Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Mejorando la Samfaina in Margalef. (c) Adri Martinez

The route is a connection that links Mejorando Imagen 9a+/b and Samfaina 9a+ which, according to Jorge, is his most difficult route to date. The 23-year-old has previously done nine 9b's.

As Jorge suggested 9b+ for it, could possibly mean that his big project, Cafe Columbia, to the right on the same wall, might be 9c. The Spaniard has logged 130 days on his mega-project and commented last week to 8a, "I am sure it is the hardest route that I ever tried."

Jo Nesbø, a global bestselling crime writer, who has sold 50+ million books in 50+ languages, has done Elephant (8a) at Unknown Crag. (c) Hanna Jordan

"I'm not going to pretend this short route isn't a big deal for me. At the age of 59 I decided that I would give it all I had to push my limit from 7b+ to 8a with a two-year dead-line (as a goal). It took me three. Given my old bones and limited talent, this is my last time doing a personal best redpoint, I'm hereby going to start my descent with a smile on my face." At age 17, Jo made his first appearance in the Premier Soccer League in Norway but an injury stopped his professional dreams. He has a Master's in Economics and worked as a stockbroker prior to becoming a writer. He is also a singer, songwriter and musician.

Can you give us the scoop on your impressive journey towards 8a?
Three years ago I had started planning to write a book called “Up” about why we climb and about two climbers who pushed the limits both for themselves and for climbing in general. Those two were Lynn Hill who made the first free ascent of The Nose and Hans Christian Doseth who made the first ascent of the east wall on Great Trango Tower. I soon realized that in order to get into the heads of these achievers, I needed to push my own limits, to set a goal that bordered on unrealistic. Three years ago I was – and still am - a mediocre climber. I had tried climbing in my 40s, but I didn’t start climbing a lot until I was 50, and at 59 my max level was 7b+. So, what if I decided I would give my all to do what would be my equivalent of The Nose and Great Trango Tower, namely an 8a before I turned 62? I asked Stian Christophersen, a 9a climber, if he would help me. I told him I had my age and my limited climbing talent working against me, but that I possessed a certain and sometimes annoying tenacity working for me. That was all he needed to hear, he said and accepted the challenge.

For two years I put climbing first, neglecting my job as a writer, my band, my social responsibilities, and most of my sweet vices. Now, the point of the experiment was to try as hard as Hill and Doseth to reach my goal, actually sending an 8a would be secondary. But to do this kind of method acting, you also must really want to reach your goal. So I became that awful creature, the self-absorbed, mono-focused athlete belonging to – according to a famous American study – the mad majority who would take the deal of winning an Olympic gold medal and then immediately die. Well, almost. I had to write and put out the book about it first. When deciding which 8as to focus on, Stian and I ruled out 8as that were hard for the grade or so soft that the grade which would be put into question. We found a route in Norway (“I godt selskap”) that Stian – who more often than not onsights 8a – needed two days and several attempts to send, and a route that might suit me – Elephant on Ton Sai, Thailand that Stian had sent, but not onsighted.

There were of course injuries along the way, like a broken elbow and a painful finger that still needs injections of cortisone, but all in all I trained continuously and hard. I climbed 7c, more 7cs and then 7c+ and then another 7c+, and I got closer and closer on both 8as, but after two years I still hadn’t sent any of them. It was tempting to declare victory when I sent a route in Kalymnos that according to the guidebook and the majority of ticks is 8a. But at that point I had already climbed a 7c+ that felt much harder, and the Kalymnos-route was definitely easier than my 8a-projects. “In your heart you know” the saying goes, and much to my dismay my heart knew so I had to downgrade it. Damned I was!

Time was running out, it was February 2022 and my last day and last attempts at Elephant. It had gotten dark but my friends brought headlamps to the beach in front of the bouldery route. It was fun, with cheering, beer and bats, and quite touching. My climbing friends showed me the way, literally and metaphorically. After having failed once more I promised I would give it one more year.

Before going to Ton Sai this year I had been training even harder and I had been in Colorado, doing the last interviews and climbing with Lynn Hill. She had given me useful tips for the dynos at Elephant, and I was in good shape. Then I discovered I had hernia, probably due to some of the harder core exercises. So when I got to Ton Sai I was still recovering from the operation, not being allowed to climb or exercise for six weeks. It really put me back. That is one of the problems with turning 60, if you stop training, you lose power and stamina so much quicker. Then again, if you’ve been on a certain level, getting back there is always easier than getting there the first time. I climbed easy routes, trained and got stronger every day. And there was something else and more important, I was simply a better climber than the year before. I started on Elephant again, a shock at first, but gradually my muscles remembered. At my 100-something attempt over three years on this short route, I was strong, but probably not at my strongest ever. But, I was at my best ever. My daughter, now 23, was visiting. She is not into climbing and has never seen me climbing, except for a few times when I’ve put up rope for her. She has now seen me climbing 15 meters and for 2 minutes.

I was surprised how overwhelmed I was by the send. Not so much with clipping the anchor as with the warm and earnest response from everybody who was there, most of them friends, but even from people I didn’t know. Climbing is joy. It is only important to the people that decide to make it important, and that freedom to make playing important is the greatest joy. That goes for Hill and Doseth and that goes for a mediocre, old guy stalking a personal goal. Sending an 8a is of course not making history, not even climbing history. I think the reason why strangers smile at you when you are lowered from an anchor, why we read stories like this one or stories about true climbing achievements, is we all can relate to struggles, hard work and personal triumphs, no matter how insignificant in the big picture. On a day on a crag with a dozen climbers anyone can supply us with a happy conclusion, a moment of bliss we can share. I’m sometimes asked by young climbers if I’m sorry I didn’t discover climbing until so late in life. To me it’s the opposite. I’m glad I didn’t eat this dessert in life for starter.

My plan – after having put out “Up” – is to hopefully slowly descend through the grades with a smile on my face, back to where I came from. But no, I don’t plan to write (a sequel called) “Down”.

Ryuichi Murai, who already has five 8C+ ascents to his name, reports on Insta that he has done in Red Rock (NV), after projecting it for eight days. (c) Momoka Oda

Sleepwalker was opened by Jimmy Webb and later Daniel Woods added a sitstart, calling it Return of the Sleepwalker (9A).

Did you give the 9A sit start a go? Did you do any special training in order to get in shape for this trip?
Tomorrow is the last day. So the sit start is for the next time. I made some sloper and fat pinch problems at the spray wall and trained sometimes with the Beast Maker 2000. Additionally, I also did full span training from an undercling to sloper hold. (Sleepwalker requires wingspan).
My basic climbing style is training on the gym's spray wall 2-3 times a week. The amount will increase a little more one month before a trip. The content includes max power training with problems of V12 (8A+) and above, and circuit training with problems of V7-9. And I often do finger pull-ups using the Beast Maker 2000. I sometimes do plank training at home on days when I don't climb.

When and where do you plan to travel next ?
Maybe Alphane or South Africa in June-July.

Cameron Hörst has done Smoke Wagon (9a) in . (c) John Kasaian

Can you give us the lowdown?
I started trying “Smoke Wagon” (9a) in the winter of 2021 but never came back to it until the end of December 2022. Since December, I have taken a couple one week trips to Vegas (from Salt Lake City) to try the climb between training. I haven’t kept track of the number of sessions but I put a good bit of work into it. I chose to work this route, in particular, because it is a pure resistance route (which has historically been my anti-style). The goal being… that trying this route, in between training, will hopefully help equip me for harder projects in the future!

What's next for you this year?
I have some lingering projects here in the states I want to finish off throughout the year and will be travelling to France this summer to climb in Céüse!

Cameron made his first 8a news in 2012 when he did his first three 8b+. In addition to excelling at climbing, Cameron excelled at American football in high school.

David Bermudez Carbonell, who started climbing two and a half years ago at age eleven, has done El calvario del sicario (8c) in , in just ten tries. We spoke to David's mom, Isabel recently. (c) Javi Pec

It sounds like you guys are a climbing family?
We have been fanatic climbers for over 25 years and we still go climbing every weekend and our holidays are always climbing holidays. Within 15 days of the birth of our children, they were already out on the rock and although they didn’t start climbing until about 2.5 years ago, they have always been on the mountain with us.

Did your kids take to climbing naturally?
David and Adriana (16) started to climb at the end of September 2020. Within 2 or 3 weekends they made their first 7b, after we had taught them how to clip quickdraws. Later the pandemic arrived, which forced us to stop for about 6 months. After that, they went back to climbing and got really hooked on it and haven’t stopped climbing until now.

Their progression has been very fast and if they continue climbing in this way, few barriers will be put in front of them. The incredible thing about David is that for his young age, he is a very complete climber, with only 1.45 metres he has climbed very hard and demanding routes. He has climbed 8a/+ on sight climbs and does not disappoint (shy away from). I think David has a natural gift for climbing, as he climbs well on all types of routes regardless of the type of rock (limestone, granite...) He is a self-taught climber, as he has no coach, nor does he do any guided training, his talent is natural and his motivation for climbing is at its maximum at the moment.

As a mother, I want my children to live and enjoy climbing as something authentic, where the grade is nothing more than a consequence. Being humble, respectful and having good attitude are key to life.

Stefano Ghisolfi has done the FA of Excalibur (9b+) in Arco. It was bolted by Christian Dorigatti and Morris Fontanari who invited Stefano to try it two years ago. Over the last year, Stefano has been trying it with Jacob Schubert, Will Bosi and Adam Ondra. (c) Diego Borello

Can you tell us more about the ascent? Did you do any specific training and did you benefit from trying it with others?
It is a short route but there are 18 moves and the rest in the middle is very important, a huge amount of strength is needed but it is not enough, power endurance is crucial for the last crux. I think it took me from 20 to 30 sessions. I didn't do any specific training but I focus my training more on power and power endurance in the past months. Trying the route with other climbers speeded up the process of finding the perfect beta and helped with motivation in the long term.

With more time, do you think you can go beyond the difficulty that something like Excalibur presents?
Yes, sure! Actually, there is a possible low start of Excalibur 😅😉 I don't know if it is possible but seems hard. We start from a rock, it is possible to start further down. There are 3 or 4 moves under probably but we never tried. I'll try it for sure, with some crash pads.

The 29-year-old has previously done three 9b+'. On the competition scene, the Italian has been one of the best performers over the last ten years having won six World Cups and being Top-8, in 39 such events.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo has dropped into Santa Linya, and onsighted La Mare del Tano 8b and El Koala Extension 8b+. The 23-year-old has onsighted 29 routes 8b to 8c, out of which, ten he's sent in the last year and he is #2 in the onsight ranking game. The Spaniard has logged 130 days on his mega-project, in Margalef, where he has once has fallen on the final crux move.

Are you training specifically for your project?
My specific training is just to try the route. Doing laps on sections, repeating the crux, doing tries with weight... The rest is training that helps me but it is also for improvement for other projects

Do you think it could be a 9c contender?
I really don't know about the grade because I don't have any reference, I never tried one route for so long like Café Colombia. But definitely, I am sure it is the hardest route that I ever tried. l always thought that the grade is just a symbol, the story that I am living to try to send this route is something really (more) amazing.

Sebastien Bouin: "Tautavel is a historical place here in France, close to the Spanish border. There is one particular sector, with an impressive route. It looks like the famous Chilam Balam, a prow of tufas climbing followed by an amazing wall. It's an esthetic line for sure. This route was bolted 30 years ago by Manu Da Silva and it has been waiting for a First Ascent since that time."