Stefano Ghisolfi has made the first repeat of Adam Ondra's Move Hard (9b) in Flatanger. It starts as Move and continues into the second crux of Silence (9c) which is his big project. (c) Diego Borello

On Insta he comments: "On these last days I focused more on Move Hard, and as always happens in these trips, last day is the best day, and I managed to grab the second ascent of my side project Move Hard."

Adam Ondra started a trend by commenting his climbing videos but now Stefano Ghisolfi takes it to a new detailed level. The holds and sequences on Silence (9c) just look amazing. If somebody could pull me up and I could try to hang-dog some of the easier sequences high up in the cave, it could turn out to be the most epic moment in my climbing life :)

Daniel Woods reports on Insta that he has repeated Drew Ruana's Insomniac 8C+ at Lincoln Lake. It starts by doing eight moves of The Wheel of Wolvo followed by a good rest and then continuous through We Can Build You (8B). (c) Wes Walker

"The original way of doing “We Can Build You” (2nd part) was way more powerful and low percentage. The new heel hook beta makes the crux high(er) percentage, thus making the full connection seem probable. We originally thought “we can build you” was hard V14 (8B+) but now it feels more like hard V13 (8B) . Insomniac is on the cusp of V15/16 (8C/8C+), but (I) do feel like it is harder than most V15s I’ve done in this style. Insomniac is a daunting task to take on."

The 33-year-old has been on the cutting edge since age 15 when he did his first 8c+ route and first 8B+ boulder. Starting in 2005, he won the American Nationals for ten years in a row and he has also won one World Cup. In total, he has done 40+ 8Cs and harder, including the FA of Return of the Sleepwalker (9A).

Jakob Bizjak has repeated Domen Skofic’s five star line Umetnost (9a) in Ter. ”Such cool moves on this amazing line! I am also really happy to do it on that day because it was raining a lot and I almost did not go to the crag, but then in the late afternoon I and my girlfriend decided to go check it out just in case… and to my surprise, it dried out just fast enough to make the ascent possible in the evening. 🙂”

How many tries and sessions did it take?
I needed around 20 tries during some eight sessions. I am really happy that it did not turn into an epic episode with years of work but went down rather quickly (for my projecting standards at least that is). 🙂

What is your climbing background?
I have been climbing for something like 16 years, always focusing on outdoor climbing. I really enjoy spending time at the crag, don't mind boulders, long or short routes, and also have a bit of a taste for some more obscure lines and local connections 😃

Alex Puccio has done the Dave Graham's classic We Can Build You (8B) at Mount Blue Sky, Insta video. In total, the runner-up in the 2014 World Championship has done 250+ boulders 8A and harder including nine 8B+'. In effect, Alex has, by far, the most impressive women's career boulder tick list. (c) Robin O'Leary

"I started trying We can build you this summer for the first time and tried not to get too wrapped up in it. I took my time by doing other things as well. I kind of naturally built up to it and then the last 2 sessions before I sent I climbed it from 3 moves into the end. But each session I never went to it fresh, I would get on boulders before it, 7C+ up to 8A+. The last session was the first time I got on it right after warming up and what do you know, it worked! :)

After sending it I rested about 15 min and then decided to re-climb it in sections so I could make a better little video of it. I pulled onto the start so I could do the first part first and then I ended up just repeating the whole climb again. It’s funny when you take the pressure away from your mind how much different things can feel."

How has the summer been and what are your autumn plans?
It has been a good balance of training inside quite a bit and getting outside a couple of days a week this summer.

Now all I’m doing is just more of the same. Trying some harder boulders mixed with some not as hard as well as training inside. Trying to have fun, keep my mind free when I’m climbing at least, and enjoy the good weather! :)

Ghisolfi says, among other things, that;
- his progress has been better than expected
- the boulder crux felt harder than 8C
- a Silence 10a link-up is possible
- and Silence feels 9c

21-23 April: IFSC Boulder World Cup in Hachioji, Japan;
28-30 April: IFSC Boulder and Speed World Cup in Seoul, South Korea;
6-7 May: IFSC Speed World Cup in Indonesia;
19-21 May: IFSC Boulder and Speed World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA;
2-4 June: IFSC Boulder World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic;
9-11 June: IFSC Boulder World Cup in Brixen, Italy;
14-18 June: IFSC Boulder and Lead World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria;
30 June-2 July: IFSC Lead and Speed World Cup in Villars, Switzerland;
7-9 July: IFSC Lead and Speed World Cup in Chamonix, France;
14-15 July: IFSC Lead World Cup in Briançon, France;
1-2 September: IFSC Lead World Cup in Koper, Slovenia; and
22-24 September: IFSC Lead and Speed World Cup in Wujiang, China.

Connor Herson made his first 8a headline in 2018 when he did an 8c+, 2nd go at age 14. In the same year he repeated The Nose 8b+ MP; and was #11 in the Youth World Championship. Earlier this year he did the bolted route Empath 9a (+) on trad gear and three weeks ago he was #12 in the YWC after being #2 in the qualification round. In other words, Connor is the #1 youngster in the world when it comes to multi-discipline climbing. In the picture by Christian Adam, Connor onsights, Moonlight Buttress, a 7c multi-pitch.

Do you boulder?
Bouldering is certainly my weakest discipline, so hopefully, I can boulder a bit more in the next few years. It’s always helpful for me to work on my weakness!

How have you gone about trying and excelling at so many different types of climbing?
Both my parents have been climbing for several decades, so they exposed me to so many different climbing disciplines. During the weekend it made more sense to go up multi-pitch climbs in the Sierras, but on weekdays I climbed with the youth team at my local climbing gym, which got me interested in competition climbing.

What is your next plan?
I have a trip to Rifle planned, and then I’ll be starting college at Stanford. I’m not sure how much free time I will have in college, but I’m hoping I can still get out to Yosemite on some weekends!

Do you have any big long-term goals such as the Olympics, climbing 9b, or a big wall FA?
I don’t have any particular goals at the moment - I think it depends on how college goes. But I’d like to pursue outdoor climbing more, especially trad/big walls.

Why is studying so important to you?
I think I am just as excited about studying as I am about climbing. Even though I have some very generous and supportive sponsors, I think I’d love to try to keep that balance between academics and climbing. To clarify, although I’m starting college in a week, I don’t intend to stop climbing at all. I might be climbing less frequently, but I’ll still be finding projects, pushing myself, and - most importantly- having fun.

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