Oriane Bertone, the superior World Cup winner last year, has published a video of her sending Gecko (assis) (8B+), with amazing hip flexibility, and Kheops (8B) in Fontainebleau.

”What an incredible morning !! I managed to climb Gecko assis (V14/8B+) on my first attempt of the morning and Khéops right after... just enough time to move to Cuvier Rempart. Two of Font's best lines in one morning. I never would have thought it possible, even though I'd already made good progress on those two boulders.”

Can you tell us more behind the process doing Gecko assis?
The stand already felt incredibly hard when I tried it a few years ago, and I honestly think I wasn’t physically strong enough at the time to really make the movements click.

A few weeks ago, I randomly gave it a try when I came to spot a friend on Les Beaux Quartiers (8A) on the same boulder, and ended up sending the stand in just a few attempts, which was a pretty big surprise. After that, I thought the sit would be a good training goal as well, since it’s quite long, demanding, and physically taxing.

I put two more sessions on it, and sent it yesterday morning on the very first try of the session :))

Lilian Moretti and Mathis Chappe have completed The Big Island (8C) in Fontainebleau.

Moretti: I tried The Big Island for the first time in December 2024 (for 2 hours), and I haven’t been back since. On this trip, it took me three sessions to complete it.

Chappe (pictured): So my first session was in December 2024 but it was short because it was at the end of trip. Then I went back with my dad in February 2025 but the friction were really bad for sending. So we went back with Lilian last week to send the Boulder. It took me 7 sessions for the send.

What is your climbing background?
Moretti: My parents have never climbed in their lives. I started climbing when I was 8 years old at a local club. Until I was 16, I almost exclusively did lead climbing. In December 2024, I went to Ticino for the first time, and since then I’ve fallen in love with outdoor bouldering.

Last summer I had loads of projects in mind, but I was injured for six months, so climbing was impossible. I did a lot of hangboard training and weightlifting. It was really tough mentally, but I’m happy to see that it’s all behind me now and that I’ve never been stronger.

Chappe: I am from Marseille, I started climbing at 11yo and i started doing comp 3 years later. In highschool i went in Briançon because there was a student-athlete class and this is here that i discovered my passion for outdoor climbing. I won multiple French cup and this season i am selected on the U21 French team. Now i am living in Grenoble because it’s one of the best cities in France for climbing and training.

Ai Mori from Japan, the 2023 Lead World Champion, topped all four routes in Lead at the Asia Championship, and in Boulder she flashed all four problems in the final.

Among the men, Suzuki Neo, a World Cup winner in Innsbruck last year, won all three rounds in Lead, and Japan took all three medals. In Boulder, Dohyun Lee from Korea won ahead of Tomoa Narasaki. Complete Results

In the first European Youth Boulder Series in Soure, Portugal, Italy won two golds and one silver. Giovanni Bagnoli won both the qualification and the final, as did Amélie Kägi. A total of 233 teenagers competed. The next European Youth Boulder Series starts on 9/5 in Graz, Austria.

U17: Amelie Kägi SUI - Pietro Franzoni ITA
U19: Jakoba Rauter AUT - Giovanni Bagnoli ITA Complete Results

Sera Gearhart has repeated Chris Sharma’s Spinal Twist (8B) in Little Cottonwood and sent Spirit Walker (8B) in Ogden.

Can you tell us more about the process behind the two ascents?
The boulder [Spinal Twist] itself is really sick and revolves around some tricky technical sequences. I tried this boulder maybe three days in the fall before falling on the easy outro from the bottom, kind of a punt. I wasn’t prepared to get there at all since it was at night and I didn’t have a headlamp on. Lesson learned! I went back another day in the winter and the conditions were horrible so I wrote it off for a few months. I was sick and traveling for awhile so I didn’t go back until it was a bit too warm this year. This spring I went back another 2 or 3 days but was pretty discouraged since it sits in the sun in the afternoon this time of year and it’s hard for me to go in the morning. I wrote it off again for the season. We got a lucky cold day this week and a few friends and I went to go try. When we got there, I was pretty sure it was going to still feel too warm (again in the sun) but my friend Matt convinced me it would be worthwhile (thanks Matt!)

[Spirit Walker] This was a very similar process! I fell at the end in December and thought I was close, then from a variety of reasons I didn’t get to go siege again until March (sickness, travel, injury). When I went back I realized I could do a more standard beta which gave me a minor existential crisis. Luckily Matt Fultz advised me to keep trying my old beta and it worked. Down to the wire since it got super hot there as well.

How does a normal week look like for you?
A normal week for me isn’t too bad! I’m definitely busy but I prioritize climbing over school. I work standard hours Monday through Friday and go to class, and I usually do all my homework and exams for the week one day on the weekend! I’m excited for summer since I won’t have school.

What is your job and what do you study?
Both my work and school are in biomedical informatics, I work for the American heart association where I do work on quality improvement. I just started last fall for the masters degree, I have another year and a half until I graduate.

How much do you climb in a week?
I am able to climb outdoors most evenings if I stay local, I just put off doing my school work until the weekend haha it’s a lot.

Eva Hammelmüller, with five 9a’s since last year under her harness, has repeated Adam Ondra’s Bombardino (9a+) in Arco. The 23-year-old, who is runner-up, in the female ranking sent it last weekend after a total of just four sessions. (c) Felix Mast

”Speechless. Never have I ever thought in my wildest dreams that I could do this route that quickly. It already felt amazing when I tried it last week on my third day of climbing. This weekend, I returned with good skin, refined my beta yesterday, and sent it today. I still simply can't believe it. I think the crux is 100% my style, and the route is for sure a very very soft one for the grade. Nonetheless, I am just super super proud!!”

Hannes Puman, who did a big wall FA in Yosemite in 2024, has done the first ascent of Trainspotting Direct (8C) in Lexby. The name comes from it being located in a small grove only 200 meters from a train station, nine minutes from Göteborg Central Station. Henrik Sennelöv started projecting it 35 years ago, and in 2016 Alex Megos made the first ascent of the left hard 8B version.

Hannes, who just visited Fontainebleau, doing multiple 8A+ to 8B+ quickly, repeated the original Megos 8B line some years ago.

“I think I finished the straight-up line after some five sessions this winter. It does not look hard with the big rounded feature at the top, but it sure is. This winter I have climbed more outdoors, and this seems to have helped a lot.

What is next, and what about your Olympic quest?
I have a couple more projects, but I guess they will have to wait for the winter. Regarding comps, I have been bothered by a thumb injury that makes it hard to pinch, so I think I will have to skip the first comps.

The Olympics is still a dream but at the moment the main priority is getting injury free. Meanwhile I’m enjoying climbing outdoors. The bouldering season has been great but I’m very excited for trad and sport season!”

The 28-year-old was Youth World Champion in 2014, and his best senior result is eight in the World Championship and fourth in the Euros.

Gianluca Vighetti, who finished last year by sending two 9a+’, has repeated Adam Ondra’s Bombardino (9a+) in Arco, giving it a personal 9a grade. ”Literally the most unexpected ascent I've ever done. Did it in the evening after training in the Rock Master stadium.🤯 It would be crazy to do a 9a+ like that but I am sure this awesome route is not more than a 9a, and not an hard one if I compare it to the other ones I tried. 8b+, medium-good rest, 7C or 7C+ boulder.” (c) Crimp Films

Last year, the 17-year-old won two Euro Youth Cups and here is his full report of his amazingly quick ascent.
”This ascent literally came out of nowhere. A couple of weeks ago I made a quick trip to Arco together with my dad and my friend Giovanni Giachino, who was competing in the National Team Trials, while I took it as an opportunity to train on the routes in the Rock Master Stadium. This was the original plan, but then, on Sunday, after he finished the Trial kinda early (2p.m.) and I had already climbed 5 hard routes, we decided to use the time left to go check out this awesome route that has been on my mind for a while. I just wanted to get an idea, to see if I had a chance and hopefully come back next season.

After an attempt where I found all the betas for the hard boulder (and not really the rest of the route), I gave another try to see where I would fall and, I have no idea how, I didn’t. If I have to be honest I really wish I could say that I could do a 9a+ in 2 attempts, that would be crazy. But realistically I think it’s 100% not more than 9a, and not a really hard one, the new beta probably makes it a lot easier than before. This route was as cool as I expected it to be, and the crag is absolutely magical.”

World Climbing, aka IFSC, comes with good news. ”The gross total is set to exceed €1 million, marking a significant milestone for the organisation. The increase more than doubles the €374,400 distributed in 2024, underlining the continued growth of Climbing and the shared commitment to supporting athletes at the highest level.

For the 2026 season, each individual medal event will offer €20,000 in prize money, a substantial increase from €11,700 in 2024. The overall winners will be awarded €9,000”

Below the amount for each World Cup in 2026:
1st place: 30% or € 6,000
2nd place: 20% or € 4,000
3rd place: 14% or € 2,800
4th place: 10% or € 2,000
5th place: 8% or € 1,600
6th place: 7% or € 1,400
7th place: 6% or € 1,200
8th place: 5% or € 1,000

Based on the tragic accident on Kalymnos last month, and the fact that we know of two other bolts that snapped 1.5 years ago, all of which appeared ok on the outside, we have sought expertise from David Reeve. He is a technical advisor to the UIAA, which has funded a large part of his research, and his findings have been presented in his Crag Chemistry. The bolt in the picture is from one of the two snapped bolts on Facatelendos (6b+) in Ourania in 2024.

We have presented his thoughts in previous articles over the years and here is his latest Vertical-Life article from last year. Titanium vs 316 and 304 bolts

As we have seen that many ascents have been logged the last week on routes bolted in 2004, we wanted to present this short article as quick as possible. Reeve thinks we should be much more restrictive when it comes to how old bolts we could trust.

”Age means nothing without knowing the environment. Once it is known we are dealing with a sulphate cliff, I would distrust any stainless steel older than 2 years [on a sulphate cliff].”

”There is no doubt that if you avoid climbing pre-2005 routes you'll be safe. After all if you don't climb, you can't fall. However, beware flipping that argument around to conclude climbing post-2005 climbs will be safe. This is fallacious because the greatest determinant of risk is whether you have bumbled upon a bad crag or not. ”

The 2004 bolt that broke in Ourania was sent to Reeve in 2024 and also some rock samples where he found out that two out of six crags contained high level sulphate: Iannis and Secret Garden. The broken hardware from the recent accident have also been sent to the Australian and as well as samples from more sectors. We will follow up as more details are revealed.

Here is a statement published at Kalymnos Climbing Facebook page.

”Reading between the lines, my guess is that the intention of the pre-2005 restriction is that there is a theory that divides Kalymnos bolts into those of a) good metal and those of b) bad metal. The good metal bolts are thought to have replaced bad metal bolts after 2005. This certainly makes more sense than the alternative postulate that bolts on Kalymnos suddenly go bad after 20 years.

I'm assuming that we are looking at the "304 (A2) bad: 316 (A4) good" argument here. You are not going to tell them apart at the crag, so lets use date of installation as a guide. Those who read my cragchemistryDOTcom blog will know that I have spent years working on this distinction. The matter is super-complicated and I'll leave it for now as - yes 316 does seem superior but don't count on that always being the case. The mental shift I'm advocating for is to park all such good metal, bad metal talk and instead embrace the good crag, bad crag distinction. On Kalymnos we know for sure we have 3 bad crags, and have solid reasons to suspect they may be more.

If they are bad, it is futile to repeat all the hard lessons of Tonsai or Cayman Brac and we should move to the known solution of titanium bolting. This distinction between good and bad crags has nothing to do with the vibe. It is scientifically based and if you want to learn how the distinction is made, then take a look at my post on Ourania here.

So coming back to where I came in. There is no doubt that if you avoid climbing pre-2005 routes you'll be safe. After all if you don't climb, you can't fall. However, beware flipping that argument around to conclude climbing post-2005 climbs will be safe. This is fallacious because the greatest determinant of risk is whether you have bumbled upon a bad crag or not.”