Angie Scarth-Johnson, who did her first 8c+ at age 12,has done the first female ascent of Victimas Perez (9a) in Margalef. (c) Jorge Diaz-Rullo

How many sessions did it take and how many times did you fall on the last move?
I didn’t count but I tried it from last season so 2 seasons! I’d say it was around 50 sessions but this season the conditions were so bad that some days I barley climbed. I fell at the top many times hahahah, I lost count, maybe 15.

What was it in the end that made the trick?
I guess just persistence gave me the send.😊 I'm super happy to have achieved the first female ascent. 😊

Did you do any specific physical or replica training?
I was doing replica and endurance training indoors and then I’d also do laps on the last crux when I was projecting it.

The Australian has been a life style globetrotter since age 9 when she did her first 8b. "I started climbing when I was 7 years old, not long after I began climbing outside in the local crags after school with my dad. When I started climbing, competitions weren’t really a massive thing and I wasn't really interested in it anyways. I enjoy the challenges that came with climbing rocks and the process of projecting. When I was 9 years old my parents planned our first overseas family trip to the United States. By this point, I was totally in love with climbing and it was mostly all I thought about. My parents suggested we could maybe stop by and visit some outdoor crags in the states to try out the climbing in another country. This was extremely exciting for me, with Australia being pretty far from the rest of the world, climbing in another country was a big deal."

Allison Vest, who previously in 2022 has done her first 8B+, has sent two 8A's and she is #2 in the female ranking game.

in Joe's Valley (UT); "Took longer than it should have cause I fell on the upper cross a couple times and lost the will to crimp for a second. Climb so nice."

Red Feather in Big Cottonwood Canyon (UT); "Super cool new one up big cottonwood with super unique and finicky edges from Odin. Always psyched to check out new boulders that haven’t had much traffic yet."

Jules Marchaland has done Kick Ass (9a) in Gorges du Loup. Two weeks ago, the 20-year-old did his first 9a.

"Kick Ass is a very bouldery route with just 22 moves on a 70/75° wall! There is a 5-meter approach around 8a, with a small boulder. Then you have nine very hard moves with pinches and small crimps, finishing with a big jump. The route took me just two sessions (5 tries) but I also tried it 2/3 years ago! On the first try of my second session, I fell at the last movement, which was totally unexpected. After that, I knew that I could succeed quickly and I did on the fourth try of the session." (c) Matthieu Marin

What is next?
Kinematix! I fell five moves from the top two days ago.

I often see and hear belayers telling their not so strong partner to unclip quickdraws way too early while top roping. If this is done on a straight-up vertical route this is of course not a problem and the quickdraws could actually be unclipped by the more experienced climber who put up the top rope.

The problem relates to overhanging or diagonal routes and sequences. As soon as the quickdraw has been unclipped, even the slightest tight rope will drag the climber out or sideways from the position the climber has. And as soon as the climber falls, it just might be hard to get back again and there could be an uncomfortable or even dangerous fall to the side.

Personally, once I see my partner trying to unclip, I almost always tell them not to until they have the quick draw by their hip. I almost always top rope and actually the best thing to do, I think, is to unclip the whole quickdraw from the bolt. By doing so you can wait until it is by your thighs, which makes the process much faster than unclipping the rope from the draw once in a hard sequence.

Jonathan Siegrist has done the FA of Event Horizon (9b) in 5G. The 36-year-old did his first 9b in 2018 and this was his fourth. In total, he has now done 64 routes 9a and harder and as a matter of a fact, his last year is his best with ten such graded climbs. (c) Katy Dannenberg

"The direct finish to Nu World (9a+) that I've dreamt about for years! After coming back from Spain I starting working hard on this, training for it, and deciphering the intricate beta in the upper two thirds. I was really unsure if I'd have a good shot before leaving town again but in some of the best shape of my life, with a huge and memorable fight in the second half, I climbed it! Very resistant long boulder problem to start, next is a fins style vertical crux, and finally seven bolts of all-out-pumpy and technical climbing with no good rest to the finish. I used one right knee to clip the second bolt. Without question, for my height, and my methods, this route is one of my absolute hardest. It was a total joy to learn this route and climb it. Grateful!"

What are your summer plans? Now I’m in Ceuse! It’s so amazing to revisit this place. No plans for routes. Just want to try hard and enjoy.

Michaela Kiersch, who the last two weeks has done three boulders 8B or 8B+, reports on Insta that she has done The left hand of darkness (8A+) in Magic Wood. (c) Stefan Kuerzi

Austria got four medals in the European Lead Youth Cup in Imst and no other country got more than two podiums including the winners, see below. Sara Copar won over Alessia Mabboni by six seconds to hold 60 as they had identical results in the qualifications.

03: Hannes van Duysen BEL - Liv Egli SUI
05: Timo Uznik AUT - Sara Copar SLO
07: Luca Nündel GER - Meije Lerondel FRA

1. Natalia Grossman USA 3 805 - Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 3 300
2. Brooke Raboutou USA 2 485 - Kokoro Fujii JPN 2 445
3. Oriane Bertone FRA 2 285 - Mejdi Schalck FRA 2 282
4. Miho Nonaka JPN 1 978 - Tomoa Narasaki JPN 2 260 (3)
5. Stasa Gejo SRB 1 845 - Paul Jenft FRA 1 690
6. Futaba Ito JPN 1 775 - Anze Peharc SLO 1 445
Complete results

Above are the rankings after the four first events during 2022. There are three more World Cups left and the next one will take place in Brixen in Italy 10-12/6. Overall, the rankings will be decided by the six best results. It should be noted that Tomoa Narasaki has just done three events as he got Covid. He reported on Insta "Everything is going not well and I‘m faced difficulties. I still don’t recover from fever and still not sure my back way to Japan." (c) Daniel Gajda/IFSC

Natalia Grossman from the USA was the female topping all four boulders in the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City. This was the third consecutive gold for the 20-year-old who started the season by being #2 after Janja Garnbret in Meiringen. During the last eight Boulder WCs, she has been Top-2 including winning the World Championship last year.

"I had no idea what to expect coming into this weekend, I wanted to make another back-to-back happen, but I wasn’t sure," she commented to IFSC. "There were so many points I wanted to give up in this round, I thought it was over after the first boulder, and it was hard to stay positive, but I made it.” Complete female results. (c) Daniel Gajda/IFSC

Among the male, both Yoshiyuki Ogata from Japan and Anze Peharc from Slovenia did all four boulders in five attempts with Ogata winning by countback, using one less try doing all four boulders in the semi. Ogata has made the podium in all four events in 2022. Japan continues their superiority and had three males Top-5 and seven among Top-21. Complete male results

1. Natalia Grossman USA 44 - Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 44 (5)
2. Miho Nonaka JPN 34 (5) - Anze Peharc SLO 44 (5)
3. Brooke Raboutou USA 34 (6) - Kokoro Fujii JPN 44 (9)
4. Futaba Ito JPN 34 (9) - Jongwon Chon KOR 34 (5)
5. Chaehyun Seo KOR 24 (2) - Rei Kawamata JPN 34
6. Ayala Kerem ISR 24 (3) - Ross Fulkerson USA 23