Brooke Raboutou, who was #5 in the Olympics, reports on Insta that she on her "last days best days" has done Iur (8B+) in Cresciano and Heritage 8B in Val Bavona. (c) Finn Stack

The 20-year-old did her first 8A over ten years ago and just the last two years she has done more than 40 up to 8B+. Her older brother Shawn has also been one of the best boulderers out there for several years. Their mother is Robin Erbesfield, one of the very best female climbers in the 90's who for several years has run ABC Kids Climbing where she has coached; Emily Harrington, Margo Hayes, Colin Duffy and Natalia Grossman. Their father is Didier Raboutou who also was one of the leading climbers during the 90'ies.

Andy Lamb has done Dreamtime 8C (B+) in Cresciano. "This is my first trip to Ticino, and Dreamtime was one of the ones I wanted to do most. I flashed the stand (8A+), then took a few more sessions to get the bottom dialed and have energy to do it from the bottom. Psyched to do this mega classic!"

Last year he did two 8C's and one 8C+, During the last two years, he has also flashed two 8B's and three 8A+. In the 8a ranking game, he is #7 also including Tomba (8B+) in Valle Bavona, which he did yesterday.

Adam Ondra has done the first repeat of Trofeo dell'Adriatico (9a+) in Arco. In total, the 28-year-old has now done 69 routes 9a+ to 9c.

"Amazing line, one of the best in the grade. Great vision by David (Lama) for bolting and a lot of work by Gabri (Moroni) to clean and send it. I found a kneebar just before the crux that makes the route a bit easier, but still 9a+ for sure. The way that Gabri it did is pretty hard for 9a+ for sure! I tried it some years ago when it was still a project and totally dirty, this year I was really close to sending first day, but in the end I had to wait for another day with fresh skin and power when I did it on my first real go of the day."

Loic Zehani, who previously in 2022 has done one 9a+, one 9a and two 8c+, has sent Casi mono (9a) in Courchon. "It's a magnificent route in a big overhang of 20 meters. After a very physical approach, there is a rest and then comes the hard section of the route. A dozen movements on pockets (one and two fingers pockets). After that, there is a rest with a knee to finish with a magnificent physical exit. It took me 4 sessions (about ten climbs). Now I'm going to try a direct version, much harder lower and prettier."

The 20-year-old has now done 41 routes 9a and harder which means there are only a dozen, much older, climbers who are ahead of him on that list.

Federica Mingolla reports on Insta that she has done quick ascents of two 8c's in Oliana, Fish Eye 3rd go and Mind Control 5th go. The Italian started out as a competition climber but after some years she changed her focus into doing mainly multi-pitches and also opening new routes including one 500 meters long in Greenland.

Could you please say something about how your climbing lifestyle has changed over the years?
I always loved climbing and improving in it but I dislike climbing for the grade. In the mountains, I look for aesthetic climbing and something that challenges me.

What about the injury you posted last September?
Climbing on a multi-pitch route in Val di Lanzo. A big piece of rock broke and I fell for 10 metres on friends. I hurt both my heels. After the injury, I’ve started to train myself again in climbing, so this January I left for Spain in search of something challenging. Oliana conquered me for the climbing style that is perfect for me! Overall I have started again falling without any problems and this will help me to come back to the mountains.

Andi Stull has done in Bishop (CA). Video on her Insta. Last year the 24-year-old did three 8A's and Lethal Design 8A+ and at the time she also talked about the challenges starting to climb at age 18 coming out of an eating disorder. "Over the time I have been climbing, I have recognized that being strong and healthy is far more important than being "light” and will lead to greater physical and mental victories."

Could you please also say something about Kinesiology and DNAclimbing which we can read about in your social media?
This past month, my partner, Devan, and I moved out to Bishop, focusing our time on growing our climbing coaching business, DNA Climbing. During my time in Bishop, I am also devoting myself to obtaining a degree in Kinesiology, as well as growing as a climber. Within the past month, I have been able to achieve a few goals such as earning my certification as a Performance Climbing Coach and sending my mini-proj, ‘Kill On Sight’ (V11).

How was the process taking it down?
I did the stand to it, ‘Standing Kill Order’ (V10) about a year ago. I thought it was one of the most fun boulders I have ever climbed. The movement on it is so good.. crimps, a notoriously finicky toe hook with a fall back into an undercling, pinches, and a pogo to a jug! So much variety of movement is compressed into just a few moves. After doing the stand, I knew I wanted to come back for the sit.

During my first session of trying the sit, I got to the last move and fell. For three more sessions, I continued to get through the “crux” almost every try, just to fall off the top moves. It wasn’t until my 4th session that I was able to finally stick the move and send. This boulder was an unexpected mental battle for me after having so many heartbreaking attempts, but utilizing tools I learned through reading a multitude of “personal development” books proved to be very useful.

What is next?
In the coming months, I’m hoping to get some sessions in on some “bucket-list” boulders, in addition to ticking off a lot of sport climbs in Pine Creek and Owens River.

Theo Blass reports on Insta that he has done the first repeat of Seb Bouin's new 8c+, Guerre Future in Claret. It is a variation to Guere d'usure 8c which he did last year. "There is a hard power endurance section on bad pinches and slopy sidepulls with a lot of heelhooks and small tricks to keep you balanced. I did not count the number of tries but there were many. The route pushed me to my physical and mental limit. I am very happy and relieved:)" (c) Laurent Dormont

Theo did his first 8b at age 9 and has previously also done three 8c's. We reached out to his father Vlad to get some further comments.
"Theo turned 12 a couple of months ago. In the last few months he did some on-sighting (up to 7c+, he also flashed an 8a), some easier routes (a few 8b and 8b+), and projected a few difficult lines mainly in the local area (including a couple of 9as) but due to sub-optimal conditions and difficult access he set this eyes on a new 8c+ in our local winter "old school" crag Claret, which has easy access and projects for the whole family (including Theo’s sister Alizee who is 8 and quite close to reaching the 8th grade).

Claret is known for its mild temperatures in the winter, its hard grades and sometimes ridiculous run-outs. The route is called Guerre Future (Future War) and it shares some common sections with Guere d'usure, an 8c he did last year. Although he was familiar with part of the crux, working a new very intense section leading directly to the crux of Guere d'usure took him another 5-6 sessions. The route was first climbed by Seb Bouin a couple of weeks ago and Theo did the first repeat. The route is a power endurance testpiece on bad pinches and sloppy sidepulls, climbing through a beautiful overhanging prow, combining compression moves, technique and precise footwork. Theo finds the route much harder than Guere d’usure because there are no rests in the hard section in the middle so there are around 20 hard moves to link. Theo loved the route because the line is very "pure" in his view - you need perfect flow, to do all the moves perfectly, using just the right amount of power to avoid slipping off the bad footholds or missing the sloppy handholds."

What is next?
He has a few projects to work on now, mostly in the local area or up to 4-5 hours driving from our place (we have decided not to travel further to reduce our CO2 impact and also because we are lucky and privileged enough to live in an area close to many amazing crags). He will also do some local and national competitions, mostly for fun and to gain some experience – we have been trying to avoid competitions in the past but at the same time we want to ensure that if he decides to do more competitions in the future, he is not completely out of touch with the competition world.