Gonzalo Larrocha, who in the last month has done three 8c+ and one 9a, has done Patanics (9a+) in . All in all, the 38-year-old is peaking, and only in 2022, he has done 120+ routes 8a and harder.

How many sessions did you project it?
This autumn seven days but I tried it many other sessions in other seasons.

I don't know what to say about this route. The process was perfect during this season. Every try I fell higher, only in the last two days had some regression tries. The problem is more or less the same as in No pain no gain. The main difference is that a crimp broke off which made the boulder section harder.

1. Tomoa Narasaki JPN 84.3 + 72.1 = 156.4
2. Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 54.4 + 84.0 = 138.4
3. Kokoro Fujii JPN 68.6 + 64= 132.6
Complete results

Tomoa Narasaki won the very first Boulder and Lead World Cup, getting 18 points more than Yoshiyuki Ogata also from Japan. Placing third was Kokoro Fujii and in total the Japanese team had five at the Top-7. All in all, the route setting and new calculation played out well for Paul Jenft winning the Boulder round with 84.7 points and Ogata winning Lead with 84.0 points.

“It’s been definitely a tough round, but I’m glad I have won the first-ever World Cup medal in this format,” said Narasaki to IFSC. “To be honest, this morning I didn’t really feel like having two rounds on the same day, but I kept my focus and gave my best.” (c) Lena Drapella

In practice, this means that Ogata was four moves from the top and that Jenft needed seven attempts to make 3 Tops and 4 High Zones. It should be noted that a new point system was tested and the only difference with the old system, used in the Euro Championship, would have been that Yannick Flohé would have taken Jeft's #4 position.

Simone Tentori has done the second ascent of Clement Lechaptois' Solitary daze (8C) in Fionnay, which is a direct exit to Permanent Midnight (8A+). (c) Sierra Fabri

"As soon as I climbedFoundations Edge (8C) (last month) I started trying Solitary Daze because it's a very attractive line and it seemed my style. This problem is both powerful and technical, you need to squeeze hard with your upper body and legs and at the same time you need to place really difficult heel hooks.

I tried for 5/6 days and I was really close, falling a few times at the last hard move due to the slipping heel. Finished the trip empty-handed and when I got home I started some work and uni stuff. I felt tired and weak during those weeks at home but as soon as I got some free time I decided to come back to try anyway. Friday night I took the 5 hours to drive to Fionnay and Saturday I climbed the boulder first try after the warm-up."

Iziar Martinez has done Nuria (8c) and Taladrina (8b+) in . (c) Bárbara García García Inés

In 2020, she climbed four 8c's, and since then she has focused more on competitions. This year, the 17-year-old placed on the podium in both Lead and Boulder in the European Youth Championships.

Karoline Sinnhuber has done The Antwoord (8A+) in Zillertal. "I actually didn‘t plan to try this boulder, because the start move and start position are really awkward. Anyway, somehow I landed there and checked out the moves. It took me a while to figure out the first move with the weird heel and almost in a lying position - but it worked out 😎" (c) Fabian Leu

Great to see you back sending hard, have you had an injury layoff?
I‘m also happy that I‘m back in business after a partly ruptured pulley in June and an inflammation in July/August. It definitely sucked, not being able to crimp hard 😁 there is still a bit of inflammation in my finger, but I can crimp - and that‘s all that counts 😄

Stéfanie Lo Piccolo has repeated her husband, Cedric's Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup. Fanatic Climbing has made an interview with the 37-year-old and mother of two children, who twice got a bronze in the Youth World Championship.

"After the Covid period, I was in good shape. The gyms were closed, the children were back to school, and we had more time to climb outside. In the space of a year, I did a lot of hard climbs: the tough 8c/+ of “Tango Tonik” at Déversé and several others lines in the 8c range. The shape was back. In the fall of 2021, I saw Petr Blaha try “TTT” and it caught my attention. I did 4 sessions in October 2021 in order to find my methods. This spring, I went back on the route and started doing good links."

During the last three weeks, she has worked it intensively and she thanks Matteo Gambaro who found a new knee bar that unlocked the first crux for her.

Aidan Roberts reports on Insta that he has done the first repeat of Shawn Raboutou's Alphane 9A at Chironico. The 21-year-old has previously done a handful of 8C's and his hardest is Isles of Wonder Sit 8C+. Five years ago he won a Euro Youth Cup and his best result among the seniors is #19.

"Alphane however, was a pleasure throughout. Every day of effort, on rock or replica, felt to bear fruit with lessons of subtleties in movement, intricacy of holds and optimising mindset. I’ve got nothing but positive memories surrounding this climb and lots of days sharing methods with friends. It feels as though every session has been a success, almost a shame that there won’t be more to come!"

Oriane Bertone won the Boulder event in the Combined qualification in Morioka WC with 99.3 points as she needed eleven attempts to complete all four boulder problems valued at 25-points a piece. The runner-up was Natalia Grossman with 84.7 points followed by Brooke Raboutou 84.5 points. However, if this would have been a Bouldering World Cup, Brooke, who needed only four attempts for the three tops she did, would have been ranked ahead of Natalia who needed five attempts.

In other words, how the IFSC has ranked boulderers in World Cups for 20+ years no longer applies to Boulder & Lead World Cups.

Let us, for argument's sake, say that later Natalia, in the Lead event, makes it to the second to last hold getting 96.0 and then Brooke dynos to the Top jug but cannot hold the swing, meaning she gets 96.1 points. Overall, Natalia beats Brooke with 0.1 points although Brooke has climbed better in both disciplines, see the calculation below.

Natalia 3T4Z 5 attempts: 84.7 points + 96.0 points = 190.7 points
Brooke 3T4Z 4 attempts: 84.5 points + 96.1 points = 190.6 points

In the men's division a similar point scoring scenario has played out where Taisei Homma was ranked #8 but using the Boulder World Cup scoring, he would have been #6.

Thus far, the new 0.1 points Combined scoring rule has had no impact on the overall result as the Lead score differed enough for this scenario to not come into play, but the risk of such an outcome remains.

Delphine Chenevier has done Viande de Crison (8b+) inSatan. Previously in 2022, the 47-year-old has done 30 routes 8a to 8b including ten onsights and flashes. In 1999, she was #6 in a Boulder WC. (c) Tata LaCuvette

Could you tell us about your climbing background?
I was on the French climbing team when I was young, I did my first 8b more than 20 years ago. Sometimes I climbed less when I had some intense professional work period but I always keep the motivation and maintain a level in the 8th grade.

How have you managed to climb 8b+ and pull off a PB at age 47?
First of all: the motivation and pleasure to climb and push the limits.
Secondly, being realistic and evolving in a style perhaps more adapted to “my age”: less overhang, more based on finger strength. I trained a lot on finger strength on the mini Moonboard I built in our apartment during the covid, but also on mobility, and climbed outside as much as possible with my professional life. I always prefer to go climbing outside on the rock, in short, after work sessions with friends, with a headlamp as we start late after work, rather than climbing a gym.
Thirdly, this year I had a very severe shoulder injury this spring, and I started working with la Fabrique verticale (Olivier Broussouloux and Laurence Guyon), friends, and great climbing coaches. They coached me and helped me to rapidly be back “to business” and even to come back stronger after the injury. Perhaps you should ask them how to train an old woman 😂😂😂

How much are you training/climbing during the week?
It depends on my professional and family life: on the rock 3x times a week (more generally 1/2 day or sometimes a full day during the weekend + a short after-work evening session) and then one more training session during the week