Erica Gatland, with two 8A+’ in New Zealand under her belt, has sent Forever More sit (8A+) in Brione.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
It was one of the first boulders I tried in Brione on my first day and I knew right away it was the perfect for me, such an amazing climb! I am good on crimps and coming from Castle Hill the mantle was easy. I figured out all the moves quickly in my first session and managed to send on my third session! The rock in Brione is some of the best I have climbed.

What is your climbing background and what is your next plan?
I am from New Zealand and have been climbing for 18 years now. My home crag is Castle Hill. I quit my job working as a vet and left New Zealand at the end of May this year. Me and my partner moved to the UK and bought a campervan and have been travelling around climbing. We have two more weeks in Brione and then we plan on going to Fontainebleau for all of November and then back to the UK for some grit climbing in December.

Alex Totkova, who sent her first 9a in 2020 at age 15, has completed El Nino Ext. (9a) in Dryanovo Monastery. ”I’m so grateful to have climbed my second 9a! It took me around 8–10 sessions. The route is incredibly beautiful — long, powerful moves, crossing three roofs, and demanding power endurance from start to finish. I might feel a little disappointed for waiting five years to climb in this grade again, but I definitely want much more and I know I have the potential. My coach, Ivaylo Radkov (Fazata), made the first ascent of the ext. nine years ago💪🏼 — the first part was originally climbed by Ivaylo Krastev. Huge thanks to Fazata for believing in me, to my sponsors, and to all the psyched local climbers in Tarnovo! Pps. If someone needs beta soon I will have a video :)”

The Bulgarian has been an active IFSC competition climber since 2019, making the podium in Chamonix in 2021 and winning the World Youth Championship the following year. This year, her best World Cup result was 14th place.

How do you summarize 2025 and what about winter plans?
My comp season was 50/50, next season I want to be 100/100 if you understand me😆😅 My plans for the winter is to do as many hard routes as possible. I will stay mostly in Bulgaria but in November I will go for a week in Ticino for Red Bull camp.

Darius Rapa and Samuel Richard have repeated Chris Sharma’s classical Es Pontas (9a+) in Mallorca. Both are active competition climbers and Rapa was sixth in the Lead Euro Youth Championship this year and Richard won in Boulder. More info to come.

Christian Core, Boulder World Champion in 2003 and who five years later did the FA of Gioia (8C+), took the picture. The Italian travelled from Canada to Mallorca with the vision of the picture. ”During the flight, part of my rational mind said "total madness", while the other part repeated, "yes but this is crazy cool". For making it work, so many things had to come together perfectly, too many:

- First of all, the weather (it had rained the week before, of course for the photo I needed clear skies).
- No clouds, (there where many around...)
- Being there at the right time in the evening, just few minutes before it got too dark.
- Another very important point to consider is to have a climber climbing a part of a 9a+ (5.15a) route in the dark with only the light of a lamp...

How did you get create the mysterious light on the picture?
I used three flashes and one incredibly strong powerful lamp. One flash behind the left big rock, showing the arch. The guy low on the left keeps the lamp, otherwise Darius in the dark wasn't seeing the rock and holds. Darius was climbing without any lamp, we used one powerful on the left holder by the guy. It was late, at the beginning of stars, around 8 pm. It was and incredible team work with everyone, I loved every second.

Giorgio Tomatis, with seven 9a or 9a+ to his name, has completed Prima Classe (9a) in La Stazione. The 22-year-old has been an IFSC competition climber since 2017 and three weeks ago he was 29th in the World Championship in Korea.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried this kingline twice last year, and this year, in two days, I managed to send it on a really freezing day🥶 I really love this climbing style—hard crimp on a really steep wall!

What is next and any winter plans?
My next big project it’s the multipich Ali Baba in Aiglun. Rock climbing until December and then start training for the next season of comps.

Stefano Carnati has, within four days, sent a 9a in Covolo and an 8C in Magic Wood. The 27-year-old PhD student has previously sent routes up to 9b and boulders up to 8C+.

Super Pit (9a): ”Shares the start with "Super Ale", then continues with 20 long, powerful, reachy sequences right to the end. Hardest I’ve done in a while. Second ascent after Silvio!”

Dark Matter (8B+): ” Best line in the Darkness Cave in my opinion. About 30 moves total, but the crux revolves around 5. Some holds have broken since, forcing a harder sequence after the crux (I remember trying "From Darkness to Sunshine Low" years ago, it climbs very differently now).

How come you ended up preparing with route climbing before going to Magic Wood?
Dark Matter is quite a long boulder, and the power endurance it requires is actually very similar to the routes I’ve been trying lately. I’ve been focusing on routes where the bouldery section is key, so outdoor bouldering has definitely helped a lot.

I had only tried the crux of Dark Matter once before, back in February. I went back last Saturday but decided to do some easier links instead (I completed “From Dark Sakai to Sunshine” and “Tigris Sit”) since I wanted to save some energy and skin for Sunday at Covolo to finish off “Super Pit” (which luckily worked out!).

Still, I wanted to return to the Darkness Cave to finish off Dark Matter, as it’s the line that inspired me the most there. The style is exactly what I love: fingery, super tensiony climbing. Indoors I usually train short circuits in this style, so it felt familiar and motivating to finally put it all together.

What is your PhD focused on, and what are your plans after earning your degree?
I’ve just submitted my PhD thesis in Environmental Science, where I worked in an analytical chemistry lab focusing on microplastics. Depending on the reviewers’ feedback, I’ll hopefully defend my thesis in January. I haven’t made any concrete plans for what’s next yet. I’d like to take some time off to reflect and figure out what really motivates me before deciding on my next steps.

Claudia Ghisolfi, who two weeks ago sent TTT, her second 9a, has done Le côté obscur (8c+) in Gorges du Loup. ”For me the hardest part is the first chain of 8c. I fell in the move with the pockets. When I finally managed to do that move I clipped the 8c's chain and than I kept climbing and clipped the 8c+'s chain.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried this route at the beginning of June because the sector Déversé (where TTT is) it was wet. Than the competitions season started. I come back in Gorges du Loup at the end of july but I didn't go to jurassic park because Déversé was dry so I prefered to try TTT and to focus 100% on it. After sendind TTT with my boyfriend Alessio Voghera I come back to try the 8c+ and it took me few tries to send it!

Rollin Grimmett, who did his first and only 9a in 2022, has completed Bone Tomahawk (9a+) in Utah Hills. The 33-year-old needed some 35 sessions and he logged it as a 9a, as most have done lately. ”One of the best routes ever, and for sure my hardest yet! I remember first watching the BT video years ago and it's been a goal ever since. About a year and a half of effort. Definitely my favorite hustle style with basically no resting. Big thanks to Joe and Cam for their belays and support, and to Sam for the catch today on my birthday! 🦴🥩” (c) Daniel Teitelbaum

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
I first visited the Fynn Cave 2 years ago in the spring of 2024. I worked my way up in the cave first doing wishbone 8c and white claw 8b+ that season, then checked out the holds on Bone Tomahawk.

I started trying the route that fall season, which was very short, but I made good progress. This past spring I put almost 3 months into the route and was very close, falling in the last move on 3 different sessions.

This fall I didn't expect much, as the season has been wet and is typically shorter, but I felt really good on the route almost immediately. I spent a month in rifle before this, and I really think the cruxy and physical style of cupcake 8c/+ really prepared me. Now in only a few sessions I repeated my high and low points, so the momentum was there and I was just waiting for a day with perfect conditions. So I was a bit surprised, but it worked out!

Dylan Chuat, with 27 routes 9a to 9b under his belt, has done the first ascent of Ouélamola (9a+) in Plamproz. (c) Sebastien Maflin

”Ouélamola is a combination of the king line opened by Samuel Ometz a few years ago and the ultra-classic 8b+, also opened by Samuel. It connects the two most beautiful and hardest sections of the wall with a nice traverse featuring incredible moves to join Mola Mola. For me, it’s the hardest route in Valais — and maybe even in Switzerland for now — but it’s also the most beautiful. Every hold is exceptional, the movement is insane, and it’s basically 30 moves, all equally amazing, with no rest. I really loved climbing and putting in attempts on this route, even though I fell on the exact same move in 100% of my tries, haha. (I did it without kneepad).”

Filip Schenk, #7 in the Lead World Cup this year, has done Flow State (8C) in Val daone. ”Thanks Pietro Vidi for this king line!” (c) Crimp Films

Can you tell us more about the ascents?
It was a spontaneous decision to go to Val Daone, as it’s still a bit warm in Arco for my projects. I had watched some videos and saw that it fits my style, so if I wanted to do it in just one day, this was the one. It was a bit wet, so we had to dry it, but it felt good. On my first real try, I fell on the last move. This created some pressure, and I fell a couple more times before changing the last move beta a bit. It’s 15 moves long, power endurance, so it suited my style, coming from the comps and lead climbing season. In the end, it was a mental battle, also getting tired from all the attempts. A real gem in this amazing valley, where I still has so much to discover.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo has repeated Alex Megos’ hybrid route Pink patatas (9a+) in La Bisbal de Falset. In total, the 26-year-old has now sent 36 routes 9a+ to 9b+.

Here is how FA Megos described the boulder route. ”The first part is a sit start boulder problem that checks in at around 8A+ (V12) and finishes on a good flake from which an 8c+ route starts. Climbing the boulder into the route adds up to about 9a+ I'd say. 50 moves in a roof make it very pumpy for sure 😅."