Laura Rogora had an amazing day in Lourmarin last week, onsighting two 8c’s, one 8b and one 8a.

Can you tell us more about this special day?
It was a really unusual day. I wasn't planning to climb hard at all - I just wanted to spend a relaxed day with friends and have some fun on easy routes.

But when I got to the crag and saw the lines, I couldn't resist. I warmed up on Playboy (8a). When I tried Pâques express (8c), I felt completely relaxed and had no expectations, which somehow made everything click. I just enjoyed climbing in the moment, and somehow I managed to onsight two 8c routes in one day. The first one went down quite easily while the second, Freefight intégral (8c), was harder and it was a big fight especially on the first pitch. At the end of the day I onsighted Vous êtes des animaux (8b).

It was such a special day - starting casually with friends, then unexpectedly reaching something I didn't even plan for. Honestly, it still feels a bit surreal!

What about fear of long falls and failure during onsight? What goes through your mind?
I'm not afraid of falling - even when onsighting, I sometimes skip quickdraws if can't clip them. But I do feel anxious about making a mistake, especially if I've already done a hard section and don't want to ruin everything.

For onsighting, I think it's about finding the right balance: being decisive, but also taking a moment to think about the best way to move, instead of just following instinct all the time.

How was the mental game on Freefight intégral (8c)?
On the first 8b+ pitch, there was a move I had hard time figuring out, so I spent some time feeling the holds and finding out the best solution. Then I went back to rest and approached it with full commitment. After that, I knew I could give it my all, but I had already spent a lot of energy on that section and was a bit tired, so I knew I couldn't hesitate on the next part. That section was really close to my limit.

When I reached the chain of the 8b+, a bit of anxiety started creeping in. On the last part, the holds were very humid, which added both difficulty and a bit of fear of making a mistake.

What is your next, more outdoors?
No. I came back to Italy and on Monday I started training for the next season. Maybe I'll do a week at Christmas but I still don't know if and where.

Adam Ondra has flashed Dave Graham’s classical Foundations Edge (8C) in Fionnay. ”Amazing moment, everything was perfect. Thanks Dylan and Marci for the beta. For the grade, definitely not the hardest 8C, but low-end 8C seems to be consensus probably. Hard to tell when you flash with perfect execution.” (c) Crimp Films

It is the same boulder Yannick Flohé flashed in July and later Jules Marchaland became the second climber to flash an 8C, with Power of Now direct.

Two days later, the 32-year-old quickly sent Big nose (8C). ”Absolute masterpiece! Very very good flash go, last second decision of changing the beta cost me the flash. For the grade, probably similar to Foundation Edge?”

Previously, Adam has flashed 22 boulders 8B or 8B+ and he is the All Time High number one also in the flash ranking game.

Janja Garnbret comments her one session ticklist in Brione on Instagram ”Bad skin means playing on some easier classics.”

Vecchio Leone (8B), Amber (8B), Versace (8B), Fake Pamplemousse (8A) and Frogger (8A).

Over the past three weeks, the 26-year-old has previously sent six boulders graded between 8B and 8C and flashed Puro Dreaming (8c+).

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 (8c+) 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.