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!

Andrea Kümin, currently on a year-long road trip, has just sent Tuataket (8B) in Sirevåg. So far on her trip, she’s logged around 20 problems graded 8A or 8A+. Three years ago, she claimed a 3rd place finish in a Boulder World Cup—and this June, she’s set to return to the competition scene for three World Cups.

Can you share more about this ascent and what it means to set a new personal best?
The goal of bouldering 8B (or harder🙃) had been on my mind for a while💭 but I had never actively pursued it. My priority has mostly been climbing as many different lines as possible: Challenges that pushed me, but that I could still send relatively quickly. I‘m really excited that it worked out now during our trip! And since Tuataket went relatively quickly too, I’m curious to find out what else might be possible. But all in good time – I’ll discover it at my own pace😌

There were times in my life when everything revolved around performance. Training, nutrition, sleep, regeneration etc. I tried to optimize everything in order to climb as hard as possible. Tuataket showed me, that this is not the only way to climb at my best. I can climb well without optimizing everything and by taking a more relaxed approach. I can trust my body, trust the process, and still grow stronger🌸

We’ve now been living in the van for over half a year. I was on plastic two or three times and didn’t do any training at all. Just rock climbing. Sometimes two days on, then one day off and sometimes one on one off. @david_firnenburg has always been convinced that climbing outside would make him strong and I‘m happy it works out well for me too on our roadtrip! Our secret? It’s excitement! When we do what truly excites us, we’re able to put in so much more energy. And it‘s double the fun when we share it together!🧗‍♀️ Excited for the journey ahead!🚐👫

How will you prepare for the World Cups being on a roadtrip?
This season, I’m going to approach competitions a bit differently and won’t be preparing specifically on plastic. I want to fully enjoy our road trip and focus on rock climbing without putting pressure on myself when it comes to comps this season. So I’ll approach the competitions with a relaxed mindset and just have fun.

You don’t get out of shape climbing on real rock, and you don’t lose your technique either. During a session on plastic back in January, I noticed that after so many years of competition experience, I don’t lose my feeling for coordination and slab climbing that quickly.

The Swiss Championships take place one week before my first World Cup and will be a good way to get back into competition mode. I’m already qualified for the World Cups based on my 2024 results anyway. And in comps, there are so many factors that come into play — so why not give it a try? I’ll just see how it goes — never try, never know…

Katie Lamb reports on Instagram that she has repeated Carlo Traversi’s The Dark Side (8C+) in Camp 4. (c) Eric Bissell

”It’s easy to fall into the trap of treating friction on this boulder like passive resistance - a force that each scaler is at the whim of. But I learned to reshape this narrative: friction is something to sit with, to actively attend to, and to ask for help in understanding.”

In the past two years, the 27-year-old has previously sent three 8C and five 8B+ boulders, firmly establishing herself as the world's leading female boulderer.

Nigel Armino, who sent his second 9a two months ago, has done Sever The Wicked Hand (9a) in Frankenjura.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I climbed Sever the Wicked Hand in three sessions. The route starts with a tough boulder and finishes in Battle Cat (8c). I first climbed Battle Cat to get a feel for the ending, then worked out the boulder section the same day. The next day, I tried the boulder again but decided to rest—we’d been climbing three days in a row after a six-hour drive.

Today, after the rest day, I managed to send the full line. The key for me was gripping the right-hand undercling tightly with my thumb, which gave me enough tension to get through the crux (see photo). It’s good to see the recent adjustments I made to my training after Margalef are starting to work for the style here in the Frankenjura.

Katalin Paertan, who last week did her first 8A+, has completed Obszöner Zwerg SD (8A+) in Hirschwände. ”Nice line with cool tricky moves, really had to fight through the last few moves. Very glad I could finish this one up today after gassing out at the end on Monday.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your great progress in 2025?
I did the stand start a year ago, so I was very motivated to get the sit done this season as well. I had a lot of fun figuring out the sequence in the first session, then it still took me a few sessions to put all the moves together as it drains quite a lot of energy and it gets basically unclimbable once the sun comes in.

This season I have felt quite a lot of improvement in my climbing as I have been working on getting better at my antistyles. Additionally, I have completed most of the physically demanding courses at university (Physical Education) so now I've finally had more time and energy to train more consistently, which seems to be paying off!

Owen Whaley has done the second ascent of Zach Galla’s Sosa (8C+) in Little Cottonwood Canyon (UT). ”Satisfied with this one. Tried in the fall with Adam, couldn't touch the sit moves, felt psyched in the spring, and dug it out of the snow, which was fun. A bunch of really fun sessions with good friends. Shout outs to Zach and anyone who put in work. Great way to kick off the summer.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
So I first tried the sit moves in the fall after doing GI. It felt very hard at the time, trained all winter and was really psyched going into fall to start the projecting process. Dug it out from under snow, which took 4 days. By the time the boulder was fully dry I had good links and was ready to start giving ground rips. I think 8 or 9 sessions. Really cool boulder, sustained power endurance all the way through. Definitely very in my style.

Hamish McArthur, who was #5 in the Paris Olympics, reports on Instagram that he has done the second ascent of Shawn Raboutou’s Megatron (9A) in Eldorado Canyon. The 17-move test piece adds an 8C/+ low start to Tron (8B+). Hamish sent it after five sessions, having fallen seven times at the top on the day of the send. (c) Jess Glassberg - ”One of the most amazing moments I’ve filmed in climbing.

Hamish skipped the first World Cups in China but he will be back on the comp circuit starting with the World Cup in Salt Lake City, then Innsbruck and finally the World Champs in Korea.

How did you come up with the idea of trying Megatron, how was the first experience and the following process?
I was always planning on doing a big outdoor climbing trip in the states. I have a van here and it’s a shame not to use it. As for Colorado and Megatron, well that boulder seemed to have a slight mythical status. First of all it was unrepeated - and not for lack of trying to - so I wanted to see what that was all about. I love climbing that allows for creativity, and the 3D nature of the climbed seemed like it would allow me to climb with style.

The first time we went up to the boulder I got pretty shut down on the start. My tactic on session 1 is to be as creative as possible. I tried every kind of beta I could imagine. It was hot but I managed to fight my way up the v14 end section “Tron” towards the end of the session.

The process was spiritually intense. I figured out the moves on session 2 and started putting them together into promising attempts in session 3. Getting over the finishing line with this boulder was the crux. I knew I could do it, but actually doing it took a lot of energy. In session 4 I made it to the second last “hard” move and at the start of session 5 I dry fired after doing the last of these hard moves. It took 6 more attempts climbing almost to the lip before I managed to keep everything together. So, 5 sessions total - but I don’t want to see climbing as a purely efficiency problem. I want it to be about depth and appreciation instead of how quickly you can get into and out of.

Hugo Parmentier, with 14 routes 9a to 9b under his belt, has done Joe-cita (9a) in Oliana. ”70 billion metres and the rests that go with it. Super happy. Swartzy might not have done it but it requires a hell of a fitness anyway. Tess always all in my good and my less good times. ❤️ (c) Williclimb

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I’m proud to be able to send such huge and endurancy route! It is sooo long. Basically you climb a 5 meter section and take a real rest all the way up the 45m. By the way I used kneepads but I don’t know if Adam and the firsts repetetors used them. I believe it is 9a anyway. This route makes a lot of sense eventhough it’s a link up. You take the hard bit of Joe Blau and the best section of Morenita. The direct versions and this link were really good routes to try after tries in Papichulo or now in Joe Mama. Psyched !

Sera Gearhart has done Columbian Bowtie (8A+) in Castle Rocks (ID). The 27-year-old has sent seven boulders 8A+ or 8B the last year and she is runner up in the ranking game after Caroline Sinno. ”Combination damp top out and impending wall of rain motivation. First t today! I’m not the same climber I was 5 months ago.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the progressed you made the last five months?
I came to try this boulder in the fall and was really excited to do it, but then due to family events, weather, and work I didn’t make it back out there again until now. I remembered really clearly using a particular beta where I double clutched a move when I first tried it since it felt easier than bearing down on a small crimp. Coming back, I did it on my first try but I used different beta because my fingers felt much stronger. It was nice to see the progression!

Erin McNeice and Seo Chaehyun topped the qualifications and semis at the Wujiang World Cup. In the final, both hit hold 41 in 4:26, tying for the gold.
Seo: “It’s my first win in four years and I can’t believe I won with Erin. It’s the first time to win together with someone else on time as well.” McNeice: “I purposely tried to climb it quickly, but obviously not quick enough. It was a lot of fun though and I really enjoyed the fight.”