Sera Gearhart has, within a week in Red Rock (NV), done her two first 8A (+)'; and . Video on both on her Insta. (c) Rob Murillo

What is your climbing background?
I've been climbing for 15 years (!!). I grew up doing the competition circuit and started climbing outside more in college. I work full time remote and have been travelling with my partner (Taylor McNeill) since the fall!

How much do you train/climb per week?
I don't train at all right now, but I climb outside probably 4 days a week (as much as I can without losing all my skin).

Stefano Ghisolfi has done the FA of L'arenauta (9b) in . In total, the Italian has now done ten routes 9b and 9b+. On Insta, Stefano says it was bolted 20 years ago and this was his second trip working on it. (c) Sara Grippo

Congrats! Could you fill us in on this new route?
The first part, the less overhanging, is 7a to the first chain. From there starts the roof part, around 20m almost horizontal roof. The first section of the roof is not super hard, around 8b+, and then there is a bad kneebar and from there starts the real challenge. A hard section on pockets with very bad feet, some ten intense moves. The line does not cross any other route, it is one of the purest and most logical ones, straight in the middle of the roof. The place is amazing, close to the beach. (It is actually just 20 meters to a huge and popular beach).

Simon Lorenzi, Lead Youth World Champion in 2016, had his best year ever in 2021 twice being Top-7 in the Boulder WC and making the FA of Soudain Seul 9A (8C+). Interestingly, until 2019 he almost only focused on comps but struggled to get into the semis. Later, he focused more on outdoors and his comp results improved significantly.

Have you improved on comps because of focusing more on outdoors?
My results in the world cup and my performances outdoors are not very linked in my opinion. I performed more outdoor because I spent way more time on the rock during winter. In comps, I did better mostly because I changed the way I train to focus a lot more on my weaknesses (strategy, technic and my mind).

What have you been up to lately?
Since the end of November, the goal was to start the preparation in lead and bouldering for the upcoming world cup season. Unfortunately, I injured my finger so I had to train only on big pinches and slopers on a spray wall because it was the only thing not painful for my finger. Fortunately, I went to Font to try Big Conviction. The three left crimps of the boulder were good enough to take them open hand.

Could you describe a normal training week and one normal session? I train 5 days a week and most of them with my trainer. I always have a good and efficient warm-up to be ready to give everything during the session. Every week is different and the training is more focused on my weaknesses or what I need the most to perform better in competition. The sessions last between 2 and 4 hours depending on what I do.

What are your plans and goals for 2022?
My goals are to perform at the highest level in the world cup in both disciplines and I still have the last project to send in Fontainebleau this season 🙂, "La révolutionnaire " 8C+ from Charles Albert.

The line was found and cleaned by Chris Sharma and Paul Roca a few years ago. After four days of work, Pol Roca Lopez, Vadim Timonov and Sergei Skorodumov made the first three ascents. Vadim comments, "We spent 2-3 sessions each. At first, the last part seemed impossible, but after we spent a session on it, we were able to find several betas! It’s a bit difficult to organize. You need a lot of mats and a stairs, since the first part is not easy and we could spend much more time."

Lucija Tarkuš, who did her first 8c+ at age 16, has done Talk is cheap! (8c) in Osp - Banje in Babna. The picture is from Céüse last year. The Slovenian has won seven European Youth Cups and last year she won twice in Lead and once in Boulder. She participated in five World Cups and her worst result was #27.

How was the process taking it down?
Honestly I think it took me too many tries but less than ten sessions. I fell on the last hard move too many times and I'm happy that I could finally finish it.

What are your plans and goals for 2022?
My main goal will definitely be competitions but it would be nice to send some hard routes in rock too.

How much and how do you train?
Now it is preparation season so we train quite a lot in order to be ready when comps will start. We have a lot of team training and I love it. I train like 5-6 days/week and have 1 or 2 sesh/day. We have 1 or 2 team training a week. I'm in a sports class so it is a little bit easier to coordinate with training.

Fanatic Climbing reports with an interview that Théo Chappex, who turns 40 within a month, has made the FA of Ten Criminals in Valais. In 2018, he opened his first 8C and also started projecting his second which took him some 40-50 sessions. The line is 16 moves long and starts sitting with an 8A+/B sequence followed by an 8B without transition and the end shares the last moves with an 8B+ which he did in 2016. (c) Marie Dorsaz

"Sometimes I was fed up with these movements that I knew by heart, but I had invested too much time to give up… Then finally the motivation returned, with better physical shape, and it finally worked! I suspect that the arrival of a Moonboard at home has something to do with it… During the first session this season I felt that I was more powerful in the cruxs and that gave me confidence."

Allison Vest, who the last three months has done three 8B's (all within four sessions), has sent Show Your Scars (8B) in . "YESSSS! Took me over 10 sessions on this thing. I can't believe it. Had to crimp the last hold so much harder than I even thought was possible. So cool that every session I made progress and got farther... Such a unique projecting experience." (c) Sean Faulker

Allison has been an active competition climber since age ten and she has just focused on outdoors for a couple of years. In the 8a ranking game, the 26-year-old is #2.

Is this the first 8B+ you have tried?
This is the first. You told me to try one so many times I just finally listened ;)

What about that #45 Mitchell T-shirt?
He’s the point guard for the Utah Jazz here in Salt Lake. I don’t know what it is but I’ve done most of my hardest boulders wearing it now. It’s almost a mental cue that it’s game time.

What is next?
This was a big goal for 2022 so I’m excited to already have checked it off. Time to find another project and focus on going to places I’ve never been before to climb new styles.

How do you live your climbing life? How much and How do you train?
It depends. I get really obsessed with single boulders sometimes so for Show Your Scars the past few weeks I’ve been doing very little training and mostly climbing. But I love training so when I’m not focused on a boulder, I’m training a lot.