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During the Swedish Female Youth A Bouldering Championship, nine out of the 15 competitors did score zero zones in the qualification. Some of the girls that did not score any zones had travelled 760 km. Imagine how much more fun it would have been for most of the young girls competing, as well as reporting their results to their parents, relatives and friends, if the boulders had included two zones.

It is almost an impossible task for the route setters to challenge the very best as well as the not so strong with just one top and one zone. We did see this problem during the Olympics and it happens often in the WCs as well as in the WCHs. Sure this is a hard fact for the not so strong but it can also be a big negative for the spectators.

However, the biggest problem with having only one zone is the youth competitions. The experience of understanding that the zone is out of reach and then having to explain the zero zones in the result list must create anxiety for the kids. This goes against everything when it comes to kids competitions which should be about being challenged and having fun with friends instead of facing zero zones.

It should be mentioned that when it comes to the finals during the Swedish Championships, none of the six girls did top any boulders! Two zones will obviously not solve the dilemma that it is very common that the route setters make the boulders too hard, no matter if it is the Olympics, the World Cups, the National championships or a local comp in the gym.

Austin Purdy, who the last six months has done six 8B+', has possible set some kind of record doing Moonshine 9a in Wild Iris, with a previous 7c+ PB. Video on his Insta. "Trying this thing was my first time climbing on a rope in over 8 years, and it's my first route harder than 7c+. Psyched to say it felt far from my limit. Maybe I'll tie in again and try some harder stuff in 2029"

How much of an endurance route is the 16 meter tall Moonshine?
It is definitely more of a power endurance route than an endurance test piece. It's about 25 moves from the start to the end of the hard climbing and doesn't really have any spots to get a good rest.

So this was like the first time in 8 years you got a real pump?
Haha, I guess so 😂. Although there are some long roof boulders I have done in this power endurance style in places like Flagstaff, Arizona that may be just as pumpy.

What about trying some 9b's, as that 9a when down so smoothly?
I would definitely like to try and send 9a+ or even 9b someday, but here in the US there are not a lot of routes at that upper end of the grade scale that inspires me, but we do have a lot of world-class bouldering. So my focus will likely stay there for a while

Sean Bailey, runner-up in the World Cup, reports on Insta that he has done the second repeat of Alex Megos' Bibliographie 9b+ in Céüse. Megos originally graded it 9c but then Stefano Ghisolfi found some better beta and gave it a personal 9b+ grade, which later Megos agreed upon. (c) Ben Neilson

"Easily the hardest battle I’ve waged with myself. I’ve never been so obsessed. I woke up thinking about the route. I fell asleep thinking about the route. It was nonstop."

The 163 cm tall has previously done one 9a and two 9a+'. In 2021, he has won two Lead World Cups and one in Bouldering. Last year, he was close to having made it to the Olympics in the Continental Championships.

Joe Kinder has done the FA of Kinder Cakes 9a+ in Rifle and below is his full report on how he took it down. This was the 41-year-old's third 9a+, all of them FAs. (c) Ross Fulkerson

"I bolted Kinder Cakes in the fall of 2018 after I sent Diarrhea Mouth, 9a. The whole time I was trying DM I saw the hold, the line and the obvious pathway out the bulge in the roof. Literally, I was just as excited to finally bolt that line as I was when I sent DM.

In 2020 started making short trips to Rifle to sort out the line. Moving bolts, cleaning the loose rock and playing with the moves. I put a mid-way anchor in as it made sense and started to focus on that initially which became Cupcake, 8c. After that was complete I fixed a line at the mid anchor and started to focus on the second part. I remember asking Jonathan Seigrist if the line could be yielding 9b, as it simply felt like something improbable to me. He suggested just trying and trying and it will reveal itself eventually and really that's what I did. First ascents take so much time and vision and patience. There's so much more doubt and confusion with what you're doing. After some time sorting the second half of the route I worked on redpointing from the anchor (midway anchor) to anchor (top of the climb) which felt around 8c/+ in total. Next was to start piecing the whole thing together which just seemed loco. 8c is hard for me... like takes SERIOUS effort and to think of having to repeat Cupcake over and over sounded absurd. 2020's season ended with my best efforts falling at the last hold of the crux.

This season I prepared. I trained for 2 months prior which almost felt like too much time. 6 weeks would have been plenty. I did a strength cycle followed by a strength-endurance cycle. I followed a plan I made inspired by the Horst family and the tidbits I've learned along the way. My wife Lindsey supported the whole effort as she wanted to see me succeed as well. When the training was over we headed over this way to Rifle and I got to work. The conditions weren't right, but I still put in the effort and within 3 days I was back to falling at the last hold of the 5 move crux. It was wild. This continued for a month actually, I never fell in the 8c first portion, confidence was in a good place and all I needed was some tiny variable to work in my favour (conditions, mental state, luck, whatever).

Last Sunday, Sept 26th, which was an ordinary day really. The conditions weren't great or bad and my mind state was the same as any other day. I stood at the base, did some visualizing, left the ground, got to the knee-bar, calmed down and recovered, left the rest, climbed to the crux and executed the 5 moves in total. It was the first time I stuck the last move from the ground. I remember shaking at the horizontal and freaking out internally. There's still another V8 exit and all I could think about was how fuct it would be to actually blow it at that point. HA! What a moment. I left the rest and felt connected, fresh enough and very exhilarated. I swear, pulling onto the slab and putting my cheek to the wall and realizing where I was in the world was one of the best feelings I've ever had. I clipped the anchor, sat back into my harness in a state of disbelief and pure bliss. I had just climbed my baby, my hardest, my biggest goal.

I'm still happy of course, but now I want some more haha! It's never ending, isn't it??? I'd really like to thank my wife Lindsey for her support and belief in me... she gives me so much of herself and her time and I'm so grateful. Cheers to everyone for reading and all the support. I appreciate you."

David Firnenburg, who previoulsy has done three 9a+, has done his 15th 9a, Schwarz Mönch in Gimmelwald. "Happy to send this route before the season comes to an end here. Great endurance climb with two bouldery sections. Harder than Alpenbitter and Jungfraumarathon. Felt like 9a for me. Needed 3 sessions to send it."

What is next?
Maybe I go for “Inferno” which is the last 9a up there and check out one of the projects. Afterwards, I am not sure yet. There is still a lot to do. Sooner or later I’ll try a project in Soyhieres which is at least 9a. Maybe harder. Temps are getting colder again which is nice 👍

Are you a full-time climber now?
Nope, still a student 🤓; Psychology, Philosophy and Sociology. Climbing as much as possible aside. There are two years left but I plan to take a break in one year together with my girlfriend Andrea (Kümin), if she isn’t too busy with comp climbing. The break will be around half a year. Maybe an EU rock trip.