Eric Jerome, who previously has done seven 8B+', has done the third ascent of James Webb’s The Multiverse 8C. It was put up in 2014 as an 8B+ but later 8C has been suggested by the two repeaters as well as others who have tried it. "8 days this season and one terrible solo sesh a few years ago. So insanely scrumptious this one!!!"

Could you say something about your ascent?
I first tried Multiverse in Oct. 2020 but at the time I couldn’t convince anyone to go with me, and I didn’t have enough pads to climb on it safely. Additionally, there are tons of options for beta, so it’s really helpful to have people to work with. This year Taylor McNeill was finally finished his Joe’s project and was motivated for Multiverse. He started trying it the previous spring. I was pretty exhausted after having spent a few weeks finishing a project of mine in the Tetons, but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to try with him. We stayed in an Airbnb nearby for a week and had 3/4 sessions that week.

Taylor sent it and I made some good links. I took a couple of weeks to train in the gym and recover from the Tetons and returned with Isabel Faus for another few days of attempts and got two big overlaps. We thought the season was over and it would be too cold for the long problem, but we miraculously got one more day of great weather. I drove out to meet Daniel Woods, Isabel Faus, Arjan De Kock, and Davin Bagdonas who had found the boulder. Fortunately, I was able to take it down that day before the winter weather rolled in.

Daniel Woods reports on Insta that he did the fourth ascents also confirming the upgrade.

Nolwen Berthier has made the third female onsight, after Katie Brown and Sasha Digulian, of Omaha Beach (8b+) in Red River Gorge (KY). "With feet everywhere and thousands of crimps, I have to admit that the climbing in RRG suits me well. The Motherload sector and its “Madness Cave” is one of the longest and steepest in the valley, which reminded me of my beginnings in climbing and the hours of training spent in the 45° overhang of M’Roc (a gym in France). On my first visit, I did my first 8a+ on sight: “The Madness”! And its left neighbour “Omaha Beach” was calling me." (c) Pete Whittaker

Full interview on Fanatic Climbing.

Stefan Scherz, who in 2019 won Euro Youth Cups in Lead, Boulder and Combined, has done in Zillertal. (c) Mathias Posch

Could you say something about the ascent and what is next?
I’ve been trying Sierra Madre on & off for some time now. I never felt great about it but now I went there in nice condition and sent it on my first try from the start. Amazing 13 moves, power-endurance testpiece, and maybe the hardest one in the area of Innsbruck. My plans for the next months are to have a good time on the rock and try something hard, before the training for the new season starts.

Last weekend 52 years old Igor Čorko aka Deda (eng. Grandpa) climbed his third 8c route. The route is "Helicopter v pošašt" 8c in Pajkova strekha, which is a combination of the routes "Helicopter v omaki" 8b and "Osapska pošašt" 8c. What’s interesting is that he did his first 8c at age 45. Two years ago, he did his second, two years after he fractured the arm and both heels.

We got the news from Roko Labrovic who comments. "It is again proof that persistence, will, and renunciation work miracles in life or at least in climbing. Let this be an inspiration to the younger generations. I think he is training 4 times per week. Climbing mostly outside, at least one training is indoor. One more thing that can be interesting is that he built 2 climbing gyms here in Varaždin, Croatia. In which he regularly maintains and sets routes, of course with some help of club members...and he has climbed 250+ routes, grades from 8a - 8c."

William Bosi has repeated Kim Marschner's Forgotten Gem (8C) in Chironico. "Amazing boulder that will be a future classic for sure!" (c) Sam Pratt

Yesterday, he also did James Webb'sEphyra (8C+) in Chironico. Two weeks ago, Will repeated Alphane (9A), saying his FA of Honey Badger (8C+), felt harder. When it comes to routes, the Brit has done close to 20 routes 9a to 9b+. Last year, he was #11 in the Lead World Championship but he has not done any comps this year.

Antonio Arregui, who had 8b+ as his PB two years ago, has done Seta total (9a) in .

Could you say something about your climbing background and the ascent?
I started climbing in 2017 in the Cuenca gym. In December 2018 I sent my first 8a and since then I haven't stopped climbing. Last year I sent my first 8c+ "Seta Negra" and then I tried "Seta Total" but it was too hard for me so I wanted to wait until this autumn to try hard on this route. At first, it was so hard but while I was getting stronger the temperatures were cooler so I knew I could have a chance of sending this autumn.

How come it is basically only Cuenca climbs in your log-book?
My career doesn't allow me to go out of Cuenca because I study so much, but when I have free time I like to climb new crags.

What do you study and when will it be finished?
Veterinary medicine, in three years more or less.

Katherine Choong has done Rammstein (8c) in Soyhières. The 30-year-old is a former competition climber who some 30 times has been top-30 in the World Cup. She has previously done two 9a’s and several hard MP’s up to 8b+. In other words, her track record is one of the most impressive out there. (c) Laurent Enard

"I first tried this route at the beginning of 2021 and I spent a lot of time there. The route presents difficult boulder sections interspersed with easier sections and ends with a dyno on a final sloper where I knew a lot of climbers had fallen. Often too hot or wet, it is complicated to find good conditions at Soyhières. This past Sunday, I was really tired after a bouldering competition the day before. But the good conditions and I had no expectations, I finally pass the bottom crux and the second one (with a one-finger pocket) and reach the top without falling in the final dyno! I am particularly happy with this climb, a route that is not in my style (bouldering and dynamic)."

Ella Adamovska has sent us the great news that Pepa Šindel, who previously has done three 8c+, has made the first repeat of Michal Mikušínec' Chiroptera 9a+. In the nice video, we can hear he has Adam Ondra as his idol.

"The first 10 moves are around 8b climbing followed by the real deal crux which consists of 5 boulder moves on sharp mono pockets. The line is for sure very specific which confirms the fact that it’s already been unsuccessfully tried by Adam Ondra but remained unrepeated until Pepa’s send the last weekend.

Pepa said that he’s decided to try Chiroptera for the first time at the end of August. Since the weather wasn’t very good during September, he focused on training and other climbing areas and only stopped by Sulov a few times. October was the month of promising conditions that allowed Pepa to try more frequently, visiting the route once a week with his family. Eventually, he managed to send it this weekend after around 25 attempts.

Pepa is well known for being one of the smallest climbers. He is 153cm, very lightweighted and thin fingers could seem like an advantage for this kind of climbing but the truth is that for these small climbers it’s much harder to deal with most of the moves that taller climbers don’t even find problematic and they are always forced to find their own beta."