this autumn, one 8C is waiting for a long time, since last February when I almost did it and couldn’t climb after 24.02 till the end of my trip, after the war started.

Leo Bøe 🍄, who did his first 9a in January, has sent his sixth, Esclatamasters (9a) in Perles & Canelles. "MY CRAZIEST SEND EVER! Last possible climbing day for me, and when I was belaying we had thunder and rain… It was a «now or never» moment so I gave it a shot anyways. Although it was humid I managed to hang on to the crimps feeling like I was sliding on every move. I was lucky enough to have my friend Pino at the anchor to cover the last few holds with his hands… Team send." The picture by Jordi Rullo is from La Novena Enmienda (9a)

Can you tell us more about the rain experience?
My friend Josh made a redpoint try as the rain and thunder started. I was strongly demoralized and thought it impossible to climb the top slab while it was being rained on… Still, for the sake of the last-effort mentality, I gave a burn that turned out to be one of my craziest experiences in climbing. I barely clawed my way past the crimps and found myself at the final rest looking up at the slab. The rain was hitting the chalkbag so I rotated it into my lap to keep it dry. Weirdly enough it felt good to climb in the rain temperature-wise, but the longer I rested the wetter the holds got. In the end, I was forced to continue as the jug I was resting in filled with water.

I left the jug with a wet left hand and the slab felt 3 times more unsafe with all the humidity. When I reached the final part I was lucky to have my friend Pino to cover a key hold with his hand. Without his help, I’m not sure it could have gone! Felt like a team send!

How hard is the final slab?
It’s so hard to grade a slab, but I can tell you I fell there several times when practising it when dry. You can then imagine the pressure I felt when it was raining.

Pepa Sindell, who last year sent Chiropetra (9a+) in Sulov, has done The FA of Hypoxia extension (9a) in Harmanec Krpcovo. The 15-year-old has previously also done four 8c+’. (c) Petr Piechowicz

Singing Rock has the full report and here is part of it. ”I tried Hypoxia in the fall of 2022 but failed to resolve the crux of this route at all, or even hint at it. The breakthrough didn't come until late December when the temperature dropped to zero, the rock was dry, and I found the solution of the boulder. But it was still far away to send. On April 23, I started Hypoxia with a clear head and no expectations. Just like that. I climbed easily the bottom 8b, shaked out in the rest, held the micro crimps and held the jump to the last small crimp, and that's when gravity turned off and I flew to the jug where I could shake again. I enjoyed the end of the route to the maximum.”

Pepa’s father has previously commented his sons ascents. "All members of our family climb and climbing is a our lifestyle, motivation and love for us. Pepa trains on the home bouldering wall in the barn and goes to the rocks as often as possible. Ideally every weekend plus the whole school holiday. Although he does not specifically prepare extra, he trains a lot. At least 3 to 4 times a week, power bouldering - old school wall, ideal conditions :-)."

Tristan Chen comes with the great story that he has done The Fly (9a) in Rumney (NH), only nine months after receiving a bone marrow transplantation due to leukemia. "Consider it chopped, I did it without a rope and I had cancer." Dave Graham made the FA back in 2001 with a rope but later more and bigger crash pads have made ropeless ascents possible. (c) Jordi Llauvi

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your leukemia treatment?
The send was not too bad, I fell on the last move on a rope a few times back in 2019, but hadn’t tried it since then. This time around I wanted to do it in better style, which meant bouldering/soloing it since it’s not very tall. So I borrowed some pads from a friend in town (I don’t live here anymore), and carried them up to the crag with some small help. One day to rehearse, one to weanie out, and then first try today thankfully to grab that sweet 9a free solo.

This comes just under a year since I was diagnosed with Leukemia, and nine months since I received a bone marrow transplant. Considering I didn’t think I’d be back to climbing ever again I’m quite excited. Getting back into climbing has been a bit of a process, and now I’m more focused on enjoying all aspects of it and not being so wrapped up in sends. I repeated Esperanza this winter, but this is the first new hard climb I’ve been able to do, and I’m positively oscillating that I was able to send in good style.

How come you had to go for a bone marrow transplantation and for how long have you been able to train hard?
Cause of the type of leukemia I had, and with it being refractory (still present after the first round of chemo), my oncologist said there was not a doctor in the country who wouldn’t recommend a BMT. In terms of process, it involved another round of rather intense chemo, another month in the hospital, plus some full body radiation. In terms of difficulty, I’d say relative to the other chemos transplant was harder then those chemos were to having no treatment. For instance after the first rounds of chemo I could still climb v10 fairly easily, and function sort of normally day to day, but after transplant I could barely do two pull ups, and walking around the block was quite difficult. And for at least a few months I was sleeping well over 12 hours a day.

I started weight training around Halloween to put back on the weight I’d lost, around 20 lbs, but didn’t start climbing again until around thanksgiving I’ve been climbing quite intensely again since around the New Year, and have been working quite hard to get back to my old strength level, particularly since I realized I may actually be able to. Plus I’ve been more psyched on sport climbing so I have some new challenges in climbing to work towards.

Last weekend, we saw the Speed World Records were beaten six times and there were multiple PBs. Commentator Matt Groom explains in a video that the new wall they are using has better texture and also, "Apparantely, the new holds set are just a little bit deeper." The grade of the 15 metres and 5-degree overhanging route was previously estimated to be 6b+.