Sebastien Bouin reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Ariégeois Cœur Loyal (9b) in his home crag Pic St Loup. "I am happy to send this mega line in my home crag Pic Saint Loup. After falling once in this last hard move, I could finally control it in the send last Friday. The move is not hard, but somehow it was hard to stick the left hand in the send. I bolted this route 5 years ago when my grandpa passed away. His wood worker name was Ariégeois Cœur Loyal (Loyal ariégeois heart). It was a great opportunity to keep him close to me all these years. I was close to send it last Autumn, falling on the penultimate move, just before my Jumbo Love trip. This spring was a great opportunity to finish the job. This route is a huge effort, combining two hard 20 meters sections. About the grade, 9b (5.15b) should be appropriate."

Ariégeois Cœur Loyal is a 20m extension to Legend (9a) which he made the FA of in 2017 after it had been a project for 20 years. In total, Seb has now done some dozen routes 9b to 9c, out of which seven FAs. (c) Sam Bie

Peter Kuric, who started 2023 by doing a 9a second go, made quick work of, Sanjski par extension (9a) in Osp/Misja Pec.

Can you tell us more about Sanjski?
Over the Easter holidays, we went to sunny Osp for a few days, as it started snowing in Slovakia. We knew that there would be many people in Osp, so our goal was to do more easy routes and relax a bit. I wanted to show my girlfriend all the sectors as she has never climbed in Slovenia before and we also visited Mišja peč, where I wanted to try some more challenging routes that I have not yet climbed. I've been looking at Sanjski Par for a long time. First, the first pitch for 8c+ was on the line. I gave it a try and surprisingly it went smoothly. The second attempt was already sharp, and I fell one move before the top. I rested for 10 minutes and sent it on the third attempt. After the send, I checked the extension and decided to give myself a rest for the rest of the day. The next morning I managed to climb the extension for 9a on the first attempt. So together on the fifth try. A beautiful relaxing trip 😀.

What are your next and 2023 plans?
I want to check out some projects in home crags. We have so much potential around grade 9a. In the autumn is waiting for me Wild west 9a/9a+ in Margalef 🙂

Dylan Barks has done Selecció anal (9a+) in Santa Linya after having projected it for seven sessions. The 28-year-old did his first 8c+ at age 16 and he also bouldered the same grade, two years ago.

Can you tell us more about your trip and doing your first 9a+? I came to Spain with the intention of locking into one hard route for the trip, and ‘Seleccio anal’ became that. I wasn’t sure where my shape was at exactly for the trip, but on my first day, I was able to onsight my first 8b+ (Rollito Sharma) which gave me the confidence to try something near my limit. Trying Seleccio at first, the upper section felt very powerful and I couldn’t really imagine climbing through those moves from the ground. I had quite a few goes of climbing through the bottom but quickly fell in the upper section. After about a week and a half of trying, however, I had everything aligned and I was able to break into the upper section feeling unexpectedly recovered and I fought my way to the chains!

What's on the horizon?
The next goal is to sample as much as I can in my remaining week in Spain. After that, I’m not exactly sure, but definitely want to continue climbing routes in the States!

Sera Gearhardt, who uses the moniker, Sera Potato on 8a, has added to the four 8A+'s she did last year by sending, Cinderella is Dead 8A+ in Ogden. (c) Oden Dillman

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried this one before the snow started in the fall and thought I'd do it quickly! Went for a few really promising sessions, then spent the winter trying to get weather windows pretty unsuccessfully. Got COVID and was out for a month. By the time I made it back, my old beta felt really awful and I was pretty discouraged. Luckily, some friends helped me with a new method and I managed to do it before it got too hot!

What are your spring and summer plans?
I'm going back to Colorado for the month of June to try to finish up Evil Backwards (8B) from last year in Mount Evans! Got super close last year and had to walk away because it was hurting me, hoping that doesn't happen again! If that goes well I'll also go try some things in the park:) no other major plans!

Lair Thibault, who previously has made five 9a's, out of which four FAs, has done Papichulo (9a+) in Oliana. Two days earlier he did the FA of Fake news (8c+) in Suberpène, which was his sixth 8c+ FA, only during the last 18 months. (c) William Barcelo


Can you tell us more about doing your first 9a+?
It's been four years since I started working the route without being very regular. This year I needed 3 times 3 days to do the route. A big goal was achieved with the ascent of this mythical and mentally super hard route. I felt in good shape at the end of last year and I decided to give myself the means to progress even more by asking Patxi Usubiaga to train me. After 3 months of intensive training with Patxi, I really gained strength, which is my weak point.

How come there is a three-year gap since you did your last 9a?
Indeed, it's been 3 years since I did a 9a but it's not because I was less strong. For 3 years I have done a lot of 8c+ FAs that I worked alone. I equipped and tried harder routes than 9a, I think, which I haven't realized yet. All that combined with my work as a carpenter.

What is the status of Papichulo and Oliana after the fire?
Regarding the fire in Oliana, a huge cleaning and repair work was done by a group of people. I thank them once again for this work. There are still a few lanes that have not yet been cleaned.

Loic Zehani has done the FA of Kaboul (9a+) in Orgon. The 21-year-old has previously done 60 routes 9a and harder out of which four 9b FAs. (c) Lunar Fox

”20 physical movements (around 8b+), then (after a very bad rest) a hard section of about 12 moves (around 8A+ FB). There is one move harder than the other with a very bad undercling. I fell more than 10 times to this movement! It starts with Les mollahs du mollard 2 (8c) and it's the easy version of the new exit. This is not the best rock of Orgon but the movements are amazing.

Anna Liina Laitinen, who previously has done several 8c+', has sent Esclatamasters (9a) in Perles & Canelles. The Fin did her first 8b+ in 2016 at age 26 and since then, she has pretty much been a full-time climber also having done an 8b onsight as well as an 8A+ (B) boulder.

Can you tell us more about your first 9a?
Last year after my trip to Albarracin, I wanted to come and see the Escalatamasters route, which had been on my mind for years. The route was even more amazing and better than I could have imagined, and the 1.5-week trip felt like a short tease. The route stayed on my mind and I climbed all routes in Finland and abroad keeping ”Escalatamasters” in mind. I focused on developing myself throughout the year, especially in bouldering, to gain more strength. In the fall, I returned to Spain to improve my endurance after recovering from COVID-19, but I didn’t try the route seriously and instead climbed other routes and areas as it was very rainy. However, I wanted to recall the beta for the coming spring.

In the spring, I got sick again, so I couldn’t go on the trip at the desired time, and after regaining my basic fitness, I had to finalise my shape by climbing on the route as the weather was getting warmer. I focused mainly on being more strategic than usual on 8c+ routes, as well as on focusing on flow state, stress tolerance, having enough rest and focusing more on quality, and taking care of my fingertips, as the long crux of the route has small, sharp holds. I also went to the indoor gym twice a week to maintain my strength, and I believe it helped a lot, even though it initially felt strange to climb indoors when I finally had the chance to climb outside!

I exceeded my own goal for the trip at the end of the second week when I got my first one-hang, so everything from there on was just a bonus. I believe my mindset had the most impact on climbing the route. I was happy with every attempt, and I had fun. I didn’t feel the same pressure as I had felt in previous years when climbing a difficult route. I have worked on my mental side as best I can, and having a positive attitude and friends has a great impact. It’s normal to fall even on a difficult route. On such a good route, it didn’t matter to fall because then I could climb on it again.

What's your next plan?
I’d love to go to Rawyl in May but if it’s challenging to drag my sausage dog on the ledge I might visit Ceuse or go bouldering in Swiss. I’m more motivated doing sport climbing now so I’m doing everything I can so that I could do that :). Another option would be to go to Flatanger in June. Red River Gorge in the fall will definitely happen!

Can you say something about how you train?
My training schedule is a bit of a ”controlled mess”. I emphasize either bouldering or sport depending on what trip/or goal I’m having but I don’t leave either one of those! I just start doing some of those more. Sometimes I climb 4-5 a week and do other gym stuff plus cardio (I know it’s a bit too much and now I’ve been trying to focus more on quality 🙈). It’s been hard to stay away from the gym, especially if I’m not working. Sometimes when I’m trying to gain power I might just have 3 really good sessions a week. If I’m also route setting I’m trying to have 2 rest days on the week. My session might vary from 1.5h to 4h

Sounds like chaos 😂 But that is why I have to mark everything in a Google calendar. To help me to have some kind of an idea and plan what to do. It’s also really helpful for seeing correlations, especially when overtraining. Now I’m a bit older, ”The old keys don’t open new doors”, so I can not compare my training weeks to the ones I did when I was in my 20s. So now my goal is to focus more on quality.

This past weekend, France won both of the golds at the European Cup in Chambery (FRA) with those medals going to Michael Mawem and Flavy Cohaut. Mawem is registered to compete in the first World Cup, in two weeks, in Hachioji. Somewhat surprisingly, very few other WC athletes took the opportunity to prepare before travelling to Japan, especially among females. The route setting was on point aside from the women's final where only two boulders were topped and Flavy was able to claim the win with just one top. In addition to taking the two top spots, results, France dominated the event especially in the women's category where they had six competitors in the Top-10.

1. Michael Mawem FRA 44 - Cohaut Flavy FRA 14
2. Leo Favot FRA 24 - Martina Bursikova SVK 14
3. Jack Macdougall GBR 24 - Agatha Calliet FRA 13

Eduard Marin, one of the best multi-discipline climbers in the world, covering pretty much everything from winning a World Cup and doing alpine bigwalls, has done in Santa Linya. (c) William Barcelo

Can you tell us more about Fabela and your upcoming plans?
I am really happy to be back in the 9a game again. It is like two years I have been on expeditions. It is a really nice and long physical route. It is a combination of an 8c+ with an 8b+. I am happy to feel in shape again. This year I want to focus on trying some harder routes. I will start to train seriously and try to send Stoking the Fire (9b). I am motivated to push my limit again. I am on fire again.

What does climbing typically look like for you nowadays?
A normal week means climbing rock 2-3 days and then a rest day and then 3 climbing days more. Before I go climbing I warm up at home and do some exercise. I am working on building the new gym in Lledia that will be open this year. I am a professional climber so my work is just to climb. Being a professional climber right now is very hard. It is hard work, you need to publish every day on Insta. You need to publish videos on Youtube. You need to be in shape and prepare your expeditions. We have more home work now. I live in two different worlds. In the beginning, there was no social media. You just made a picture with a photographer and that was it.