Manuel Werth, who did his first 8b+ four months ago, has completed Solitary Souls (8c+) in Arco. The 36-year-old runs an apple and wine farm close to Bolzano.

Can you tell us more about your climbing background and your rapid progress the last few months?
I think I've been climbing for 15 years, but for the last two years I've been doing simple training exercises and noticed a small improvement right away. During the last seven months, I've been consciously following a healthy diet, and incredibly, that's why I've improved so much.

How come you started training more and what type of exercises did you begin with?
I was lucky enough to meet Alfredo Webber who always accompanies me to his bolted routes in Arco and he motivated me to project something harder.

I started with fingerboard and fingerlift training as well as a little bit of spray Wall climbing and also one time a week a moonboard session.

Last year, a friend made me a training plan that I incorporate into my training week. I think The best and hardest thing is to maintain consistency and not lose motivation.

How much do you train nowadays compared to two years ago?
Three times a week training and once a week rock. Before only two training sessions a week?

Have you lost weight due to the more healthier diet?
I control my food closely, which isn't easy. I was able to lose 10 kg without losing almost any muscle mass. Yesterday [after the send] I ate pizza, icecream and a lot of Bier 😅🥳

Which are the next routes you plan to try?
My wife forbid me to think about that😝😅. I want to climb some easier routes that I have had in mind for a long time. Then I heard about the new 9a 3 Mou polacche. Maybe I could try and also Thunder Ribes in Massone I think can be my style. I like endurance routes.

Babsi Zangerl, with a dozen routes 8c+ and beyond under her belt, has done Solitary Souls (8c+) in Arco. In the world of multi-discipline climbing—including trad and big-wall—Babsi is the top female climber and confidently ranks among the overall Top 5, regardless of gender. (c) Matteo Bavona

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Solitary souls is a 35m long endurance line. Very steep and very pumpy. I already tried it last winter but it was always wet during a long period of time. This year I came back and the whole line was completely dry and I was psyched to invest some time to gain some endurance back.

After 7 days of getting too pumped to connect the hardest part of the route I finally felt ready to fight through and clip the chains.

Eli Perry, who did his first 8C last October, has repeated Pegasus (8C) in Joe's Valley (UT) after trying it for some 50 sessions.

Can you share more details about the ascent and the progress made throughout the lengthy process?
I started working pagan low v13 December of 2023 and I managed to send it quicker than I expected, so I figured I’d try the low, Pegasus. All the moves went pretty quick so I got pretty sucked into the idea of doing the full line. I tried all throughout that winter and spring, constantly dealing with splitting my pointer finger on this really sharp tooth and just too hot or too cold of conditions. Ended up projecting it all through the following fall and winter too. I kept learning little tiny bits of micro beta and new tactics that eventually led to the send just the other day on March 8th.

Have you only been climbing on this the last 3 months and what is next once the big project went down?
Pegasus has been pretty much the only boulder I’ve been trying, I spend a lot of time in the gym in between sessions and I made it out to Vegas and Bishop for a trip but mostly just trying Pegasus.

I’ve put a good amount of time on Grand Illusion (8C+) and I’m hoping to put a lot more time on it this spring so I can hopefully get it done. Also heading to Rocklands this summer so hopefully can take down some more blocs out there!

Shauna Coxsey reports with an Instagram video that she has repeated Jim Pope’s Lupin (8B) at Stanton in the Woods. It is basically a one mover dyno from a sit start which took Shauna three sessions to complete. ”Worst foot holds I’ve ever used? Quite possibly?”

The 32-year-old, who has won eleven World Cup gold medals, retired from competition after the Tokyo Olympics. She has climbed five 8B+ boulders in total, four of them in the past year.

We’re pleased to announce our collaboration with the German Alpine Club (DAV): From now on, all official national climbing competitions in Germany will be managed through the Vertical Life Result Service. This means athletes, fans, and organizers benefit from real-time results, rankings, and a more streamlined competition experience. Very soon, competition results will also be available directly on Vertical Life. Our aim is to make the sport of climbing as accessible and straightforward as possible for everyone involved, while continuing to boost enthusiasm for the sport. You can find all information and results for DAV competitions here:
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We look forward to a successful partnership with the DAV and the entire German climbing community.

Dylan Chuat, with five 9a+’ under his belt, has repeated Shawn Raboutou’s L'oeuvre (9a) in Bas-Valais. ”One of the most beautiful lines in Valais at this level. For me, there are three 9a in Valais that form a trilogy: Mola Mola, L’Œuvre and Black Beauty. Thanks to Sam [Ometz] for accompanying me and allowing me to complete the route so quickly (3 tries). I finished the day well by flashing La bête humaine (8b+). Can’t wait to come back to try the project with my friend.”

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Adam Ondra sent Soudain seul (9A) last month in just five sessions. ”Definitely on the soft side, probably harder than 8C+? I would be very interested to be able to compare to other exisiting 9A's. A dream of a boulder.”

Noah Wheeler started climbing outdoors in 2020 due to the pandemic at the same time his Youth World’s in Russia was cancelled. The first boulder he did, in three tries, was Proximity Infatuation (8A). Two years later he had done nine 8B+’ and, in one session, his first 8C. His rapid progression culminated in 2025 with ascents of both Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Shaolin (9A). (c) Isaac Greenwald

What is your climbing background and how was your progress?
I started climbing at age 8, through my local climbing gym’s summer camp and then youth team. From when I began climbing up until early high school, I exclusively trained for competition and climbed indoors. Progress within my first few years of climbing is honestly pretty hard to track, partly because I was so young and partly because, as I was exclusively youth competition focused, my opponent’s skill level would scale with my own progression. It was not until I began board climbing and outdoor climbing in middle-late high school that I began to feel more palpable progression, which worked in conjunction with my growing passion for climbing.

How can you best explain your great progress outdoors?
I’m not sure - I was always inherently much better at outdoor bouldering than indoors and my progression outdoors was much faster. I suspect my strengths - good fingers, contact strength, and fast twitch muscles - just worked better for outdoors. Whereas my weaknesses indoors were always blaringly obvious in competition. I also started board climbing around the same time I started going outside, cultivating those strengths.

How does a normal climbing week look like?
When I’m not on a trip, I generally train 2 days on 1 day off. The first day often consists of less intense board climbing and project workshopping, while the second day is often a longer, more intense session where I try some established board climbs and then project what I workshopped prior. Once a week, one of these days will be an outdoor session.

What is your next plan?
Not sure! Probably just keep training and see how Megatron (9A) feels. There’s some stuff in South Platte, CO that I’m semi interested in checking out, but I’m primarily focused on feeling some of the established legendary boulders I haven’t tried/done in CO.

I’m going to try to get out to Switzerland sometime in the colder months after the summer.

What about climbing with a rope?
Haha I’m still deep in the bouldering psych. But I could see myself being psyched on rope climbing in the future.

I am not doing any complimentary training at the moment. Usually, I weight train when I know I won’t be climbing outdoors or trying harder projects for a few months.

Can you tell us about your project strategy while redpointing and flashing at your max level.
My strategy for any project really depends on the project itself and how I’m feeling at the time. I generally go 1 day in 1 day off, but aside from this, it really just depends on the climb. I will say I always give decently long sessions. Even if the temps are way off, I will usually go through the same routine as if they were good.

For the first few days on [Shaolin] I tried to really dial the top 2 move link. Once I could do it 50% of the time or so, I started giving start rips. Most sessions I would have to relearn my exact positioning and orientation on the first crux throw in iso before I gave start rips.

What are you doing beside climbing?
I am a senior at university majoring in Political Science. When school is in season, most of my time and energy is spent on schoolwork. I recently interned for my state governor as well.

How do you handle having progressed into being one of the best boulderers in just a couple of years?
Haha, since I’m still in college I feel a nice amount of separation from the community to where it doesn’t feel too different from a few years ago. I am starting to take media and sponsorships more seriously though, both in my day-to-day tasks and in my future aspirations.

Eneko Carretero, with five 8c’s under his belt, has flashed White Zombie (8c) in Baltzola. The 23-year-old did his first 8c at age 15 and during the last year he has flashed his first 8b+ and onsighted his first 8b as well as redpointed three 8c’.

How did you prepare for the flash?
The day before I saw some videos with different betas and I choose the best betas for me. And before trying the route I saw a guy trying the route so I could see all the right footholds.

Did you get any running beta and were you in control all the way?
No! I asked them please not to tell me anything while I was climbing because otherwise I get nervous hahaha. I was feeling really confident and strong and I controlled the nerves all the way.

Can you tell us more about your climbing background?
From the age of 15 until this last year I put the rock aside a bit. I’ve been competing during all this years.

What was your best comp results?
When I was 16 I finished 2nd in the World Youth championship in Moscow 2018 in bouldering. In senior/open categories I won the Spanish championships in boulder and lead in 2021 and last year again in boulder.

What are the benefits you can take from your comp background?
I think the most notorious is the physical strength. Also the rhythm on the routes. The knowledge about how long time I need to rest before any sections, the speed during the hard cruxs etc. I think that the onsight and flash climbing is stronger coming from comps.

How does a normal climbing week look like?
So I work from monday to wednesday in two gym routesetting, and after work I use to have short training and then I rest one or two days to climb outdoors the weekend.