Hamish McArthur, fresh off his recent ascent of Megatron (9A), has repeated Nathaniel Coleman's No One Mourns The Wicked (9A) at South Platte. The line adds an 8B sit start to Defying Gravity (8C). Impressively, the 23-year-old completed the climb in just one session—an unprecedented benchmark for a 9A boulder. (c) Quinn Mason

”I know that the metrics of ”climbing V17 [9A] in a single session” is what gets chosen for the headline, but I want to draw closer attention to the immeasurable preparation that gives this metric colour - most of which is a kind of letting go. I just want to keep surprising myself forever.”

Hamish’s Sunday session:
11:15 – started hiking
12:00 – arrived at boulder
12.30 – tried Defying Gravity
13:15 – stuck crux move
13:30 – sent Defying Gravity
13:45 - tried No One Mourns The Wicked
14:15 – stuck low crux
14:47 – sent No One Mourns The Wicked
15: 45 – started hiking

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So you can focus on your next crux move.

Erin McNeice, coming off her first World Cup victory in Wujiang last week, secured another win at the Lead World Cup in Bali by topping all four routes. Chaehyun Seo, who shared gold with Erin in Wujiang, topped all but one qualification route and finished second.

Satone Yoshida, who was #4 in Wujiang last week, won all three rounds in the Bali Lead World Cup. The last two years the 20-year-old was #7 overall. Max Bertone, who advanced to the finals through a countback after placing 14th in qualifications, rose to the occasion when it mattered most and secured the silver medal.

Dan Mirsky, who last month sent his sixth 9a, has completed Shadowboxing (9a) in Rifle (CO). ”One of the last king lines in the canyon; it was both a saga and not. At first I thought the name was a Wutang reference (which I liked) but I learned quickly it was more about the challenge of finding conditions. I Started for real in June of last year and once I found my way, I really learned to love the bouldery style; both powerful and technical, with one actual bad hold! Of course once I got psyched it got too hot... I Started back up in November and started feeling close but by early December it was too cold. Got back to it at the beginning of this month and really felt it coming together. Then, a couple of weeks ago I found myself in the sun and flying through the air at the end of the upper crux wondering, what just went wrong. Since then it's felt like a montage of errors and bad luck. After literally falling out of a resting kneebar (Yes, I used a right kneepad for the purpose of doing right kneebars) on my first go, I finally ran out of ways to not send. Great sesh and Double send day with the Burger. If only the Knicks had pulled it out too. Now ask me, if I am "still" trying Shadowboxing...” (c) James Lucas

Can you tell us more about how it is possible to maintain your top level at age 42?
For me, As with most things that are worth investing in, there's no magic bullet to success in climbing. I continue to be driven by my passion, my commitment to growth and a focus on the pursuit of mastery in craft. I have also learned from my own experience, and from coaching and climbing with others, that working smarter is even more important than working harder. I bring these lessons and my mindset for growth with me to all my sessions whether that's on a project or in the gym. As an older climber it has become even more important for me to focus on quality in my sessions and know when the work has been done and trust myself to do less. In doing so, I both stay positive and psyched and give myself the opportunity to recover and adapt.

Shadowboxing was a great route for me to practice this mentality because it is so frequently in the sun or otherwise not in a good condition to try. With a route like this you have to make the most of your sessions and the best way to do this is by being present and intentional. Last fall, in an effort to "eek" it out before winter, I over did it, got tired and lost momentum. This spring when I came back, I set an intention for myself to climb on the route only when I felt good and in a situation that felt positive and productive. With this mentality, I made very good progress and ultimately succeeded. I would be lying if I said there weren't a few moments of becoming too attached to the outcome of sending and those were the attempts where I found myself hanging on the end of the rope. In the end, each one was just a great reminder to stay present and focus on the moment and not worry about the outcome. On the send, I felt I did that very well and really enjoyed being present, unburdened in my climbing and supported by good friends.

Noah Wheeler did the second ascent of Shaolin (9A) in March making it his second 9A in 2025. ”Really enjoyed the process on this incredibly aesthetic and plain fun line. 7 days in January, 7 in late Feb/early March. Difficult 8B (some argue 8B+) into 1 move 8A+/8B into 1 move 8A/8A+ implies soft 9A to me. In iso, for the last few sessions, I was able to climb the intro boulder 95% of the time, the crux throw 75% of the time, and the last move 100% of the time. Yet linking these sections together felt super improbable. I really had to push for my determination to trump my expectations.”

William Bosi has done the first ascent of Brain rot (8C+) in Magic Wood. ”Really cool crimp power bloc, basiclly slap bang in the middle of the forest. Dave G project just 10 metres left Jack’s broken heart. Unsure on grade either soft 8C+ or hard 8C I think. Decided to propose the+. Starts in the obvious crack at the back of the roof.” (c) Dave Graham

At the Speed World Cup in Bali, world record holder Sam Watson claimed victory after setting a new record of 4.67 seconds in the semifinals, which he then surpassed with an even faster 4.64 in the final. The American climber has now set a total of six world records on the 15-meter wall. Among the female, Alexandra Miroslaw won.

Michaela Kiersch has repeated Ethan Pringle’s Everything is Karate (8c+) in Pine Creek. 18 routes graded 8c+ and beyond now feature on The Doctor in Hand Therapy’s impressive tick list, alongside 17 boulders graded 8B or harder. Remarkably, nearly all of the 30-year-old’s hardest ascents have come within the past 3 years. She also holds the distinction of being the first woman to climb both a 9a+ route and an 8C boulder.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I visited Pine Creek for the first time a few weeks ago after leaving Spain due to unending rain. Everything is Karate was an obvious choice. The first few days I was battling extremely windy and cold conditions but I returned to Bishop for 2 more weekends and was able to float my way up on the send.

Jon Cardwell, who did his first 9a back in 2008, has done the FA of Scorched Earth in New Mexico. ”Bolted by Tom Ellis. Beautiful route, super technical and complex! Took a little while to decipher the cryptic crux and then it was a battle with the sun.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The route was an existing project that I was shown by a good friend of mine. It’s a very unique route, not only for its quality but the very technical and cryptic movement. It’s also completely natural which is always a nice bonus. Figuring out the sequences took a couple days and after that I could climb it with one fall more or less every try. It was just a battle against the sunny conditions. It’s also one of those routes that’s pure power endurance where every move is difficult once you enter the hard climbing so it leaves very little margin for error.

Is there a reason this is your first 8b or harder route since climbing your first 9b a year and a half ago?
Well, I can’t say it’s due to not trying! However, last year was big for me, I bought my first house, got married, among other things. I traveled a bit less but i still carved out time to train and try some projects. My motivation for climbing is always there and as I get older I just sort of go with the flow. I put another 6 weeks into my big project at the Fortress, the extension to wind up bird and actually ended up getting really close. I hope to finish that one later this year, it’s something that’s the cumulation of everything I’ve learned over the years. I also have quite a few more projects here in NM, and that’s pretty much been my climbing goal since moving back, to bring my experience and seek out those kind of routes, something that doesn’t really exist here. Turns out finding cutting edge first ascents isn’t that easy!