Simone Tentori, who two months ago sent Ephyra (8C+), has completed Big nose (8C) in Fionnay. ”The new Fionnay classic! Amazing power endurance bloc with crazy features and moves. Regarding the difficulty, not easier than Foundation imo.” (c) Siara Fabbri

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Big Nose is a new problem on the Permanent Midnight boulder. It has been cleaned and climbed by Dylan [Chuat] and Clem [Lechaptois] last year. This year, as soon as the road opened, I started trying it, and I was immediately hooked by the quality of the movement and rock shapes and colors. I could solve the moves pretty soon but I had to spend more sessions and time to find my flow and make the first part very efficient in order to arrive at the upper (main) crux with good power. I sent it during a hot evening session with a good fight at the top. So cool! I'm sure it is going to be the new classic of the area!

Any summer plans?
I will spend the whole summer in South Africa with my partner Siara, exploring the Cape Town area first and then Rocklands. We are so excited!

On June 8, 2025, Kate Kelleghan and Laura Pineau etched their names into Yosemite history as the first all‑women duo to complete the legendary Yosemite Triple Crown in a single push—climbing Mount Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome via their classic big‑wall routes. Starting in the late afternoon, they moved with relentless efficiency, linking 77 pitches of vertical climbing and covering over 11 miles (≈ 18 km) of high‑elevation hiking. In a stunning display of endurance and teamwork, they summited all three giants in 23 hours and 36 minutes, shattering longstanding gender barriers in the big‑wall climbing arena. (c) Thibaut Marot

How and why did you get into this adventure?
[Pineau:] One of the reasons (maybe the reason) I got into this adventure is my unconditional love for Yosemite. From the very first time I set foot in the Valley, I knew this place was going to be a turning point in my climbing life. Yosemite is the kind of place where your ego politely waits at the door while you go back to square one. You learn patience, you repeat your drills, you fall, and start over. Again. And again. Until the glacier-polished cracks finally let you in. Very quickly, I noticed that every climber in the Valley had the same word on their lips: the NIAD – The Nose In A Day. That’s when I discovered speed climbing in cracks, and just how much speed is woven into the Valley’s climbing history. It’s also when I heard about the ultimate test: The Triple Crown — climbing Mt. Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome in under 24 hours. Nine men’s teams had done it. Women? Zero. Then one day in April 2024, while chatting with friends, I heard that Kate Kelleghan from YOSAR was looking for a partner to give the Triple a shot. Cue internal panic… followed by a flash of madness: why not me? I messaged her right away, told her I had never done any speed climbing, but that I was about to try my first NIAD the following week. If that went well, I’d be in—the result? 12 hours and 36 minutes. I was tired, but convinced. It was a big YES.

Can you describe the Triple Crown? The routes, the faces, the order, the start, the finish?
The “classic” Triple Crown order is: start with Watkins, move on to El Cap, and finish (with maximum sweat and style) on Half Dome. But climbing isn't just climbing — it’s also a lot of hiking. We kicked things off on June 7 at 11 a.m. with a 3.5-hour approach hike to the base of Mt. Watkins. Then 4 hours and 10 minutes of climbing, 1 hour of hiking down, and back to the car. During the one-hour drive to the Nose, it was multitasking madness: eating, icing our feet in a cooler, and playing harness-Tetris to reorganize everything before round two. At 10:40 p.m., we launched onto the Nose. Seven hours and twenty-five minutes later, we topped out. It was 6 a.m., and it already felt like we’d lived three days in one. No naps, no summit brunch — we ran the 1,000-meter descent straight to the car, then drove 20 minutes to the base of Half Dome. From there, we powered through a 1,000-meter uphill hike in 1 hour and 45 minutes (robot legs, engage) to buy ourselves a bit of margin. We started the final climb at 9:40 a.m. and topped out at 3:36 p.m., in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm. Lightning was close enough to keep us moving… and praying.

How did the practice runs go? Times? Was the goal to get under 24 hours?
We arrived in the Valley on April 12 and spent six weeks eating, sleeping, and sweating Big Wall. Our goal was to get faster and survive the process. Thanks to our Coros watches, we tracked all our climbs and monitored for overtraining (yes, it’s a thing). Here’s our progression:

The Nose: 12h53 → 8h49 → 7h39 → 7h05
Watkins: 9h03 → 5h57 → 5h15 → 4h47
Half Dome: 9h05 → 6h05

The mission was clear: link all three walls in one single push, no sleep, under 24 hours. All previous teams had done it under 24h, so we knew the bar was high. No breaks, just a machine fueled by electrolytes and stubborn determination.

What’s the point of speed records in big wall climbing?
Climbing El Capitan — 1,000 meters of vertical granite — in just a few hours is… addictive. But it’s not a risk-free addiction. Speed climbing means strategic choices, higher-than-usual risks, and nonstop awareness. For most of the Triple, I had a free solo mindset: no falling allowed. Every move had to be controlled. There was no room for error, except that you can’t always predict when your foot slips or a rock breaks loose. That’s why I don’t encourage anyone to get into this style lightly. It’s a very mental balancing act, where you spend 24 hours at 100% focus, no safety net. At the end, I was proud — of course. But mostly relieved to have made it through.

Jonathan Siegrist, who completed his seventh 9b this past April, has now sent Hard Twisted (9a+) and Lion's Share (9a) in Wolf Point. At 39, he's now ticked off 87 routes graded 9a or harder, with the past year standing out as one of the most successful of his career. (c) Nate Liles

Hard Twisted: ”A big and involved journey from Tilden up the gut of the cave. Got lucky and had one of those rare tries where everything just clicks. Awesome feeling sticking the Dire Wolf crux way up there! Grateful to be back in Wyoming, trying hard.”

Lion’s share: ”My skin was screaming through the white panel but I somehow kept it together. Super psyched!”

Ryan Sklenica, who two years ago established the second 9a+ in Australia, Hartkäse, has done the FA of Stone Crown (9a/+) in Nowra. (c) Talia Su

Can you tell us more about the FA?
I invested around 10 sessions into the route this year (as well as a few last year). On the send I was at my limit, and had to try harder than ever, but because of the reasonably short time frame I decided to go with the slash grade.

The Cheesedale cave is a 35m roof broken up by small headwalls. This route starts on an existing 8a, before traversing left into ‘Stone Crown’. The new part starts with a long 15 move boulder around v12 [8A+], a good rest, and then one more tricky boulder right before the glorious top out, which makes the route so much more satisfying - untying whilst on top of the crag is an unreal experience.

When I first went to Cheesedale there was only one established line that went out the entire cave. Over the last few years I’ve been bolting new lines with a good friend (Matt), we put up a handful of shorter lines around the 8b/8b+ range. The remaining lines we bolted go out the entire cave and all of them will sit somewhere in the 9th grade, ‘Stone Crown’ being the easiest.

What is your climbing background?
I started climbing down in Tasmania, Australia about 10 years ago. I’ve spent seasons adventure climbing on the sea stacks of Tassie, seasons bouldering in Squamish and many more seasons sport climbing in a variety of areas, I’ve always enjoyed pushing it all.

In 2021 I focused on trad climbing and bouldering, that’s when I did Cobra Crack and every boulder in Squamish. After that season I moved back home and focused more on pushing my physical limit in sport climbing. I climbed my first 9a near the end of 2022 with the FA of Fiction in Tasmania. I then climbed another FA in my now home crag - Nowra - called ‘Baby Cakes’ 9a, as well as Hartkäse which I went out on a limb and suggested 9a+ for as the first of the grade in Australia, as it felt on par or harder than others I had come very close to doing overseas.

Living in Australia there are very limited options for hard sport climbing, however, I am fortunate enough to live near Nowra where I can develop these hard routes in a style that I love the most.

Japan has five male climbers ranked in the Top 10 of the Boulder World Cup standings after four of six events. Sorato Anraku claimed victory in the first three competitions and finished second to Mejdi Schalck in the most recent event.

Japan and France dominate the top 10 of the women's Boulder World Cup rankings, with four Japanese and three French climbers making the list after four of six events. Oriane Bertone currently holds the top spot, with consistent performances across the first four events: finishing 2nd, 2nd, 4th, and 1st.

Sera Gearhart has completed Smokin The Tree (8A+) in The Rock Shop. ”4 to go! FFA? The 28-year-old did her fourth 8A three years ago and since then, she has done another 51 boulders 8A to 8B.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what does ”4 to go!” mean.
In the summer there isn’t much to do near where I live in utah but I still like to climb even though the conditions are bad. Because this particular boulder is so close to the parking, I can go climb on it by myself which is key! I’ve made it into a silly goal to do every link up and line on this boulder, so I have four left now if I do all of them. The main one remaining is Bust a lung (8B) that I’m very excited to try.

How can you best explain your great progress over the last three years?
I started to put a lot more time and effort into spending time outside and it became a much more central goal to me to push my limits! Hoping to continue to improve as much as I can.

How does a normal climbing week look like?
I usually try to get outside locally or to the gym depending on the weather 2-3 times during the work week. Then on weekends I go outside to try projects. There are a bunch of crags within a 2-4 hour drive of me.

Sam Weir, with three 8C+’ under his belt, has repeated Shawn Raboutou’s Child of Hell (8C) in Gottardo. ”King lines only this summer 😎 3rd go. First 8C in a session. Not sure on the grade. Really basic shoulder stability and tension bloc.”

From his Insta video, you can see it rains a lot during the send. What about the friction and the top out?
It had been raining about twenty minutes and knew I had one last try. Glad it worked out! My skin got really cut on the second try due to the humidity but knew I could not try the next day so went all in on a last try. The top out is easy but I was quite scared. Definitely a no fall zone. But I knew I had it and if I had any doubt I could back off and have asked for the rope

What is next?
Just day dreaming about Poison the Well and continuing to train for the fall with my friends. I really would like to start the saga on arrival of the birds as well. But need to finish up PTW first before I change zones :)

Marine Thevenet, with well over 100 boulders 8A and beyond to her name, has sent La cantolle (8B) in Pralong.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I decided to only work in the morning and then drove 2.5 hours to discover Pralong on my own — I had seen some videos of the boulder on Instagram and thought it might be my style. I started climbing around 3:30/4:00 p.m. and began working on all the moves, then linking sections. I really struggled with the first move. Normally, you're supposed to keep your right foot on a small foothold, but I didn't have the reach. So I decided to stubbornly go for the "jump" instead. It finally worked around 6:30 p.m. I then drove back and made it home just in time to enjoy a good pizza and a nice Italian wine! FA by the strong swiss climber Theo Chappex.

Oriane Bertone secured the gold medal at the Prague World Cup after winning the semifinal, as the final was cancelled due to safety concerns caused by strong winds. Her French teammate Agathe Calliet placed second, with Japan’s Melody Sekikawa finishing third.

Bertone had previously earned two silver medals and a fourth-place finish in the first three World Cup events of 2025. After the semifinal, she commented, “The first three comps were frustrating for me as I know I have the level to do great things, but I am so close yet not doing it. And if I could do it here, that would be so awesome.”