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.”

David Firnenburg, currently eight months into a road trip with Andrea Kümin, has climbed 27 boulders graded 8A to 8B+ in Norway over the past month — including three 8A+ flashes. Pictured: Under your nose (8B).

Which are the best boulders and areas you can recommend? Which of your flashes do you remember the most?
It’s gorgeous, indeed! Well, I think there a many good areas spread over the country with their own charm. I liked the Rogaland region (around Stavanger) a lot and up here in Trøndelag (like Vingsand and Flatanger). In Rogaland the areas aren‘t really big but spread out so you sometimes have to drive an hour between two areas, for instance. One area where there accumulate some sectors nearby is Oltedal. I enjoyed climbing Dynamitten (8B), Slopestyle sittende start (8B) and Ribbefett (8A) there, for example.

Here in Trøndelag there is Diamanten (8B) in Vingsand and Brick squad (8A+) in Flatanger (Glasøyfjellet) which I highly recommend. The latter I flashed which was a memorable moment for me.

Mejdi Schalck claimed his fifth World Cup gold with a victory in Prague. Sorato Anraku, who had won the first three World Cup events of 2025, finished in second place, ahead of 17-year-old Samuel Richard on countback.

”It feels a bit like a comeback because last year I had a pretty hard year. I didn’t qualify for the Olympics, so I stayed focused and trained really hard this winter, so it’s a comeback. I’m back, and it feels good to be back.

I really liked all the boulders; it was a lot of coordination and dynamic boulders which is really my style, so I liked it.

The second was the hardest, I was the only climber to send it, and it was a big fight for that. It was crazy. The crowd was cheering, and it was amazing.”

Adam Ondra, who announced that Prague would be his final Boulder World Cup, finished in 15th place. Other notable climbers further down the rankings included Toby Roberts at 20th and Tomoa Narasaki at 41st.

Julia Duffy has completed the 20-draws endurance route Divine Fury (8c) in Maple Canyon. ”Thunderstorm send 😯 New favorite route in the cave!”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
One of my big climbing goals this summer was to do every route in the cave, and Divine Fury was one of the last hard ones I had left. It took me five sessions (though I had already tried some of the moves last year on a different route). On my send go, once I got onto the headwall, it started to thunder and rain, but luckily the holds stayed dry enough for me to send. I am excited to try and finish up the last remaining lines in the pipe dream before it gets too hot.

Which are the remaining lines you plan to try next?
There is a climb called Eulogy (8b+) that I have to do but it is a linkup of two routes that I have done so I think I should be able to get it done. And the rest of the climbs I have to do are chossy 5a-6a that no one ever climbs haha.