Clément Lechaptois, who did his first 8C+ last October, has repeated Dave Graham's From Dirt Grows The Flowers (8C) in Chironico. (c) Rainer Eder

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I've tried the boulder quite a lot 2 seasons ago when Giul (Cameron) was trying Ephyra but I struggled with the mantle. Came back one day in november with no expectations but it felt way better and managed it. It was the last day of a mini trip. Came back saturday, conditions were good, climbed the mantle again and went for a burn from the start. Everything felt good and climbed the entire boulder !

What is your next plan and ambition?
Psyched on Alphane at the moment!

How was the first sessions?
Oooof, I actually started to try when it was still a project with Shawn & the crew. The last sessions have been quite promising tho.

Angelika Rainer, 3 time Ice World Champion, reports on Insta that she has done Solitary Souls (8c+) in Arco. Alfredo Webber did the FA of the 35m tall and 20m overhanging route in 2019 and last year Adam Ondra onsighted it (video), commenting, "unique line, unique to climb!". (c) Marco Servalli

Since I stopped competing in the Ice climbing World Cup a few years ago, I decided to mainly focus on rock climbing and try to see where I can push myself in this climbing discipline. Since last year I’m coached by the former World Cup winner Patxi Usubiaga Lacunza. I have always loved to train hard and to follow a training plan and working with Patxi gives me a huge motivation. Usually, I train or climb outdoors 6 days a week and I switch between the two of them based on the weather, current projects and other daily tasks.

I tried Solitary Souls for the first time last March and was able to do all the moves but as the wall is South facing I thought that it was more of a Winter project and so I came back to it in November. In the end, it only took me 10 days of tries which I think are not much when reaching a new grade, so I guess I can say that the style of the route definitely suits me as I have always been more the endurance type of climber. When I look for a project I don’t only look at the grade, but much more important is the beauty of the line and its surrounding. I love to look at the panorama while I shake out and take a deep breath. It helps me get relaxed at that moment and being in a wonderful place makes the process of trying a hard route even more enjoyable. This route is indeed an amazing line and the view above Arco, Riva and lake Garda is unique, so I would say it’s a 5-star rating."

Christoph Schweiger sent The Big Island (8C) last December, which made 8a headlines. Now the video is out.

Petra Klingler, World Champion in Bouldering in 2016 and in Ice Climbing in 2022, won the Ice World Cup in Cheongsong this weekend. Here is the live-streaming video. Among the male, Heeyong Park got the victory. (c) Rheakang_art

Mie Kastet has done Catatonica (8A) in Brione. "Love this problem! Appearance can be deceptive. It packs a punch! Not too experienced with these grades, so I'm running with the original suggestion. But it might be 8a. It may have suited me quite well too, so idk."

Interestingly is that the 38-year-old has had steady progress, since 2014, when it comes to scorecard points.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
To be honest, Catatonica was not on my radar at all when we came to Brione this year. I had other goals. But I injured my right hamstring on a heel hook and felt pretty helpless on most of the problems I had originally wanted to try. So when we stumbled across this one and all the body positions and moves worked with little to no pain, I got psyched!

To me, it felt like a very technical challenge, so I had a rare experience with the flow state. Felt super calm and didn't think. Except for the top out where I told myself "keep it together". Two big sessions working the moves and sequences, then another short session where nothing worked. But on the 4th session, everything clicked. ☺️

Could you say something about your daily climbing life?
At home, there's a mix of training and going outside for bouldering to try some problems that I am motivated for. I also have a funny and very active dog, so she makes sure I take time away from climbing and get some sort of cardio done. 🤣 I happen to work at the world's best bouldering gym Bergen Klatresenter and got the sweetest colleagues who allow me to go for longer trips from time to time. And I wouldn't be where I am without my partner (Knut Sømme), who's both psyched to climb and very supportive.

Leo Bøe 🍄, who did three 8c+' and flashed Janus (8c) in 2022, has done JoeDan 9a in Santa Linya. "My first in the grade. Awesome and powerful climbing down low, then endurance to the top! Felt a lot harder than which I also think is hard for the grade. Super happy with this one!!"

Could you tell us more about the ascent?
Last year the goal was sending a 9a, but it didn’t happen as I lacked a lot of endurance. I had to take a large step back and work 8c’s and 8c+’s and regain some more confidence and fitness. And now since I moved to Santa Linya I could relax and not rush for the grade. Instead, I did a lot of 8c-8c+ and took my time finding a project that I was properly psyched on. I started trying Open Your Mind, but this one felt really hard and condition dependent, so I left it for later. Then I tried Fuck The System, but this one was always wet… Some weeks later I saw my friend Pol Ortiz try JoeDan which got me psyched to tag along. The moves in the bouldery section down low felt hard, but they suited my style a lot.

This was an ideal project since I had already done Fabela 8c+ which shares the same bouldery ending. After 4-5 sessions I was able to pass the boulder down low and fell at the crux in Fabela. It felt way harder with pumped forearms from the JoeDan start, but today everything clicked. It felt awesome to clip the chains and it must have been my most emotional moment in climbing and maybe life as well! 🥳😁 I totally fell in love with the place and the lifestyle and I’ll stay in Santa Linya for 3-4 more months or so. Let’s see what else I can do during my time here! 👊

Jana Svecova, who last year did two 8B+, has done the FA of Appointment of the king (8A+) in Al Tawian. Last winter was also spent in the United Arab Emirates doing FAs.

Can you tell us more about your second trip to UAE and your 8A+ FA?
We came to the United Arab Emirates for two months, from December till the end of January. We decided to go to the Emirates because we know that you can enjoy climbing in winter here. It’s most of the time about exploring new areas and doing FAs. One of my FA is also boulder Appointment of the king which I graded 8A+. It has just really small holds, even for me 😃 whole climb is powerful and technical at the same time and it's in a 50-degree overhang. I also try to add a sit start now since we roll out one big stone and it is possible to start two moves lower, those two moves alone are around 8A maybe harder. I am 100% sure it will be around 8B+ 😀 We have two weeks left so let’s hope I will report some ascent of the lower start soon.

Martin Stráník has done the first repeat of Adam Ondra's Kráter 8C/+ in Holstejn and here is the video. " 11 days in total. Had to climb very precisely and fast on this 22 moves long boulder, which was really on my physical limit. Could send it on my 7th session, but after a hold broke I had to work much more on it, thus I recommend upgrade to 8C/C+." (c) Jakub Konečný

Martin won silver in the World Championship in 2007, at age 17, and has been one of the best climbers in the world since then. In total, the Czech has done 17 8C's, out of which four was in the last year. Until 2019, he basically only did Boulder WCs but later he started doing Lead events as well. In 2021, he made the podium twice at the WC and was #4 at the World Championship.