Zach Galla reports on Instagram that he, within a week in Red Rock (NV), has repeated Sean Bailey’s Shaolin (9A) and Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker (9A). (c) Finn Stack

The 25-year-old, with four 8C+’ to his name, says that Shaolin was his hardest challenge ever, especially mentally. He fell some 25 times on the final jump last season and then he did it on his fourth session this winter.

”Finishing up Shaolin feels like it took a literal weight off of my shoulders. My mind was finally free and all of my self imposed pressure went away. Return Is always one I tried on the side because the beta I thought I’d need to use felt like it would make the full line out of reach. Coming back this year It felt totally different (and with how soft Vegas sandstone is, it probably is). I was able to use a right hand crimp in the stand that I couldn’t before that allowed me to skip a few undercling shuffle moves and the intermediate holds for the crux move to the sloper. Once I had found my new method, the links came quick.

My process on this one this year was almost the complete opposite of Shaolin. I only had a few sessions before sending Return where I thought I had a real chance of doing it that day. It’s kinda weird because Return felt substantially more physically difficult than shao on the send go, but it came together so much quicker. The style of Return made it far easier to control my outcome, while the accuracy component of Shaolin made it harder to send, but it felt so much easier when it came together.”

Felipe Camargo made the first ascent of Abaporu (9b) in September. ”I bolted this line in 2023 when I did the FA of Auto Retrato (9a+) and Gran Reserva (9a) at the same wall. Just did the moves but did not really focus on it. This year I spent five weeks on it always climbing during the night as it is in the sun all day. After it gets dark it still takes a while for the wall to cool down so I was climbing in between 9 pm to 2 am.”

Alessandro Larcher, who earlier this autumn did the classic multipitch Silbergeier (8b+), has sent Omen Nomen (9a) in Arco. (c) Crimp Films

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
“Omen” is an amazing line bolted by Mauro Mabboni and FA by Stefano Ghisolfi! I tried it for 6 days and then on the 7th I was able to clip the anchor!

I sent my first 9a back in 2019 and a couple of days before I had known I made it into Med school. 2 big goals of mine were achieved in less then a week. It felt like a dream! Now I was able to send my second 9a and it happened in the same week I started working as a Medical Doctor in an hospital near Arco! Again two big dreams were completed!

I spent the 6 years of med school always uncertain if I could maintain my level in climbing and to find the right balance between climbing and studying was never easy.. my goal was to prove myself that with passion and hard work I could well manage both things and in the end even though it wasn’t easy, I feel I became a more complete climber and to my surprise even a stronger one!

What are your next plans, both work- and climbing-wise??
Now the plan is to work for one year and then probably start my specialisation. It is time for some training and for sure I will try some routes in the 9a range near Arco.

Michaela Kiersch, who moved to Innsbruck two months ago to climb full time, has sent Walk The Line (8A+) and Rabbit seduto (8A) in Chironico and I Portici (8A+) in Osogna.

How many sessions were needed for those two 8A+’?
I did Portici in about 20 mins as it really suited my style — crimps and heel hooks. Walk the line took 2 sessions — the first one I worked out the bottom sequence but because it was raining I didn’t do the top out. It went quickly in the second session with dry conditions!

What is next?
I have a few big projects like Arrival of the Birds (9a) and Forgotten Gem (8C) but I love climbing all the classics of an area, especially 8A-8B.

Arlo Rogers, who sent his first 9a in January, has done Seleccion natural left exit (9a) and Direct into your Fabelita (9a), as well as flashed Rollito Sharma (8b+). (c) Kieran Whitehead

Can you tell us more about those ascents?
I first tried this back in April 2024, sleeping in a bivvi tent in the car park, I got really ill and despite my best efforts, many days were written off and I went home with my best go getting me to the tuffas. I later returned a year on to the most rain the area had almost ever received. Despite a good time on that trip training and skating down the hill many goes ended with wet hands and air time.

This time I went to the digital anchor [Seleccio Natural (9a)] on the second day of my trip and then to the top of the crag for the extension on my third.

My friend Josh was then trying direct in to your fabelita which I started trying with him, I was surprised to send it on my 6th session. I did also manage to fall of on the last v1 move 30cm away from the chains the day before the most pumped I have ever been. On the send go through conditions were terrible so the top took me forever.

I went for the flash on my last tie in on the last day of my trip. It’s one i have saved for a good flash go for a while and felt brilliant being carried up by robs beta as the sun was setting. I used a techy knee for the big move in the crux. Maybe this reduces the Grade but obviously hard to tell on the flash, it’s very low percentage and I certainly had to fight for it!

What are your 2026 plans?
This winter I’m back in UK but going to Pitumarca in July in South America with some friends. Hoping to repeat some of the classics and develop some new single pitch and multi pitch routes.

Sam Daulton, who earlier this year sent his first 8c+, has repeated Carlo Traversi’s Empath (9a+) in Tahoe (CA), twice. First he sent it as a sport climb, ”might only be 8c”, and later on trad gear. ”Came back and did it without the bolts. 2nd ascent on gear. All natural pro, all placed on lead. So fun! Not sure about the grade, but definitely a little harder than on bolts… I dialed in the jams, it is certainly much harder without jams.” (c) Sean Haverstock

Traversi suggested 9a+ which was confirmed multiple times before it was downgraded by Ethan Pringle doing it with climbing gloves. Later Connor Herson sent it both on bolts and later did the FA on trad gear, without commenting the grade. ”I was able to jam my way past the three of the four cruxes on the route, making each of them substantially easier. I did not wear any tape or crack gloves for the send.”

This summer, Tommy Caldwell (46) did it on bolts. ”With the way I used my trad-dad skills to get it done—it’s probably more like 8c.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
When Carlo established Empath in 2020, I remember thinking it was one of Tahoe’s most inspiring lines—and immediately writing it off, since I don’t climb 5.15 [9a+] I didn’t try the route until this year.

One of the things I love most about climbing is confronting challenges that initially seem impossible and slowly realizing they might just be possible after all. Interestingly, 2020 was also the year I began crack and trad climbing on Donner Summit. Five years later, I still don’t climb 5.15—but I’ve picked up a new skill set. Those techniques transformed what once felt like a pipe dream into something that was within my wheelhouse. That shift made this process one of the coolest experiences I have had with a route.

I first tried the route twice in the summer of 2025, but only managed one attempt each session due to limited time. Even so, the line stuck with me—steep, immaculate granite with striking features. In the fall, I committed to giving it a proper effort, getting out as consistently as I could while working full time—using some vacation to get out during some afternoons.

October weather in Tahoe is hit or miss, and I pulled my draws just before a storm dropped a foot of snow on the Sierra Crest. Fortunately, it melted quickly, and shortly after, I redpointed the route on bolts. All told, it took nine sessions, including the two summer days.

Even before sending it on bolts, I was curious about climbing the route on gear. Difficult trad climbing is one of my favorite styles because of the added complexity—choosing placements, deciding when to run it out, and managing the mental side alongside the physical. Since the temperatures were dropping and the season was winding down, I went out to micro-traxion the route to suss the gear. I redpointed it on gear 3 sessions later in November, wrapping up a wild process on a dream route right before another Sierra deluge!

Big thanks to Carlo for establishing such a beautiful line, to my partner Sara for the support, to Sean for filming, and to all my climbing partners along the way!

As for the grade, the route felt more manageable once I dialed in the jams, it is certainly much harder without jams. With my beta, I don’t think it is harder than 8c+ on bolts, although 8c is probably a sandbag. Climbing it on gear adds time in strenuous positions to place gear, which certainly increases the difficulty, but I’m not sure it bumps the letter grade. Connor is much more well-equipped to grade this than me, so I largely defer to him :).

Pietro Vidi has repeated Magic Line (8c+) in Yosemite (CA). In 1996, Ron Kauk completed the route using pre-placed gear, and his son Lonnie repeated it in the same “pink-point” style in 2016. Two years later, Lonnie achieved the first true clean ascent, upgrading the grade to 8c+ to reflect the added difficulty of placing the gear on lead. (c) Victoria Kohner-Flanagan

Pietro’s repeat of Magic Line follows his ascents of the big wall The PreMuir (8a+) on El Capitan, and the trad line Meltdown (8c+) trad last month - topping off a very successful trip to The Valley.

”After a last minute change of plans and not starting my push on The Nose, the obvious goal was Magic Line. I have always been attracted by the beauty and aesthetics of the line, but at the same time intimidated knowing it wouldn’t suit me as well as meltdown. The thought of climbing both routes in the same season got me even more psyched to try it! I found the route actually suited me really well - with a hard intro boulder, followed by some very delicate laybacking on really bad smears and little edges and then a final no-hands rest before the last boulder.

On the first session on a Top-Rope I could quickly link the two cruxes, but it took me 3 further sessions to optimise my beta for the long middle section and figure out the most efficient gear placements and all the little details. I eventually top-roped the route placing all the gear on my fourth session and felt really confident to send even with thr limited time I had left on the trip. On my first day of lead attempts I made it to the last, (easier) crux on both tries, but my foot slipped on one of the very last moves, seeing me take a couple of big whippers.

I managed to send the route on my first try of the next day, finding myself flowing through the cruxes without even thinking and “magically” found myself at the chains! For sure one of the best, most aesthetic and most technical lines I’ve ever climbed! Really happy to have climbed both this and Meltdown in the same trip, but I’ll definitely have my focus back on the bigger walls for my next trip to The valley!”

Stefano Carnati, with 37 routes 9a to 9b under his belt, has repeated Ultimo tango a Zagarolo (9a+) in Grotti. The Italian only needed two days for the ascent and commented it is either a hard 9a or 9a/+. (c) Filippide Calindro

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Ultimo Tango a Zagarolo is short and specific route: it starts with a powerful ten-move boulder, featuring a long move off distant feet and then a series of two-finger pockets that are extremely hard on the tendons. The final crux is a jump from a deep, sharp two-finger pocket. I managed to stick this move in isolation already on my first try, but I quickly realised that coming into that pocket from below makes it almost impossible to get it as deep and solid as you’d want.

On my redpoint I must have pulled way too hard on that pocket, because my finger went numb for the entire upper section. That part climbs around 8a, on a vertical wall with smaller, sharper pockets… definitely not as easy as I expected after only checking it twice. Another lesson learned. In the following days my tendons were incredibly sore, and I could barely climb anything.

Matilda Söderlund reports on Instagram that she has done the first female ascent of Spomin (8c) in Paklenica. The 350-meter route is split into ten pitches, with the crux sections graded 8c and 8b+. The Swede boasts one of the greatest résumés in women’s climbing. She finished sixth at the 2012 World Championship and has since climbed 9a’s, onsighted 8b,’s and sent boulders up to 8B. Her achievements also include a couple multi-pitch ascents graded 8b+ and 8c.

”It took us 14 hours car to car, so we weren’t fast 😅 But climbing the last couple of pitches in the dark with no wind was a really cool mix of calmness and epic. Standing on the summit of Anica Kuk, completely exhausted, together is a memory I will cherish forever - and ’Spomin’ actually means memory ✨”

Eva Hammelmüller, who previously in 2025 has done a dozen routes 8c+ and beyond, has sent Omen Nomen (9a) in Arco. The Austrian tried it four years ago but could just barely do every move in isolation. This year, the 25-year-old sent it in just four sessions and she moves to second position, after Laura Rogora, in the ranking game.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
A dream of mine that first took shape back in 2021 became reality last weekend. At that time, my big objective was to climb 9a, and I thought ‘Omen Nomen ’could potentially fit my style perfectly; the route is not too steep and really technical, and can be split into three sections with rests in between. However, to be honest, I think I just didn’t have the level yet. The cruxes require a huge amount of body tension, biceps, and finger strength - which I definitely lacked at that time.

Several years passed and finally, I returned this season with all my homework done. While I struggled to do the moves in isolation in 2021, I quickly linked both crux sequences this year. Four amazing days in Padaro with good friends later, and the anchor was clipped. Knowing how far I’d come since those first sessions, was an unreal and incredibly rewarding feeling. Huge thanks to the crew for hyping me up and sharing the psych!!

How can you best explain your great outdoor progress in 2025?
Over the last few years, my motivation for outdoor climbing outgrew my thrive for competitions. I enjoyed being out in nature with good friends so much more than competing, especially because I always experienced competition venues as really stressful and nerve-wrecking. While I felt energetic and psyched after a long rock climbing day, competitions left me feeling drained and tired. Therefore, I reckon that my decision to focus on rock climbing plays an important part in my performance improvement. If I feel relaxed and nothing but motivated, I simply perform way better. In addition, not having to focus on comp schedules and training cycles enables me to listen 100% to my body - if I am psyched for climbing, I climb, if I am tired or have many other things to do, I rest; that makes my training more effective and productive. Plus, I think my mentality is more the one of a team player - and outside, climbing is exactly about that: working together to find the best solution to succeed in a route, with the only 'opponent‘ being the route. After all, I guess it comes down to not take everything too seriously and make the most of every climbing session you get to spend outside with friends.