Mejdi Schalck, who was #7 in Briancon, and Paul Jenft, who was #10, have done their first 9a, Shortcut in La Balme. Schalck (c) Aurele Bremond comments, "Very pleased to have done this route. I was going crazy as I kept falling 6/7 times in the final part."

Gonzalo Larrocha, has done the 60 meter route XL 9a in Baltzola, after 7 or 8 days of projecting. In total, the 36-year-old has now 18 routes 9a and harder out of which six the last 12 months. "Good end of the summer, sending it on the penultimate day. I fell twice in the White Zombie area."

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Mina Markovic, who has won 22 World Cups, has done her third 9a, the 55 m Waterworld in Osp which was put up by Kleman Becan. Interview with Mina from July when she did her second 9a, Halupca with new pics from Luka Fonda. Starting from 2010, she was 2 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1, in the overall World Cup. Last year, she had her worst season although finishing #4 in the European Championship. After the lockdown with cancelled competitions, workshops, and psychology lectures, she has had more free time to spend outside and go climbing.

" The first time I tried Waterworld was like six weeks ago. Honestly, it really 'shut me down' as I didn't understand anything at my 1st go 😣. I know the route is quite 'famous' for its complicated sequences, so it wasn't such a 'shock' after all. Anyhow, I did not try it for two weeks but somehow, (on the shooting of Halupca 9a), I still wanted to climb more. This time, I somehow understood some moves (in theory!), but I was still far from doing them individually. At that time, I realized, that even if I do all of them, a fair amount of biceps strength would be the need for connection. It has, by far, been the longest project I have ever had. I stopped counting after 21 tries but all in all, I guess almost 30 tries over ten days.

I did it on my fourth day climbing in a row on my 3rd go. Yes, my life would be easier if I sometimes know how to more rest 😆 but, (un)fortunately, I just love climbing too much... "

Did you do any special indoor training as a preparation? No 🙈🙈🙈, actually in last three months I have maybe spent 3-4 days indoors per month. I am climbing 5-6 days per week.

Arthur Guinet has done his seventh 9a, Der Helige Graal in Frankenjura, on his fourth session "It's not really "Franken style" as it is a long endurance route divided into three sections with good rest, traversing an amazing steep arch."

On Fanatic Climbing you said shorter routes like Action Direct is harder?
Yes, for me Action Directe is harder. I have been there two times but I could not do the first move and the next is hard as well.

What do you think about grade inflation and AD?
I agree with the inflation. I think the style of the routes have changed between 90's and now. Today, the routes are more endurance based and it's easier to make progress in endurance rather than in strength and power. If you want to progress in strength and power it takes a lot of times. It's also the reason why "9a endurance routes" are more repeated.

Advertorial: All three of us were hanging of the rocky outcrop. It was already afternoon and the team on the British route had been long gone since early morning. This was supposed to be a short break but neither of us moved. We looked at each other and the gaze was reflecting the same message: “it doesn’t look great!” No-one wanted to say a word or maybe neither of us wanted to say THE word. Read the full story