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.

Sierra Przychodzen, with three 8A’s under her belt, has on the same weekend done two 8A+’ in Squamish.

Room Service (8A+): “Did not think I had it in me to do this let alone in 2 sessions. Super stoked this has been a dream climb for a long time.”

The Deputy (8A+): ”Left heel left crimp lip jug ez.”

Can you tell us more about the great trip?
It was a short weekend trip to show a friend around squamish and I didn’t actually expect to send anything. That main goal was to make progress on the deputy which has been my project for about a year. A guy at the boulder gave me new beta that involved a left heel and tiny intermediate crimp and that suited me better then what I was doing before. My first time trying the new beta was my send go.

We originally planned to just work on mods the next day but the conditions were too good to pass up trying room service. I tried it once before last fall but couldn’t get even the first move so I was surprised when it felt very doable that day. My friend flashed it so psych was high and I was inspired to send!

What is coming up next?
I’ve been working on a Washington classic called Kingslayer but aside from that, I don’t have any other big projects at the moment. I want to try harder things this season, challenge myself more, and just get outside as much as I can! Currently I’m looking for a new project that gets me psyched and inspired!

Janja Garnbret reports on Instagram that she has done the first female ascent of Za staro kolo in majhnega psa (8c+) in Mišja Peč. Tadej Slabe put it up in 1992 and it has only four logged ascents in the VL database and even Adam Ondra tagged it as ”hard”. Garnbret who previously has done two 9a’s says that she would agree on an upgrade and that this was her longest project ever. She started trying it in 2022 but never felt strong enough until this year.

Last month she onsighted her third 8c and last year she did her first 8C boulder. With her current form, she appears to be at her strongest yet—an exciting prospect as she returns to the competition circuit, where she has dominated for years. At 26, the Slovenian is widely regarded as the greatest competition climber of all time. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, she has claimed an impressive 46 Lead and Boulder World Cup victories.

Starting from the Euro Cup in Munich that started yesterday, a climber’s score will be based on 25 points for a Top and 10 points for securing the Zone, with 0.1 points deducted for each failed attempt. For example, a flash (completing the boulder on the first attempt) earns 25 points, while finishing it on the second attempt results in 24.9 points. This updated scoring system hopfully makes it easier to track climbers’ progress and leaderboard positions, both for competitors and newcomers to the sport.

In practice, this means that one top and one zone will be beaten by four zones and the same goes, two tops will loose against one top and three extra zones. As can be seen from the qualification results, in some few cases, multiple zones beat few tops in the ranking.

Furthermore, Bouldering will now align with the Lead discipline, featuring 24 spots in the semi-finals and eight in the final round. Expanding the number of final spots is also expected to increase the chances of more nations reaching the finals.

Noah Wheeler, who started the year by doing Return of the Sleepwalker (9A), has done the second ascent of Sean Bailey’s, Shaolin (9A) in First Creek Canyon. ”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.”

In 2023, Noah sent only one 8C and now the 22-year-old is the new #1 in the world ranking game. Showing excellent form he also did Trieste (8B+). ”Sent an hour or so after the big proj to make for my proudest day yet!”

Can you tell us more about the process during the last sessions?
Made it to the last move from the start 3 times. 1st time, I dry fired immediately. 2nd and 3rd time I was too numb and my fingers hurt too much. That was over 2 different sessions. Came back 3 days after I had fallen at the last move twice and I was pretty confident that, if I stuck the crux move, I had the move dialed enough to take it to the top. When I got there, I immediately flowed into the next move, barely thinking enough to let my nerves get a hold of me. Then I just had to keep it together for the heady slab and it was over.

Alex Norton, whose personal best was one 8c+ climbed two years ago, has sent Estado critico (9a) in Siurana. His journey to this ascent, along with his plans for 2025, reflects the ultimate dream of a 24-year-old climber—balancing a deep passion for the sport with his academic path as a PhD student in Sociology. His research explores the experiences of long-term homelessness in the UK.

”Climbing Estado has been a great experience for me. It's really one of the best bits of climbing I've ever been on and having that head wall where you can just fight and fight really made it for me. It's one of the best processes I've had trying a route.

I checked the route out for a day or so last February and to be honest got totally shut down and intimidated, i went straight to Margalef to get on some pockets. This New Year I’d planned a trip with a bunch of mates from the UK. I was meant to be out for 2 weeks and I thought id just spend a day on Estado to see how it felt in between sessions at Margalef again. My mate Arlo Rogers convinced me to get back on it and I was immediately taken by the route, I felt like a different climber instantly and far more comfortable. I put some days into the climb and then extended my trip to try to finish it. I didn't end up doing it in January but felt so close that I knew I was coming back. We celebrated Arlos' accent of the route by pulling an all-nighter in Barcelona before getting a 7am flight back to Birmingham.

I then spent the next 4 weeks heading to the Foundry and School Room in Sheffield training hard with Estado in mind. Being at El Pati with good mates made days at the crag really special. Learning how to approach such a long route from trying this with Eder Lomba and Arlo helped a lot and coming back down to cornudella to share beers with everyone after long days at the crag is probably what made the whole thing so unstressful, it's been a unique moment on this route where redpointing really didn't feel that stressful!

I’ve got a few more days before coming back to the UK now. I might have a look at some hard routes in Margalef before I leave, possibly Victimas del Futur! I'm heading to America as well soon after I'm back in Sheffield, we've planned a little road trip checking out BIshop and Yosemite with the goal of getting absolutely terrified on Freerider. I'm also hoping to return to the Frankenjura at some point this year to try and finish Action Direct and to be honest I'm pretty excited for some days back on longstanding projects at Ravens Tor and Malham Cove.”

Laura Rogora, with ten 9a’s under her belt just the six last months, has repeated Gio Placci’s Tre Mou Polacche (9a) in Arco. The 23-year-old climbed her first 9a at age 14 and has since completed around 40 routes graded 8c+/9a or harder—an exceptional achievement among female climbers. The Italian athlete has also been a strong competitor, winning two World Cups and claiming gold medals in both Lead and Combined at last year’s European Championship. (c) Nicollo Pieri

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I tried the route for the first time in January, but it was extremely cold, and I couldn't really try it properly. However, I understood that it was a cool line, so I wanted to come back.

Ten days ago, I tried it again and figured out the moves. I came back last Sunday, and after improving the sequences, I made a promising attempt, falling on the last hard move.

Yesterday, I had all the beta in mind, and on my first try, I made it to the chain. The route is divided into two hard sections, separated by a good rest. The second section is really cool and complex, with a lot of options.

Alexandra Boyadzhieva and Isabelle Gibbs have ticked Lethal Design (8A+) in Red Rock (NV). The long endurance boulder has been recorded in the database 155 times, with over 25 of those by female climbers and Isabelle comments. ”Every girls first v12! (I am girls).”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Lethal suited me really well. Agro crimping for 20+ moves. I tried the boulder a handful of times over the past 10 months. I’m based in Los Angeles currently so it’s about a 5 hour drive to Las Vegas. I almost didn’t go on the weekend I sent as January and February are busy for me at work so I hadn’t been able to climb as much as I’d like. My fiancé encouraged me to try anyways. I sent Sunday morning on the first try from the bottom that day. Nobody else at the boulder or the surrounding boulders which is unheard of for the Kraft area. A great intro into the grade.

Can you possibly share a picture of both you and Alexandra?
I actually don’t know Alexandra at all. She was walking up to the boulder right when I was packing up to leave so unfortunately no pictures of us together. Just a crazy coincidence we both sent on the same day.

Later Alexandra has also sent Baggins Left Exit (8A+) in Little Cottonwood. ”Crazy week 4 me?”