Nicolai Uznik from Austria and Mailys Piazzalunga from France won the first European Cup in 2021, held in Klagenfurt. Both were, climbing-wise, quite superior in the final and Uznik also won the semi. Uznik, who did two 8C's last month, lives only 15 minutes from the gym.

"I must admit I was pretty nervous especially before the semifinals. It was difficult to stay focused and because climbing at home makes you wanna show your best performance even more! I‘m so glad it worked out. The route setting overall was good except maybe the semifinal round was a bit too hard. The finals I enjoyed the most, really cool boulders and also kind of my style!" Besides Uznik, it seemed like a disadvantage to start last in a bouldering round. None of the only three males to top all four in the qually, including Jakob Schubert, made it to the final. Among the females, it was pretty much the same in both semi and the final. The two best in the semi, Franziska Sterrer and Leonie Lochner, who also started last in the final, were the two last in the final.

Why do you think it is like this and how did you handle this?
I think in this situation you need to stay calm and show strong nerves. Many climbers feel like it‘s easier for them to climb in finals if they are not leading but for me, I must say it‘s different. I like coming out last because it gives me more confidence!

It can be mentioned that Uznik, even if he won the semi, did just manage to do one boulder and that you made it to the final by just doing four zones. Overall, only three climbers were able to reach all zones. In other words, when Schubert started last out in the semi, as he won the qualification, the holds had probably been used like 100 times each meaning that the friction might have been worse for him.

Maja Jonjic, who previously has done three 8A+'s, reports on Insta, with a video, that she has done her first 8B, El Guanche in Tenerife. In total, it took her more than 10 sessions to send. During the last fee years, the 27-year-old only climbed outdoors about once a week, but since last July, she has only climbed on rock.

JonathanSiegrist has made the first repeat of Joe Kinder's The Activator in Hurricave. "Hard as hell for me. I could conjure some excuses but in short it just felt hard!! 9a/+ for me no question. Wet chalk FTW!!" (c) Rachel Galipo

On Insta he continues his thoughts. "If my goal is to be challenged and to improve, why not be open to every lesson? If it truly was ‘easy’, it wouldn’t be hard would it! The moment we start assuming that everything will be easy is the moment we shut ourselves off to learning."

In total, the 35-year-old has done 53 routes 9a to 9b meaning he is #6 in the All-Time 9a list.

Killian Chabrier has done Alban Levier's La Force just outside Fontainebleau, which with 35 moves previously have been graded; 9a route, 8C+ traverse or 8C boulder. (8a try to differentiate traverse gradings by saying 8Cc+).

"I started trying the different parts of this line two years ago. I did l’Acte 1 (8A), l’Acte 2 (8B) and Morpheus (7C+) in approximately five sessions but didn’t feel endure enough to link it all. Last year, I ripped a bit of my biceps on the twist of l’Acte 2, and decided to take a break to try other boulders. This year I wanted to try Quoi de Neuf (8C) which I did quickly on my second session, and the next step was La Force. It took me three more sessions to send it, falling three times on the last sketchy move where you have to jump to the crack. It’s for sure the best line of the Toit d’Orsay, and for the grade, I don’t have enough experience in lead or in traverse in this grade, so I’ll just trust the previous climbers for the 9a lead grade and the 8C+ traverse grade."

Anghelo Bernal has done his first 9a, Victimes del Futur in Margalef. The Colombian has lived in Margalef since 2016 (when 8a+ was his PB) and he works in the El Pont campsite. Article from March when he did his first 8c+/9a. (c) Eduardo Ruano Lin

"The first attempts at Victimes del Futur was done in the fall of 2019 and until the fall of 2020 I had not been able to give any good tries. The pandemic confinement affected me physically and last spring I did not feel well. This spring I only needed about ten attempts to do it, although last fall I did spend a lot of time on the route. I am very happy to fulfil this dream of being the first Colombian to reach the 9th grade and I hope to be able to fulfil all the goals that I have set for myself in the future."

So what are your future goals?
For now, continue climbing enjoying the most and being able to do other routes of the same level, also when I was a child and still did not know climbing I was always writing 5.15 (9a+) which is the date of my birthday May, 15 and when I started climbing I realized what 9a+ is so I would like to follow my instincts and find a route of this level.

Stefano Folgarait, who previously has done four 8c+ to 9a FAs, has done the FA of I giochi della mente 9a in Potrich after trying it for some 25 sessions.

"A route, practically perfect with beautiful sequences and a great variation of holds. One of my best FAs. I bolted this route about five years ago at a crag near my home and at the first time I wasn't even sure it was possible at all, so I never tried it again. Then this year with the stop to travel for covid-19 I started to try it again. The ascent was really unexpected. I couldn't believe it when I for the first time passed the crux."

Could you please say something about the Potrich crag and how many crags and routes in total you have bolted?
Potrich is divided into five sectors and for now there are about 50 routes in total. All the crags I bolted are located in Terragnolo valley (40 minutes from Arco) and for now, the only crag I have published is Al Castello. The other crags are not yet public because they are not finished. In total, I have bolted and made about 100 FA routes from 7a to 9a.

So how come you have focused on doing FAs instead of not repeating hard lines in nearby Arco?
Because in my opinion is more gratifying to make something new. I think I was very lucky to have so many virgin rocks near home. But I also like to try other people's route. I have some project in Arco.

Martina Demmel, who started climbing in 2017, is about to set another new standard for fast progress by sending Joe-Cita 9a in Oliana. The 50-meter test piece, with some 130 moves, was put up by Adam Ondra and it is a link-up of Joe Blau 8c+ and La Morenita 8c+. (c) Julia Cassou

"Still struggling to find the right words to describe what this means to me especially when you haven't even started to dream about it because it felt soo far away! What a crazy too perfect to be true dream;) 5 more tries after the straight lines to clip the chains of this combi beast with the help of low expectations, prime conditions and most important the very best crew around! Muchas gracias y'all for sharing this special moment:) more Infos on my Insta!”.

Amazingly, the 19-year-old began climbing only four years ago and during the last three years, she has almost only climbed outdoors with a focus on onsight and fast sends. Her indoor climbing during the last six months has basically been limited to some competition-style bouldering sessions with the German national team. Otherwise, almost no indoor training, hang boarding or other physical training. Her only physical exercise except for climbing is quick stretching.

During the last three weeks, the 157-cm-tall has done 20 routes 7c+ to 9a, out of which ten onsight. Based on the Top-50 hardest onsights during the last year, she is #1 in the world including all male.

So how are you challenged by being 157 cm tall?
Mostly by having to be a little bit extra creative by finding my own betas or not losing the patience if it's not working directly with the obvious beta😉 but that's the cool thing in climbing that some other sections might feel easier for me when there are lots of footholds to choose from and therefor looking at whole routes it doesn't make a big difference how tall you're because it gets balanced by itself🙈🙃 still there are morpho moves sometimes but most of the time it's still possible the find a solution even if it's way harder but being to do the move, in the end, is even more satisfying no matter what grade you get for it😊

How come you avoid physical training etc.?
Physical training, just like repeating the same exercises, seems to be pretty boring. Maybe the physical progress by just climbing is slower but it is way more fun. Regarding hang- and campus boarding and stuff like this I am pretty happy that my fingers are rather stronger so I do not need it. Stretching is the only thing I do but just a few minutes and like five seconds in each position. Just climbing, also helps to not expect too much because you don't think you have trained so much so, "now you have to be strong". Instead, you can climb more relaxed and free at the wall, I would say. Maybe in the future, I want to push my limits more and also start doing physical training.