Chaehyun Seo, who was runner up in the Lead World Cup in 2025, has completed Papichulo (9a+), Joe Blau (8c+), two 8c’s and a flash of El Gran Blau (8b+) in Oliana. The 22-year-old won four WC’s in 2019 and became World Champion in 2021. The next year she sent La Rambla (9a+).

Can you tell us more about your trip and the process behind Papichulo?
I went to Santa Linya last year, but there was too much rain, so I couldn’t climb at all. I accidentally(?) ended up in Oliana and tried Papichulo, but it was also super foggy and humid, so I just worked out all the moves, and the trip was done.

So I came again this year to work on the route. I arrived here on 10/31, and on my fifth climbing day, I felt quite good, but I didn’t have full certainty.

On the sixth climbing day, my first try was not so bad, but not enough. On the second try, I suddenly almost got the last hold of the final crux, and I thought I still had enough energy.

I knew it would be hard to send it on the third try because I had already gone to the top twice in one day, but I really wanted to try again. So I tried at 5:20, almost after sunset. I felt less powerful than on the second try, but I focused on my breathing—and I made it!

How long will you stay and what is next?
I will leave here on 11/28, and I want to try Mamichula. I can’t predict how it will go 😅, and I also want to try many other 9a+ routes.

What are your competition and outdoor plans for 2026?
Mm, I think I’ll focus on lead, but I will also compete in boulders too, but not all! First comps, outdoors for vacation like this year.

Andrea Lostia di Santa Sofia, who the last 12 months has sent his four first 8c+’, has made the first ascent of Terzo Tempo (9a) in Sardinia. Two days later, Giorgio Tomatis made the first repeat.

Can you tell us more about the first ascent?
Andrea: This means a lot to me, when I started climbing outside three years ago the highest grade ever climbed by a Sardinien climber was 8c. Last year I managed to push that half a grade further with my ascent of La Novena Puerta (8c+) and some dayd ago I finally managed to break into the ninth grade, and what's even better is my first 9a is in Sardinia!

The first day on it it was clear the first boulder was the real deal, initially we weren't sure it would be possible but try after try we combined our efforts to crack the complex beta, the final solution involved a very technical kneebar we used to shuffle our hands between the only three holds on the roof, a total of eleven moves on two meters of rock.

Giorgio is an amazing climber and his experience far exceeds mine. When one of us couldn't refine the beta anymore, the other found something more hidden in the complexity of the problem, without him I surely wouldn't have found the solution we came up with. He also made me realise my tactics were off, I started resting more and better and every detail adds up in the end.

Giorgio: I came to Sardinia with the idea of trying a hard project with Andrea. We spent a lot of time figuring out the beta. After that, Andrea told me the sequence of the second part, which he had already tried before I arrived in Sardinia. I think all this has sped up the process a lot, anyway the route is really beautiful and aesthetic, the first boulder is really hard, and then there is an endurance part ending with a powerful boulder to hit a two-finger pocket, It’s always a good experience to try a route together!

Sean Bailey reports, via an Instagram video without a caption, that he has made it to the top of Arrival of the Birds (9A) in Chironico. Aidan Roberts made the FA about 18 months ago, and Sean has now done the first repeat. The 29-year-old, who stands 164 cm tall, retired from the IFSC competition scene, which included three World Cup golds, after the 2023 season. He has previously done the FA of Shaolin (9A) and Alphane (9A), as well as Bibliography (9b+).

Ben Hanna, foremost a route climber with four 9a’s and harder to his name, has completed Grand Illusion (8C+) in Little Cottonwood. The 20 hand moves and 24 foot moves are done in 53 seconds and here is his speed climbing video.

”Quite possibly the best piece of Climbing I have done in my life. I spent 5 years trying thinking the 13 [the higher 8B start]. It was impossible for me, and then it just clicked a few weeks ago. I thought coming from the ground would feel a lot harder but l found that the 13 was just about the same whether I was pulling on from the ground or coming from the bottom. Felt like I could do the 13 1/10 times so it was just a game of attempts from bot.”

Can you tell us more about the process behind the ascent?
I started climbing in the cave right from the beginning when Drew [Ruana] first started trying GI in 2020. I was able to do the 12 start but the 13 was to hard for me. I ended up putting 20+ sessions into the 13 over the last 5 years and finally did it 3 weeks ago. A week after I decided to start trying GI but as I was getting closer the season started to end, I fell going to the Crimp Wednesday and new I could do it. Sunday was my last day to send before my season was over and the pressure was really on. I was pretty sure I only had one attempt for the day which meant I only had one more attempt of the season. I genuinely think that try was the best climbing I have ever done in my life.

What about your speed climbing tactics?
Because of all the spray wall training I have done in the past I realized it was actually more of a 20 move circuit and should be climbed that way. Which is fast, no chalk no shaking since you don’t face to stop and clip/ and there is no where to actually rest it’s best to just sprint it.

It was something I thought a lot about! Most of my process for this boulder was pacing and body position focused.

Pietro Vidi, who two weeks ago sent an 8b+ big wall on El Cap, has repeated Meltdown (8c+) in Yosemite (CA). First established by Beth Rodden in 2008, Meltdown has seen only a handful of repeats in the 17 years since and is widely regarded as one of the most difficult trad routes in the world.

Approaching the climb in headpoint style, Pietro spent his first two sessions working out the individual moves before beginning to link sections on day three. It took two additional sessions of lead attempts before Pietro finally clipped the chains on his sixth day on the route and third day of redpoint efforts. (c) Daniel Gajda

How was it to hang dog it the first time, any long falls and what about the grade?
It definitely felt hard for the grade! Took some falls on the upper crux to get to the chains the first time but luckily you can easily aid all the first crux😅

“I started making some good links on top-rope on day 3 where I realised I would probably need to skip some gear in the first part and also a crucial nut placement on the second crux - in order to save energy. This made for quite a big runout but still seemed relatively safe. I made my first lead tries on session 4 and got through the first crux, only to fall right after, when I struggled to place a cam properly and got too pumped to continue. That afternoon I actually watched a video on Ethan Pringle ripping the gear in the hollow flake, which is right below the nut I had decided not to place. He almost decked out. This made me quite nervous! The following day, I tested the gear in the flake myself, almost breaking a nut, which I was convinced was bomber and thus, further multiplying my nerves. Luckily I found that a bigger nut would fit and my confidence slowly came back.

On day 6 I started up the route, feeling really confident, only to dry-fire right after the crux move and breaking the trigger wires on the cam. I managed to temporally fix the cam with some tape and then sent the route on my next try, with quite a battle against numb fingers and pump! Meltdown is, for sure, the hardest trad-route I have climbed, apart from ‘Tribe’. The climbing is super insecure with horrible feet, extremely technical but still really physical. Beth’s first ascent, more than 15 years ago, was truly incredible and ahead of its time!”

Siara Fabbri, with two 8B+’ to her name, has completed Salamandre (8A+) in Brione. ”Worth doing just for squeezing those pinches!! Very cool movement in tension.” (c) Simone Tentori

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
This boulder is quite unique for the area because it has a really big perfect pinch sticking out of the wall. You do the entire boulder besides the top-out with your left hand on this big pinch, then a smaller pinch. The moves are very much about keeping tension in the feet and shoulders, and I found that I need to really actively squeeze the big pinch. Once I understood this, it felt very good. 5 star climbing and a classic must-do!

Filip Schenk, who made the podium in the Chamonix World Cup in July, has sent Omen Nomen (9a) in Arco. (c) Crimp Films

“Amazing route! Two hard boulders divided by a rest and some of the best moves out there. Omen Nomen was one of the first 9a routes I ever tried, back when I was a kid starting to come to Arco for climbing. I’ve always tried it just a few days each year, which is why it’s stayed with me for such a long time. I’m really happy to see such nice progress, since this year it only took me two days on the route to finally get it done!

What are your competition plans for 2026 and how long will you focus on outdoors before the competition training starts?
Probably till the end of November. For sure the European championships and in general all the world cups… but just lead.

Alex Megos, one of the best climbers in the world the last 15 years, has added all his hardest ascents to his logbook. The 32-year-old won six consecutive European Lead Youth Cups in 2009, and in 2017 he was runner-up in the European Boulder Championships, his first IFSC competition in five years. The following year, the German won a Lead World Cup and earned a bronze medal at the World Championships. In 2023, he had his best senior competition year ever, being runner-up in the Lead World Cup and getting the bronze in the World Championship.

Outdoors, he became the first ever to onsight a 9a in 2013 with Estado critico (9a) and he has completed three 9b+’.

Can you tell us more about Frei am Fels?
I’ve been contacted my an agency regarding the book back in 2020, but I told them I’m too young for a biography. I told them to contact me again in a few years. They did! After listening to what the process would look like I thought it could actually be quite interesting and I agreed. It’s mostly a biography about my climbing life, how I started climbing, my big achievements, but also the ups and downs of my life as well as the struggles.

What is your driving force and how has this changed over time?
My driving force still is the love for climbing. That has never changed. But was has changed is my willingness to try routes regardless of the outcome.

How have your 2025 season been and what are your plans for 2026?
2025 was not what great on the competition side of things. The two world cups I did both went terrible [17 & 21]. Outdoors it was a bit of a different game. It was not great, but also not too bad. The FA of El Taureg Blanco (9b) and Le Grand Saccage (9a+) were probably two of the biggest achievements this year, but I also found a bunch of new projects I’m psyched for!

Ah yeah! Plans for 2026 are focus on outdoors. Try a couple of projects in the Frankenjura, probably also get back on B.I.G and maybe explore some other areas with projects.

What are the three best advices you can give to the youngsters pushing hard?
1. Don’t get injured. That it always a big setback in training
2. (unfortunately) rest is often more useful than harmful.
3. Fun is the core.

Rebecca Stephens, with eight 8A’s under her belt, has done Disney production (8A+) in Brione.

Can you tell us more about doing your first 8A+?
I was introduced to Disney Productions last year during my first trip to Switzerland, recommended by a friend due to it's crimpy style. Over 3 sessions I came close but couldn't quite finish it off, as I found the last move to the slot very low percentage.

Returning to Switzerland this year, we based ourselves around Chironico. With bad weather plaguing the start of the trip, and a whole new area of boulders to climb, we limited ourselves to one day over in Brione. The primary goal of this year's session was getting the last move dialled. I repeated that move more times during the warm up than during the whole of last year's trip. A good start. After that it was just a matter of time. Very happy to finish this one off this year and psyched to tick my first 8a+, hopefully the first of many!