Quinn Mason, who last year sent her first 9a, has done Ya Like Jazz? (8c) in Squamish. ”Yes I do. And I really enjoyed this route too! This route climbs through a boulder in the roof to the left of Queen Bee and finishes through the B-Side dihedral. This climb deserves more attention in my opinion! On a wall full of wandering lines this one is maybe the most direct and features an incredible variety of movements.” (c) Tara Kerzhner

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
I believe my ascent of this route was only its second, which is surprising because it’s such an excellent, direct line! I think it gets overshadowed by the other incredible routes on the Paradise Wall.

The opening boulder problem is a wide compression sequence through a roof, probably at least V10 [7C+], followed by an incredible sustained and technical dihedral that leads into a final, potentially low-percentage boulder guarding the chains. It took me quite a bit longer to complete the route than I anticipated, but luckily, on my first try making it through the opening boulder from the ground, I was able to take it all the way to the chains :)

How many sessions did it take and how was the progress?
I don’t know how many sessions the route took but I started trying it around a month before I sent it. The process was prolonged by having a lot of issues with my skin and being unable to try the route.

Svana Bjarnason, who led the restoration work in Oliana after the big fire, has completed Joe Blau (8c+) in Oliana. The 34-year-old’s story includes an Olympic quest, injuries and a surgery eight months ago. (c) César Garcia Callariza

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
This ascent is a significant milestone for me because it’s my hardest one to date, but also because it’s an emotional comeback after a long and uncertain recovery period.

I suffer from severe deep endometriosis along with adenomyosis, which can cause heavy symptoms such as intense belly pain, uterine cramps, neuropathic pain affecting the legs and lower back, nausea, digestive issues, …

On September 12th, 2025, I underwent surgery to treat extensive deep endometriosis affecting multiple areas. At the beginning of the season, I had no clue what my body would be capable of. Besides, after surgery I thought the symptoms would be gone forever but, unfortunately, you can’t eradicate endometriosis.

Therefore I struggled (and still am struggling) the whole season, physically but also mentally. There were way too many days when pain completely changed my plans, training, mood and expectations. With this disease you never know in which state you’re gonna wake up. You never know whether you’ll be climbing hard at the crag or crying at the crag. In addition to this, I partially tore one my pulleys and I am still recovering from it, which isn’t ideal to climb at your highest level.

That’s why climbing Joe Blau means much more than a grade to me — it feels like rebuilding trust in my body and getting a small revenge on endometriosis. The day I sent, I wasn’t expecting to do it at all. I knew I was getting close but there’s a tricky section at the end and I was always sure I would fall up there a few times. Therefore it felt surreal when I clipped the chains and I immediately burst into tears. So yea, I know the journey with the disease isn’t over, but sending my first 8c+ eight months after surgery did like a first victory :)

How many sessions were needed and how was the progress?
I have no clue how many sessions but a looot haha. The long story is: I first tried the route a couple years ago, but at that time I was trying to qualify for the Olympics, so I barely climbed outdoors. Therefore I decided to project it the next season, last year. I made some progress on it, but I got injured and I think I realized I would not be strong enough to do it that season, so I chose to focus more on all my “side projects”. Therefore I actually didn’t climb on it that much. At the end of the Oliana season, I switched to plastic - competing in World Cups and European Cups - and learned I would need surgery to try and help with the endometriosis symptoms. I knew I needed to have a big goal in mind to get through all this, Joe Blau was an obvious one. Of course, I had to start with easier routes after surgery, but I quickly hopped back on Joe Blau. Along the season, I slowly got back in shape, sent some of my side projects and made good progress on the big one. With some ups and downs of course. My training plan was based on being strong enough in May to try and send, and it worked pretty well because that’s exactly what happened! I have to thank Melissa Le Neve for that (she’s my trainer) :)

Austin Purdy, with four 8C+’ under his belt, has sent Dying To Live (8C) in Lincoln Lake.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
Dying to Live wasn't something I was initially planning on trying this season, but I have been dealing with some issues with my finger this spring and it was something that I could actually try the moves on without too much issue since it is not too intense on the left hand and is a longer power endurance line. It ended up fititng me quite well and I was able to send it my first day giving send goes after a couple of sessiong trying to figure out the cryptic sequences.

Daniel [Woods] FA'd this boulder in 2012 and proposed V14 but it broke shortly after he did it and then fell into obscurity even though it is right next to the classic Evil Backwards (8B). The break ended up adding a second crux in the middle of the boulder and certainly bumped the difficulty of the whole line which is why I proposed an upgrade, however, since I haven't been getting outside as much lately I am a bit unsure about the overall grade and am interested to see what future ascentionists think. Hopefully, it will get more attention with the road opening next week now that people know it still goes.

What is next?
I have a trip to Rocklands planned for this July, so I am trying to get my finger healthy and fit for that.

Matteo Reusa, who was 25th in the Boulder World Championships last year, had the margins on his side in winning the Euro Cup in Slovakia. The 18-year-old was the last to qualify for both the semi-final and the final, placing 24th and 8th in the first two rounds. In the final, he started first, as he had in the semi-final, and flashed two problems while needing six attempts for the remaining two boulders. In practice, the Italian had already secured silver after three boulders and gold before the last seven finalists had even attempted the final boulder.

Runner-up was Guillermo Franganillo, while Adrien Lemaire took bronze. Among the women, Jakoba Rauter claimed victory ahead of Neža Zajc and Geila Macià Martin.Complete Results

Stefano Ghisolfi has repeated Stefan Scarperi’s Big Illusion (8C) in Val Daone. The 33-year-old Italian got the bronze in the Italian Lead Championship last weekend but does not plan to do any more World Cups. His big summer plans are The Ratstaman Vibrations (9b) and Silence (9c).

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
It was very hard for me, probably the second hardest boulder I've ever climbed after Gioia. Took me 7 sessions and I used the calf pad beta instead of the original beta from Stefan.

When will you go on your projecting trips?
I'm leaving for Céüse now and then Flatanger in August and September.

Buster Martin, with five 9a+’ under his harness, has completed The full journey (9b) in Margalef. During the process, Buster climbed the opening 9a+ pitch around 15 times before completing the full route. Interestingly, the 29-year-old works full time as an online climbing coach and has no gear or shoe sponsor.

The route climbs the blank right-hand side of the huge Finestra overhang, running parallel with Cafe Colombia.

The opening pitch, The Journey (9a+), is around 30 moves of steep power endurance climbing on monos and two-finger pockets with almost no real rests, finishing at a large shakeout. From there, the route continues through an 8A+ crux and a final slap to the top of the wall. Although the chains are lower, the ascent was continued to the top-out.

The climb takes around 10 minutes on the wall in total and felt very different from the shorter, more powerful routes Buster usually prefers.

Leo Skinner, with ten boulders 8B+ and beyond under his belt, has repeated Will Bosi’s Trance (8C) in Peak District. “Dropped the last move two years ago and dropped it another 18 times until now. Free from Badger Cove jail!!“

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
In 2024 I had a run of good form and managed to get Bewilderness (8B+) done really quickly. After doing the moves on the extension straight away I thought it wouldn’t be too bad. To my surprise I struggled a lot initially largely with my skin burning or becoming too numb with how spiky the holds are. Towards the end of the season I started to get really close but ended up having to settle with getting to the last move. I started training with this and another project in mind in the winter which was going really well until I got sick which left me barely able to do a few pull ups for months and having no endurance at all for a long time, so I spent the entire 2025 season struggling with both fitness and numbing out and ended up giving up really early, being a bit burnt out and didn’t do much hard climbing towards the end of the year.

I came back this year and felt a lot better on the last section but was struggling with how wet the bottom was. Luckily after only 3 sessions this time around I didn’t punt the end when I got there, even if I had to dry the holds multiple times prior to pulling on with every attempt!

For how long were you sick and what was it?
I don’t actually know exactly what it is was I never went to a doctors about it because I wasn’t registered for one where I lived at the time! But was in bed for 2 weeks then just super weak for a while and would be able to have one attempt at doing more than a couple moves in a session then I’d be done. Then I got an eye infection and had insomnia for a while because of it😎 very fun times

Katie Lamb, who previously has sent a dozen boulders 8B+ to 8C+, reports on Instagram that she has done the first ascent of 130 BPM (8C) in Yosemite (CA). (c) Eric Bisell

”I often feel unlucky in the lottery of predisposed climbing skill sets because, among the people I climb with, I almost never do a project first. So I’ve spent a lot of time trying to physically emulate the best of what I see in others, maybe falling into the modern trap of believing there’s always a fix to make myself look, feel, and climb exactly how I want to.”

We’ve added a new Report maintenance option on Vertical-Life Web to help keep route safety information up to date.

Users can already report safety issues on each route page, including bad bolts, damaged anchors, loose rock, or other concerns, as well as add bolting and rebolting updates.

Over time, some of these reports may become outdated because maintenance work was completed but never documented.

With the new Report maintenance workflow, users can now mark reported issues as resolved after maintenance has been carried out, helping keep route safety information more accurate and up to date.

For example:
- bad bolts were replaced
- a damaged anchor was fixed
- loose rock was removed
- a route was rebolted

When a rebolting update is added, all hardware-related reports for that route, such as bad bolts or damaged anchors, are automatically resolved.

This helps climbers see which safety warnings are still relevant, while keeping the maintenance history of the route visible and transparent.

Photo: Luca de Giorgi

Moritz Welt, with 24 9a’s and beyond, has climbed Pantera (9a) in Frankenjura. The 25-year-old has done 14 9a’s and harder only in Frankenjura.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Pantera was another one of the classic FJ lines I hadn’t properly tried before. It’s at the same crag as Corona, Black Label, and Burn4U, all of which I’d projected on and off over the years. Here and there, I’d had short working sessions on the moves of Pantera after trying one of the other lines. I finally finished Corona in 2023 and then shifted my focus to different crags, so I never came back. This year, I was looking for some classic lines I was still missing and could probably climb in a few sessions—something different to try in between working on my long-term projects. A friend reminded me that I should head back to Schneiderloch, so I did, and finished Pantera in three proper sessions :)


How many interesting 9a’s and harder still remains in Frankenjura?
Still a few, but most importantly there are still some very good 9a+ range projects to try. There is one I’m specifically psyched on that I’ve tried for 2–3 seasons already. It’s a really good line and will for sure be next level if I ever get a chance to send it. Right now, I don’t know if it makes sense for me, but I’m trying my best and just seeing how it goes :) It is an old open project.

What’s the name of the project, who bolted it and how is your progress?
No name yet but I tried a bit with Yannick [Flohe] who described it as the 'german excalibur' :D Harald Röker bolted it. German oldschool legend, who bolted a lot of hard stuff quite early here.

Only small links so far after some 20 sessions.