Barbara Zangerl, who previously has done four routes 8c+/9a and harder, has sent Pure Imagination (8c+) in Red River Gorge, after projecting it for seven days. During her three week trip she also did Fifty words for pump (8c) and The Tube (8b+). Here is her full report from the trip with Lara Neumeier. (c) Francois Lebeau

Can you tell us more about your trip and sends in the Red?
Pure Imagination was a line I always wanted to try. Super cool sustained climbing on small holds. Such an awesome classic line. I really liked the different styles of climbing on the routes I did. At the Bob Marley cave, you have steep athletic climbing on bigger holds. (50 words for pump, ultra perm) „the Tube“ was a hidden gem somewhere in the woods which was the most technical one.

What are your next and upcoming 2023 plans?
Plans are climbing around home and in Val di Mello. We will go to this year's Melloblocco and stay a bit longer to climb on Qualido, an amazing big wall in the valley. In the fall I will go back to Yosemite valley with Lara Neumeier, climbing a classic line there El Corazon (8a) maybe. It will be Lara‘s first experience on El Cap. Excited! And I would be psyched to go back to Meltdown (8c+ trad) as well.

How is it possible to focus on so many disciplines at the same time?
For me personally this is the best way to stay motivated all the time. I can‘t really imagine focusing just on one style all the time. Maybe I would be stronger then but it would be less fun, I guess. I love all the different styles of climbing. For me, it is not all about climbing hard. I love the mental challenge in trad climbing and the adventures in big wall climbing. Climbing an easier graded route which is hard to protect can be a harder challenge compared to climbing a hard-graded sport climbing route. So it is all relative. I just really like the learning process of trying out something new.

William Bosi, who last week made the second ascent of Burden of Dreams (9A), has just released the video, My Climbing Journey. The in depth video ends with his ascents of Free at Last (9a+) which he put last summer. (c) Band of Birds

What does "Free at last" stand for?
Good question! It stands for a few things, firstly the end of my transition to outdoor climbing. Being free from the stress and politics of the team. Also freeing the last main project at my home crag felt very special. Lastly, it has some personal meaning.

What did you like the most about competitive climbing and what did you like the least?
I think the best moment for me was climbing in front of the Chamonix final crowd in 2019. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night. For sure the worst part was dealing with the politics!

Which are the routes that you are most eager to repeat?
Excalibur (9b+) is definitely top of my list! I would definitely be keen to check out Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Megatron (9A).

How do you manage being at the cutting edge on both five move boulders that take 20 seconds as well as 100 move routes that take 30 minutes?
Hard to say I guess lots of parmesan cheese and oatcakes. (Laughs)

What does a normal training week look like?
I normally climb two days on and one day off. On the first day, I will try to climb for around 5 hours. Whereas the second day I only climb for about 2 hours. On the first day, I like to warm up on the campus board progressing through exercises for 1 hour and a half. Then I’ll board climb for 2 hours and finish doing 14 move campus boulders for power endurance. The second day is mostly focused on climbing.

Camille Coudert, who last year sent Soudain seul (9A), has done Le pied à coulisse 8C in Fontainebleau, Insta video. It was put up by Guillaume Glairon-Mondet as an 8C+ for which Camille agrees but also 8B+ and 8C have been suggested.

Can you tell us more about La pied?
It’s a boulder that I tried last year after succeeding « soudain seul ». I almost did it and in only 3 sessions (fell at the last move which is the simplest intrinsically). I thought then to do it from the next session, but I still fell 3 times per session for nearly 10 sessions to this last movement...

Finally, I had left the boulder aside with the summer. I haven’t come back due to give myself to another big project all winter. When the temperatures rose, I came back to finish the job this week.

What's your FA of Imothep du sol (8B+) like?
This is the first stage of my big winter project (and of course many other winters). It is the ground start of an 8a which starts on an elevated pebble. The 8B+ starts standing from the ground and adds 2 very physical moves. The sit start project adds 6 moves which are worth 8C/+ to the standing 8B+ start.

04: Julian Wimmer AUT - Louna Deshayes FRA
06: Timo Uznik AUT - Martina Bursikova SLK
08: Matteo Reusa ITA - Geila Marcia Martin (ESP)
Complete results

Austria was the best nation in the Soure Boulder Euro Cup in Portugal with two gold and a total of five medals. Martina Bursikova was the only one doing all ten boulders and she was also the most superior winner as the runner-up in her category did just do one boulder in the final. She was also the only one winning both the qualification and the final. In the five other classes, the winner did make it to the finals by being, on average #7, in the quali. The next Boulder Euro Cup will take the following weekend in Lithuanian.

Anna Hazelnutt, who started trad climbing only in 2021, has done in Bürser Platte. It also has an E9/10 grade meaning, it is quite run-out with not the best gear. Hazelnutt's ascent is likely the fifth female ascent of this nearly 50-meter slab/vertical route located within the town of Bürs. Originally, Beat Kammerlander put it up as a sport route in 1997 but later decided to chop the bolts and in 2009, at age 50, he made the first trad ascent.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Prinzip is a dream line, I’m so glad I had the opportunity to travel to Bürs and experience it! The ascent took two weeks of projecting between weather windows, and I sent on my third lead after taking two increasingly larger whips on small gear on the previous attempts! The climb is a beautiful fingers crack into the infamous runout slab crux💀 so for this climb I really focused on climbing the crack as efficiently as possible leading up to the slab, because I’m not as well versed in cracks.

Jean-Baptiste Jourjon has done La Novena Puerta (8c+) in Santa Linya. The 44-year-old also onsighted his second 8b, La ruta del sol (8b) after having done his first in 2021.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Santa Linya is a quite similar style compared to my home crag La Balme where I'm pretty good. Powerful sections are not too demanding for finger strength, and there are some kneebars.

When Novena Puerta was put up, I think there were already a few kneebars, but on which you couldn't put as much pressure with regular or even reinforced pants, as you can now with stiff rubber. The route has approx three sections for about 60 moves. It starts with a boulder with a huge drop knee, then power endurance to a good rest next to the end of the 7c+ to the right. The second section is quite bouldery, with a technical "friction" kneebar that helps catch a mono static before holding the swing (scary for the finger). This beta can't work without rubber on the knee. Medium rest brings us to the last section ending with a nice dyno from a slopey three finger hold. The jump is easy by itself but it's hard to keep enough body tension after so long and very steep climb. I spent 4 sessions during a week's holiday and 8 to 10 tries. It's always hard to choose the right project when climbing quite far from home, neither too easy nor too hard. Spending a lot of time at the same crag on the same route without guarantee of success is hard when there is so much easier nice stuff around to do, where you are pretty sure you would send within a day. I could do the moves at first work go, but I felt pumped quickly in the sections. Then came the mental game: you can't know how far you are from sending, you just have to try hard. I fell two times at the last move before sending it. I sent it at the first go of the day after a rest day, quite early because of conditions getting worse, warmer with no wind.

Can you also tell us something about your 8b onsight?
For the 8b, I felt relaxed after sending the 8c+ and still quite fresh. I was advised it was a good one for an onsight try, so I had a good mindset. I needed to try something completely different from redpoint project. I could see most holds from the ground, but I still had to improvise and change decisions during the climb. I didn't have much in the tank to allow mistakes, I had to go dynamic a few times with no possible return. Hopefully, the landing holds were correct enough, especially for the last spicy move, just before the warm sun touched the rock.

It seems you are peaking at age 44?
I don't know if I'm at peak, as I had never climbed there it's hard to say. At pure power, I'm certainly weaker than a decade ago but I'm more experienced to optimize the betas quickly. During bad weather on winter days, I've been more to the gym, and modern bouldering didn't suit me well: painful joints and not feeling strong on the rock. So I went back to rational basics in March and April in a more structured way to better focus on weaknesses and avoid injuries: finger strength, locks off, old school bouldering, and loops between 20 and 40 moves.

1. Mejdi Schalck FRA 23
2. Hannes van Duysen BEL 13 (2 attempts)
3. Paul Jenft FRA 13 (3)
4. Kokoro Fujii JPN 3 (9)
5. Soratu Anraku JPN 3 (11)
6. Jongwon Chon KOR 3 (13)
Complete results

Mejdi was the only one topping out two boulders in the final in Hachioji and by doing so he won his second Boulder World Cup victory. Hannes' previous best Boulder WC result was #31, out of three events, and last year he won the Youth Worlds. Paul, who won the semifinal, was #4 in Salt Lake City last year. A male podium without anybody from Japan is very rare and possibly this was the worst result for team Japan for several years. BetaRoutsetting youtube analyses.

1. Paul Jenft FRA 24
2. Jongwon Chon KOR 22
3. Soratu Anraku JPN 14
4. Mejdi Schalk FRA 14
5. Hannes Van Duysen BEL 14
6. Kokoro Fujii JPN 12
Complete results

Paul Jenft, who last year was twice #4, won the demanding semifinal by topping two boulders and getting four zones. The favourites Tomoa Narasaki and Yoshiyuki Ogata only made 4 tops and 2 zones and placed #10 and 13.