Moritz Winkler has flashed in Frankenjura. The 26-year-old was pushing hard on rock and in comps as a teenager and had previously only done one 8c+.

"Short route, short story. On the fourth climbing day in a row, I wanted to support my girlfriend in her project, when an old friend from youth competitions showed up between the trees in the forest of Frankenjura, Hans Radetzki. He told me about a small wall I had never heard about with bouldery moves and a kneebar. My endurance level was basically at zero because I was bouldering in Spain in recent weeks. Exactly my business I thought since routes with kneebars are my favourites. I just wanted to have a look, but then somehow I took my harness, chalk and shoes. Hans had a good try, but unfortunately, he did not make it. He told me that he would have a 10 minutes rest before the next attempt and this was my chance to go for it, ... Thirty seconds later, I clipped the anchor.

Not expecting to climb or even try anything that difficult, I was really unprepared. I had forgotten to take my liquid chalk (my usual routine) and had not taped my finger with the pulley I damaged a year ago. Nevertheless, I felt confident and fortunately, I was able to borrow Hans’ kneepad. All in all, I spent a maximum of 10 minutes at the crack which gave my girlfriend just a short break before she was able to go back to her project again. ;-) In summary, it was a lucky shot for me, which is also really a good description of the attempt. Perfect moves which were completely my style and an important intuitively positioned foothold at the right time. With this foothold, Hans was also able to climb the route after a few more tries."

How has your climbing life been over the last few years?
After climbing many competitions and finally starting in my first lead WC, I spend too much time on Hangboarsd and plastic. I had enough of training and lead climbing for a long time and I just went on rocks, mostly fun bouldering and I also started really enjoying cleaning rocks and doing FAs. That's something good you can be proud of and maybe last a bit longer for posterity. This is also the reason, why I joined the DAV Felskader bw (DAV Rockteam, for bolting and doing "unnormal" stuff at the rocks). Sadly I had super bad Injuries to my foot. Then I had finger problems since last year. After this long time of getting a week, I felt a change in my body and I wanted to get a bit stronger and maybe climb some lead routes with my girlfriend again. So I sadly couldn't train for a long time and never really tried super hard in the past years...

Luca Bana has done the FA of Battle of Hearts (9a) in Paline. "It is basically a different end of "Abusive Love", a 9a link-up I freed in 2018 at Paline's crag. This 'new' one adds some physical moves which make the things a bit more tiring. After the send of "Stone War" 8c+/9a last week, I decided to give some tries to this connection and the process for the send turned out to be super fast, as I already climbed several times all the parts of this portion of rock for the other existing routes: just two sessions were enough to grab the first ascent of this pure stamina beast, where fatigue tolerance is crucial for success: probably one of the biggest challenge against the pump of the whole area!"

Joel Kinder has done yet another stunning hardcore FA, Mamajamma (9a+). "(Pronounced: ma'am-uh-jam-uh) Bolted during March 2020 as our pandemic crag where we could be alone. Likely 25-30 days of effort over the past two years. The perfect white face of clean rock that meets the flap and continues to connect with JoeXotic. Could be HARD as fuck 9a, but not sure as it's confusing with the bouldery-type-rigs. I hate grading this particular route for a number of reasons, but my personal, honest belief and feeling for ME is 9a+."

The 42-year-old has previously done 16 routes 9a and 9a+, out of which, nine FAs. He did his first 9a, in 2008 and his first 8c+ 20 years ago. On Insta he reports. "The route is a dime. Zero choss/amazing rock, hard as fuck sections, lots of fatigue and a relentless exit boulder problem. The entirety of the route is about 120’ long and has a rope transfer at the lip with a kneebar (see the video, actual send)."

Maho Normand, who did his first 8c+ at age 14, has during the last month done Bronx (8c+) and XXL (8c+) as well as six 8c's. Prior to that, the 16-year-old and 160 cm tall had not done anything harder than 8b during he last eight months. (c) Lactic Photography

How can you explain being back in peak performance the last month?
During the last two years, I have often injured myself (in my knees and hands) because of the diet in high school and the change in my body. So the motivation and the desire were at their lowest. After a recovery on the cliff in St-Léger a little over a month ago I re-chained an 8b, "Much suspend my flight", and after several discussions with friends related to food and management with high school, I re-motivated myself to start training well and eating well! And I immediately saw the change, and the crosses followed one another more quickly than expected!!

So it's been about two months since I regulated my diet and stopped eating in high school and it made me lose weight. In a few weeks, I lost five kilos, and I immediately felt it in my climbing!

How much do you train nowadays and what is your next plan?
I'm working Sachidananda 9a+ that a friend (Victor Guillermin) recently chained. I train at least ten hours a week without counting the days on the cliffs. I climb at least 4 to 5 times a week.

Allison Vest has, in just one session, done Dark Matter (8A+) in Huntington Canyon. "Amazing boulder. Twisty and pockety, just the way I like to climb. So many different betas on this thing too, and all hard. The move to the mono stack packs a punch just when you think you’re all done!" (c) Palmer Larsen

How was it possible to take it down in just one session?
Tried it on a rope a bit and then took a while to decide which beta I liked.

Allison has been an active competition climber since age ten and she has just focused on outdoors for a couple of years. In the female 8a ranking game, she is #2. Interesting is that she has also done two 8B's in single sessions and two months ago she did her first 8B+, which also was the first 8B+ she ever had tried.

Nolwen Berthier, who previously has done two 8c+', reports on Insta that she has done Supercrackinette 9a+ in St Léger. (c) Antonin Rhodes

Previously, only eight females have done 9a+ or harder. Nolwen stopped competing in 2019 after having been Top-30 in the World Cup 15 times, mainly in Lead.

"Over the last few months, I’ve devoted a lot of energy trying to align all the parameters necessary for the send (shape, weather conditions, motivation, etc.) This weekend, the stars aligned in my favour. For the first time, I succeeded in the first crux which was really hard for me… and I didn’t fall at the top! Ideal scenario, I dreamed of it, but the probability of making it real was very limited. I still can’t believe it!"

How many sessions are we talking and what about special or replica training?
I made 20 sessions over the 5 past months + I tried a lot last year from january to june. For the specific training, I made the choice to train mostly in the route rather than do some replica for exemple.

Michaela Kiersch reports on Insta that she has done Apex Predator 8c+ in Poptire. "It’s a hard resistance climb without many rests and the crux goes right up to the anchors so the send is really rewarding :) It was my goal to do this route this spring and I’ve been training my endurance for a few months while also trying to send my boulder projects. I haven’t tried a hard sport route since Dreamcatcher (9a), so it felt good to get back into shape." (c) James Lucas

Last year, the doctorate in hand therapy did her first 9a and last month she did an 8B/+ boulder. Previously, she has done more than a handful 8A+ boulders as well as eight 8c+ routes. Next up is the oral defence for her doctorate, followed by a trip to Europe for the Petzl Roc Trip and three weeks in Switzerland.

What are the autumn plans? Full-time climber or starting to work?
I'm not sure yet! I'm getting married in September :) That's exciting! The rest will follow