Alexis Guerin has done the FA of Un dernier petit coup de Ju! (8c+) in Tilff, located 15 min from Liege in Belgium. "This project was bolted in 1996 by JC Vittoz and JL Putz and known as Suce-Pandus in the old guidebooks. The name Suces-Pandus is written at the bottom of the route over a big yellow painted stripe, so the route is easy to find. The route is a power endurance challenge of 22 moves. Once you passed the crux in the middle, you need to be very precise and every move you add can possibly make you fall. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as me."

How many sessions were needed?
Around 20 sessions, the time to understand the moves, clean the rock (some holds broke, in the beginning, the route was easier) and then put the tries. The end of the route is very sustained and it makes you feel as if the send was close. But every move you add after the crux can make you fall, so it took more time than expected.

Why do you think it has been a project for 26 years? Are the bolts OK?
Yes, the bolts are still ok as it was rebolted afterwards. The rock looks a bit brittle so it might also have discouraged some people to try but now that the route is cleaned the quality of the rock is good.

How many other routes are nearby?
It’s a small crag, next to my FA there’s a hard 8b, two 7c+ and a 7a+. There’s a big slab 100 m from that crag where there is an 8a and a project. I've bolted a project in a cave nearby, but haven’t tried it yet

Angie Scarth-Johnson, who did her first 9a last year, has done Zipayorik ez! 8c/+ in Margalef. "It was an end of the day project that I had for the past week and today I finally finished it after trying it fresh. Now I’m back to trying Víctimas Pérez 9a and hopefully before the season ends I can finish it!" (c) Adri Martinez

How is a normal climbing week for you?
I have been living in the van climbing around Margalef with Jorge Diaz-Rullo. We usually climb 2 days on and 1 day rest. The season has actually been pretty bad, the weather hasn’t been great, but we still enjoy the time we have by climbing our projects in Finestra!

What are your summer and autumn plans?
Céüse in August where I would like to try my project Pornographie 9a and back to Australia in October.

This Australian has been a lifestyle globetrotter since age 9. Amazingly, her parents did not climb but supported her big interest by doing nine 1-3 month trips to Europe and the USA until she was 16.

Katie Lamb does her fourth 8B+, The Penrose Step (8B+) in Leavenworth (WA) in just two sessions. "Mini trip up to visit the fam - rained out for all but two days. Got it done in the eleventh hour w some try hard and stamina I didn't know I had. Incredible line and special moment with Keen and Andy."

The 24-year-old did her first, out of ten 8B's, less than two years ago and her first, out of four, 8B+ nine months ago. For almost one year, she has been the #1 in the female ranking game.

Katie Lamb has done The Abattoir (8A+) in Yosemite (CA). "Shouts to Keen for the last minute beta change to end the epic. Left hand to the lip then right to jug...nails snails! April 24 what a day."

In total, the 24-year-old has done 34 boulders 8A+ to 8B+ and she is #1 in the ranking game like she has been for almost a year now. Interesting is that all her four 8B+', she has done during the last 12 months and the last one, she did in just two sessions.

Jonathan Flor reports on Insta that he has repeated Jorge Diaz-Rullo's Seta Ibérica 9a+ in Cuenca. "While I'm still trying (Following the leader) my main project here, I was able to make one of the best combinations of this wall." (c) Japh Imagenes

The 25-year-old Spaniard has done over 60 routes 8c+/9a and harder, including three 9b's, and actually almost all of them since 2019.

Adam Ondra is the top global climber suggesting the most personal, i.e. honest grades. His amazing tick list would have been even more impressive if he had skipped the honesty part and just taken the topo grade. Adam onsighted the first two 9a graded routes in the world but downgraded them to 8c+. Last year he also downgraded the third, out of five 9a onsights that he has done, Cabane au Canada.

"Update 2021: seems the consensus is more 8c+. The long-term dream came true when I did not even expect it. I travelled to this incredible area, thinking that the route would be pretty dirty and abandoned after a long winter, but I found it perfectly cleaned with the draws hanging in place. I admit that it is definitely not hard 9a, it's definitely rather lower end, but it fits my style, I felt in very decent shape and I fought hard! For the first time in my life, I onsighted a route which had been suggested 9a and I could honestly believe that it could be in the 9a region. For all the others it was simply not case, even though it is very hard to judge it while you are onsighting. Beautiful moment and experience in the early morning session in one of the most breathtaking sport climbing-wall(s) I have ever seen."

Hans Radetzki, climbing photographer and a very much under the radar 9a climber, has done Dreamtime 8B+/C in Cresciano and there is an Insta video. (c) StefanKuerzi.com

"It’s just awesome to realise what’s doable with a lot of obsession :) I never really saw myself as a boulderer but Dreamtime got me super psyched somehow. I’m just very grateful about the process and the learning opportunities you get with trying something that’s very hard for you personally. Failure and frustration are some of the best teachers to learn how to handle yourself I guess :)"

Sébastien Berthe reports that Soline Kentzel has done the 36 pitches Golden Gate 7c+ in Yosemite ground up. Although the French had done 8b+ before she had only trad climbed once before arriving in Yosemite, some three months ago. During the first days, she struggled to do 5 graded trad climbs. Soline is part of the team that sailed from Europe to America and she is gonna sail back home as well!

"About the ascent, we swapped lead on easier pitches up to 5.11 and we both led pitches from 5.12 and harder. She led the monster offwidth. We took two days to reach the downclimb, pitch 17. She had a few falls on some 5.11 pitches of the first half but always sent them on her second try. Day 3 was a snowy rest day. On day 4, we were at the "move pitch". Day 5, she worked the pitch but could not send. Day 6, rainy rest day. On day 7, she sent the Move pitch in her third try and we quickly moved to Tower to the people. She could even send the Golden desert pitch on her first try that evening. Day 8 was a forced rainy rest day. On day 9, she worked the a5 traverse and then sent it 2tries after in a pumpy battle, we ran to the summit the same afternoon!

We went through some epic snow storms and rain showers which made surviving on this wall a true challenge. During these forced rest days we had to squeeze in the really small ledge we brought constantly trying to avoid being wet first and frozen after... One of our sleeping bags even became totally stiff and icy. But we could keep the motivation really high and got back to climbing as soon as the wall was dry! During the sunnier climbing days, the ice was melting from the top of the wall throwing impressive ice chunks on us. Every 5 min, the lottery was on: we had to stop climbing, stick ourselves against the wall waiting for these pieces of ice to fall all around us. The level of dedication, commitment and perseverance she brought into the whole process of discovering trad and crack climbing is huge and it has been truly inspiring to witness her path."

Kwon Ga-eun from South Korea started climbing systematically in her parents' gym at age six. Last year she did her first 7c and now she has done People 3000 8b in Maisan, setting a new grade record for 8-year-olds. Her father is an 8b+ climber and has been a member of the Ice climbing national team. The plan for the summer is to go to Spain says her father. "She trains in my gym four days a week, about five hours a day. Three hours of endurance training (at her spray wall), one-hour bouldering and she does campus board training and cool-down stretching for an hour. She trains in the indoor gym like this on weekdays and goes rock climbing or on outdoor lead walls on weekend." Interestingly, the record for 9-year-olds, 8b+, is also set by a girl and that goes also for the youngest boulder crusher (Ashima Shiraishi).