Steve McClure, who has made the FA of more than a handful "hard graded" 9a to 9b (Rainman in 2017) has done the FA of Fixation 8c+ at Malhalm Cove. It is a Neil Gresham seven bolt extension of L'Obsession 7c+ including a long boulder.

"Reckon it took 6 visits, in total. First day was soaking so didn’t do a single move, then a few more to figure it out. Fell off last move and took a few more days to do as the next day it was too wet. Ah, the joys of UK conditions, you have to love it! Such a cool route with a techy 7c+ wall at the bottom before it turns really bouldery with powerful snatches on undercuts. Lots of heel and toe action. Brilliant. Psyched!!" More comments on his Insta. (c) Neil Gresham

Steve started sport climbing when he was 24. At 26 he made his first 8a redpoint (in fact it was 8b) and within a year he did 8c+. Two years later, in 1998, he made the FA of Mutation as an 9a but as nobody has repeated it yet, the community now considers it as perhaps 9a+. In fact, only three climbers have repeated any of his FAs and for Overshadow 9a+, Adam Ondra said, "The upper end of the grade for sure, 3 stars." In fact, using the modern variation and link up thinking, Steve has done several more 9a FAs but just as a personal challenge as he wants all his routes to be of the highest quality. It should also be noted that Fixation as a project, some thought it was 9a.

Jorge Diaz-Rullo, #1 in the 8a ranking game, has done his fifth 9b during the last 16 months, El Bon Combat in Cova de Ocell. (c) Liqen.studio

On Insta he reports, "30+ days of work, almost 2 months living in the sector alone, stressed by the heat of summer, drenched by a ton of rain, one robbery, so many frustrations and the fear of fighting a losing battle..."

The 21-year-old also said that Chris Sharma put it up as an 9b/+, then Jakob Schubert gave it 9a+ and Felipe Camargo 9b. Jorge says 9b as, "It has cost me so much, it's my antistyle and the conditions did not help at all... It was truly, very difficult for me! So long story short, whatever the grade is, I'm just happy to have done it! 😃💥"

Mia Krampl, who has qualified to Tokyo, has done a quick send of Wrestling with an alligator 8B in Maltatal. "Last time I tried the moves but couldn't do mantle part 😅 and this time I figured out the beta pretty fast and did it in a short session. I guess I didn't need that much time because I already new the start pretty well from Petting with an alligator 8A+ :)" (c) Matic Kotar

Alberto Gines López, who has qualified to Tokyo, has done his second 9a in Cuenca in September, Leire. On Insta, the 17-year-old reports it went done after just five tries, including an onsight attempt, over two days. (c) Javi Pec

Jana Vincourková has flashed Jemark 7C+ and done the FA of Conquerer 8A+ in Sklapsko which is a sit start to an 8A she put up this spring. Only this year, the 23-year-old has made five different 8A to 8B FA's.

"My big advantage is my small fingers so I can fit into small cracks and crimps. That is why I feel very comfortable in these boulder problems. That's why I was able to do it first go that day after three months not being there. In the same day I also flashed a 7C+ boulder which was in the roof and the difficulty wasn't about small holds. My flash tries are always one of the best tries even in the hardest boulders. It's maybe connected with the motivation to do it first try, as well as I begun my climbing era as a competition climber where you have just one go and that's it. Usually when I do not send in couple tries it takes me several days to finish it."

Sergio Verdasco, an IFSC Para route setter, who did his first 8c in July, has done his first 9a, Autoengaño in Rodellar. "The big difference for me is that I stopped competing in may 2019 and started only rock climbing. I spent all this time climbing in different places, trying to improve my skills and of curse ¡A MUERTE!" (c)Guillermo Dominguez

"The route is crazy, around 20/25 meters of roof climbing, bolted by the master Dani Andrada. It is a roof but it isn’t only athletic climbing, it has lot of tricky climbing, drop knees, toe hooks, heel hooks, down climbing, knee bars (17 with my beta). At the end, for me it is more a technical, body tension and powerful climb."

On my first try I was able to do all the moves, which made me fell in love with the route. The beginning of the process was easy about each day I was improving in the route, but after being close to the send for the first time the mental game started. It was hard to battle with it but finally it ends in the best way possible.

Cameron Hörst has done his third 9a, Arrested Development in Mt Charleston, video. It was bolted back in the 90s but it was not opened until 2012 by Ethan Pringle."Steep and powerful moves between pockets to a sequential headwall. Stays with you till the end. Love it! Only 4 sessions of work so I'd say low end 9a. (c) Jonathan Sieghrist

" I only had a short, two weeks, trip here so I wanted a project I thought I could send relatively fast. The first couple days I sampled some other potential protects but ended up deciding on Arrested Development. The route came together quite fast over the first couple sessions. However, the weather is unseasonably hot. So I rested a couple days waiting for the cooler weather. Once that came I found my self clipping the chains on the fourth day of work! Once this trip to Vegas concludes, I will be back east in October and November to climb at the New and Red River Gorge. I have a quite a few hard climbs to do at those ares yet!"

The 20-year-ol, who is the oldest son to famous trainer Eric, did his first 8b+ at age 11. Later the focus was building a wide pyramid and he always took some months as a quarter back in high school. With a more focus on rock climbing, this new 9a level is possibly just a start for doing harder routes.

Hyunbin Min reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Soul rock dance 9b in Korea, after five days of projecting. "I totally destroyed this brutal monster today." The 31-year-old was an active competition climber, having won one World Cup, until 2014. In 2018, the 162 cm tall did a comeback and made it to the podium in the two last events he entered.

His previous hardest is Open your mind direct 9a (+) in Santa Linya, video. "It's a lot more difficult than that route. I've also twice tried First round first minute. I compared it with those routes. I hope the world situation gets better quickly and many strong climbers will come and try it. Also this route is definitely my style."

Matt Fultz, who did his first 8C, out of eleven, 18 months ago, has done Daniel Woods' Hypnotized Minds 8C+ in RMNP. Amazingly, the 29-year-old has had an almost continuous progress during the last ten years, with a peak the last year that moved him to #3 in the 8a ranking game. (c) West Mountain Media

From his Insta. "Such a process...In 2018 I made some big, promising links during just my 2nd session trying it. However, a few tries in I totally annihilated a pulley in my left index finger. Took months to heal. Took longer to mentally recover and decide to try Hypno again. Then followed hesitation, regression, doubt, bad weather, traveling for comps...the goal seemed to get further the more I tried it. But I continued to return with reckless optimism. Early Spring 2020 I made it to the last move and fell, but just days before I left for Switzerland.

COVID hit, RMNP shut down, and I struggled with situational depression. I gained 10 pounds. Climbing was the last thing I wanted to do. Even still, I would run through the moves in my mind once each night before bed. As July rolled in and climbing outside was given the green light, motivation began to swell again. Everything in my control was directed toward improving my chances at Hypno in the Fall. "