Seb Bouin has done the 19th ascent of Chris Sharma's classical 9a+ test-piece in Céüse, Biographie. Impressively, this was his first "real" trip to the mecca not including some weekends several years ago. (c) Sam Bié

With a total of 45 routes 9a to 9b+, out of which 12 FA's, the French is among the best climbers in the world. More info to come...

Théo Blass has done Souvenirs du pic 8c in Saint Guilhem le Desertin. Last summer Theo toproped a variation of the route (combining an easier start with the second half) graded 8b. This year he worked on the lower section for about 7-8 sessions. The not yet 140 cm tall is the youngest climber ever to have reached 8c. Picture by his father Vladimir Arnaoudov who gives us the amazing story.

"Theo started climbing more regularly when he was 8 (he was climbing before, but quite irregularly). His progression was quite interesting: it took him a few months of projecting to send his first 6b+ (on top rope) and then he progressed from 6b+ to 8b in less than a year and a half. His training is a bit chaotic and highly dependent on motivation, time of the year and availability of other more fun activities (such as mountain biking, skiing or building a shack in the garden). At the beginning of the lockdown he trained a lot at our small home bouldering wall but then he lost motivation and did not train for a month.

From the dad's perspective, there are two key takeaways from the experience of belaying, watching, encouraging, counseling, supporting and occasionally arguing with Theo about beta: (1) adult grades are a bit of a nonsense when it comes to kids - two of the hardest moves on the route for Theo are among the easiest for adults - so not worth getting too excited about grades (especially when you are under 1m40); (2) even if fear, frustration and failure are part of the game, climbing kids of the world, enjoy every moment of climbing, projecting, trying hard, sending and try to have fun, and confidence - the future belongs to you."

Roland Hemetzberger, who previously has sent five routes 9a and 9a+, reports on Insta that he has done Stefan Fürst 1996 test-piece Qui near Innsbruck, which only Adam Ondra has repeated. It begins with an 8c/+ route followed with a five moves 8A boulder where Roland failed 45 times before sending. "It was physically and mentally one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever had." (c) Fabian Hagenauer

"I grew up in Kufstein and moved three years ago to Innsbruck. I remember myself a few years ago saying, "I am not able to send Wagnis Orange", the lower 8c. I was simply psyched from Adam Ondra‘s video and ascent. Next is a multi-pitch project at Wilder Kaiser. It will be harder than WOGÜ which I sent two years ago." (WOGÜ is Ondra's FA with seven pitches including two 8c's, considered as one of the hardest in the world.)

Sienna Kopf, #9 in the Youth World's last year, has done her first 8A+, Log Cabins in St. Vrain after projecting it for 4-5 sessions. The picture is from Wake of the Flood.

"Each session I tried to focus on learning something. Placing the heel just right one session, finding just the right place to crimp in the seam another, learning how to keep my core tight on the crux move yet another. The last session before the session I sent I was painstakingly close, reaching the final slap to the sloper at the lip.

It was tricky to manage my skin during this process. The right hand crimp at the end of the boulder problem was very sharp, and pretty much every time I stuck that move, I ended up puncturing the skin on my pointer finger. I quickly learned to pre-tape in order to give myself the best chance of sending!

When I sent the boulder, I felt like I was floating. I executed the moves perfectly and before I knew it I was over the top of the boulder! It honestly felt easy when I did it HA! It was very exciting not only because it was my first of the grade, but also because it convinced me that I can do so much more!"

Evan Hau, who previously has done four 9a's, has done Sacrifice in Echo Canyon, meaning he is the first Canadian to send 9a+. (c) Adam Gearing

"I bolted Sacrifice in 2016 but it seemed impossible at the time. I showed it to Adam Ondra when he visited the area in 2018 and he was able to figure out a sequence and get the FA. I started really focusing on Sacrifice in 2019 and made really good progress eventually one hanging a few times. I trained hard all winter specifically for Sacrifice. Covid-19 changed my training plans but my wife and I were able to adapt with strength and endurance workouts at home doing body weight and weighted exercises as well as hangboard. It seemed to work out quite well as I felt stronger on the route this year compared to last year and I was able to take it down pretty quick this year once climbing was opened in Alberta."

Sasha Lehmann, who won one World Cup last year, comes out from the lockdown in very good shape having done four 9a's in May; Massala Tea in Rawyl, Jungfraumarathon and Alpenbitter as well as the FA of Schwarz Mönch in Gimmelwald. "To me it means a lot to free one of the projects in Gimmelwald. „Schwarz Mönch“ is the logical extension of „Renardo Rules“ 8c and follows a blue stripe through the massive overhang. It‘s maybe a little harder than the 9a‘s „Jungfraumarathon“ and „Alpenbitter“ next to it."

How was that possible almost directly after the lockdown and what is next? I was in very good shape after the training at the beginning of the year. Luckily I could keep the power with some training at home and in Switzerland we were pretty soon allowed to climb outdoors again. I just didn't change climbing partners to avoid unnecessary contacts and traveled by car. At the moment it's time for some training again since the weather is not that good. In summer I'll prepare for possible competitions at the end of the year. The planning depends on the decisions of the IFSC. But I think there will be time for some days on the rock as well and we've got still a lot of good projects in Switzerland ;)

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Moritz Welt, who previously has done six 9a's, has done two 9a's in Frankenjura;
Nice Freshly Baked, FA by Alex Megos: "Nice addition to Shangrila! Lots of tries last year, 1 session 4 tries this season." (c) Lars Decker
Working class, FA Markus Bock: "Too many tries in 2018, 3 tries today. Doesn't feel like 9a... basically some easy warmup climbing into an 8-move 8A+ boulder."

The 19-year-old has furthermore since April done six more 8c+' in Frankenjura and he is #1 in the 8a last month ranking.

How were you able training during the lockdown being in such good shape now and what is next? I'm living in the middle of Frankenjura so I was able to do a lot of bouldering alone and climbing with my family. Yeah, recently trying Corona 9a+ here in Frankenjura and planning to spend some months in Ceuse this summer!