Sebastien Berthe has repeated the 32 pitches The Dawnwall (9a) on El Cap in Yosemite. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson put it up in 2015 after projecting it for six years. Then the next year Adam Ondra did the first and only repeat.

"On January 31st, 2025, at 8 AM, after 14 days on the wall, I topped out El Capitan, completing a project that took me quite some time and investment: tears and blood, 2 trips to Yosemite, 3 Atlantic crossings by sailboat, countless sessions on the wall, and thousands of meters of rope jugging…" (c) Soline Kentzel

“Day 6: Pitch 14 (5.14d - 9a)
The conditions are warm for January, and I know temperature is a key factor for success on this triple-crux pitch. So, I decide to start climbing at 5 a.m., before sunrise and before the sun hits the wall. At 5:30, I take a first working burn to dial in the moves and refresh the chalk marks (without them, the holds might as well not exist…). I feel great. First redpoint attempt: I fly through the pitch, everything feels easy, and within minutes, I’m at the final crux—it’s happening! I go for the big move left, but just as I reach for the last holds… I slip. A scream of frustration tears through me. I take 20 minutes to refocus and try again before the sun arrives.

Second attempt—same thing: I feel amazing, I get to the final crux, then slip again. The sun is here, and it’s over for today… I feel so close, yet I have the sinking feeling that I might keep slipping over and over. Back at the portaledge, another issue arises—my back is in excruciating pain.

Days 7 and 8: Rest. I had planned to climb the next day, but as soon as I wake up, I know it’s not happening. My back hurts too much. I start doubting whether I can finish this push. Slowly, with gentle stretching, the pain eases—though not completely.

Day 9: Pitch 14
When I wake up, my back feels better—not healed, but manageable with ibuprofen. It’s a cold, cloudy day—perfect conditions. I warm up by reworking the final crux to figure out why I kept slipping. I think I’ve found a solution—it’s all about foot positioning.

First try: I slip at crux 2. Attempts 2, 3, and 4: I slip at crux 1. My back hurts. My toes are freezing in my tight shoes, and I struggle to keep them warm. Thankfully, Soline, the ultimate belayer, warms them up against her body between tries. Attempt 5: I pass crux 1 but fall at crux 2. Attempts 6, 7, 8, and 9: I slip again at crux 1. I start to despair.

It’s 4:30 p.m., and a snowstorm is coming at 5. One last try. I convince myself I can do it. Attempt 10. It’s not my smoothest go, but I stick crux 1, then crux 2. As I reach the final rest before crux 3… it starts snowing.My shoes and fingers are getting wet. It feels hopeless. But I have nothing to lose. I go for it. Somehow, I stick the big move. My foot stays in place. I reach for the final jug—I’m still on the wall… YES! I sent pitch 14, in the snow! Pure euphoria. Back at the portaledge, the snowstorm rages, but I’m ecstatic.

Day 10: Pitch 15
Despite yesterday’s long day, I’m getting ready to climb—I’m obviously super motivated. Because of the excitement, I didn’t sleep at all last night. My back still hurts, but yesterday’s session didn’t make it worse. The day is cloudy, conditions are perfect. Pitch 15 is the second major challenge of the Dawn Wall after Pitch 14. This is where Kevin Jorgeson got stuck during the first ascent in 2015. The pitch is rated 5.14c/d - 8c+/9a. I would personally say more like 8c+ , but a very technical and finger-intensive one. A long approach around 5.13d - 8b, followed by a precise boulder move requiring extreme foot and finger control. First, I do a beta-checking go to mark holds with chalk. Then it’s go time. I feel very strong on my first attempt and quickly reach the final crux. I feel like I can do it, and then— “Shit!” — I slip, out of nowhere. Back to the previous belay, 20 minutes of rest. Second attempt: I make a mistake and slip at the start. Damn. In my head, I start doubting, thinking I’ll keep slipping again and again like on Pitch 14. But I manage to pull myself together and focus on what I have to do, not on the result. On my next attempt—I send it! I squeeze my fingers harder than necessary in the crux, stay focused on the final moves, and it works! Yes!!! It’s starting to feel real now—I’m stoked! There’s still daylight left, and I think I have some energy left, so I go straight for Pitch 16, the Loop Pitch (an alternative to the famous dyno, rated 5.14a - 8b+). Probably the most unique pitch on the Dawn Wall: it involves downclimbing for about 20 meters to a small ledge, an easy traverse left, and then a demanding endurance climb back up (slippery and technical layback) I haven’t rehearsed these pitches as much as the previous ones. From the start, I knew I wasn’t fully prepared for them. I spend 45 minutes refining the beta. Then I give it a go but I fall on the downclimbing boulder problem, which I’m struggling to master. It feels super weird to have to fight so hard while climbing down. Lack of strategy: I keep trying over and over without success, until two of my fingers start bleeding. My skin is completely wrecked.

Day and Night 14: Pitch 21 → 32
For the past few nights, I haven’t been sleeping well due to stress and excitement, and this night is no exception. Today is the big day—it's January 30th: I'm going for the final push to the summit. The next morning, rain is expected to arrive. I take down the camp and prepare a bag with a portaledge and a fly, just in case we get stuck by the rain for a few days. In the early afternoon, I do a warm-up on Pitch 21. As soon as the shade arrives, I go for an attempt. I'm incredibly stressed, but I’m determined. I climb well and precisely, taking my time. In the crux up high, I grip the crimps harder than necessary—I can feel my fingertips tearing under my fingers. I throw myself toward the final finger lock and mantle onto the ledge with a scream of joy! That’s it, I’ve completed all the hard pitches of the Dawn Wall. I feel incredibly happy and proud. Unfortunately, there’s no time to celebrate: it's 5 PM, and I still have 11 adventurous and not-so-easy pitches to climb before morning. Pitch 22 is a long, steep finger crack that I have to do twice due to a fall near the top. That pitch completely drains me. I move slowly through the next pitches, trying to recover. Navigating the route in the dark night isn't easy (we had only climbed these pitches once before, two years ago, with Siebe Vanhee), and some sections are quite committing and intimidating. There are unprotected sections, offwidths, long traverses on hollow-sounding flakes, breaking holds, unstable pitons, and the haulbag getting stuck… We're getting our fair share of adventure. I start feeling terrible: I struggle to eat, I feel like vomiting, and my body is deeply tired. With each pitch, I have to fight and leave a little piece of myself behind. Soline is incredibly supportive and solid. She follows brilliantly through these terrifying traverses. At every belay, she encourages me and pushes me to keep going. She’s an exceptional support. At 2 AM, we reach Ship Bow, Pitch 29. Four pitches remain, but I’m utterly exhausted. We decide to take a 1.5-hour break so I can recover a little. We try to eat and sleep, but I can’t do either. At 4 AM, we set off again. I fall near the end of the 5.11d - 7a offwidth in the next pitch due to my poor offwidth technique. I retry and easily climb it in layback style. Three pitches to go. In each one, I have to fight, and at every belay, I feel like I might faint or throw up. Dawn breaks during the second-to-last pitch; it's cloudy, but it hasn’t started raining yet. Chris Nathalie is waiting at the summit to document the final meters. Pitch 31, a 5.13a-7c+ followed by a 5.12a-7a dihedral full of grass, gives me another challenge. I climb the final pitch (Pitch 32, 5.12b - 7b) quickly, in a daze. I mantle onto the summit at 8 AM. Victory! We’ve just lived through an intense and unforgettable night. It’s a strange feeling… Due to exhaustion, I don’t fully grasp that it’s over, that the Dawn Wall is behind me. It will take me a few hours, or maybe more, to truly understand and appreciate it."

Guillaume Mignard has completed The Big Island (8C) in Fontainebleau after projecting it for 15 sessions.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The first session I understood most of the moves, that I worked on the next sessions. Each separate move felt pretty easy but putting them together was difficult It took me a lot of work to make it work from the start.

What is your climbing background?
I started climbing about 10 year ago and discovered outdoors 3 or 4 years ago. Been climbing almost only outdoor since then and training/spraywall when its raining 🤷 I'm a routesetter and have always lived and climbed aroud Fontainebleau.

Alberto Gines López, the Olympic gold medal winner in Tokyo, has made the third ascent of Ramon Julian Puigblanque’s El disbarat (8c+) in Montserrat. It was out put up in 2000 and Adam Ondra did the first and last repeat in 2008.

“For many years I've been climbing in El totxo, David was always telling me stories about this route. Few weeks ago my brother Lluc asked me to try together the route to figure out the moves, two sessions after it came down. It's maybe time to check the king line from Montserrat.”

William Bosi has made the first repeat of Stefano Ghisolfi’s Excalibur (9b+) in Arco. Excalibur climbs a 40-degree overhanging wall in Drena, near Arco. Initially bolted by Cristian Dorigatti and Morris Fontanari, the route was taken on by Stefano Ghisolfi in 2021. After two years of effort, he successfully completed it in October 2023. (c) crimp.films

The 26-year-old scot started attempting the route in late 2022 and had a total of 21 sessions on Excalibur. However, he notes that only ten were productive, as poor conditions limited his attempts in the others.

”This is one of the craziest and rewarding lines I have experienced and pulling onto the top of the route is something I will always remember. [Excalibur] was my longest project on a rope since Mutation (9a+ at Raven Tor UK) so I was so psyched to piece it all together finally.

The conditions make a huge difference with this route. Too hot and the holds don’t work, too humid and the holds don’t work but too cold and your fingers go numb and don’t work. Lastly, you need good skin for the holds to bite properly so I needed everything to come together to grab the ascent.

The first go of the day everything went perfectly, I felt like I was floating through the climb and arrived at my previous high point feeling strong. Setting up for the final hard move I was really confident but disaster struck and I just missed the hold and fell off. I took an hour rest, warmed up and went again. This time I arrived at the rest feeling tired battling through the upper section but on the final crux I landed perfectly into the slot. Pumped out of my mind, I almost fell jumping to the jug but just about kept it together for the top out.”

Rosen Ruev, with 8b+ as his previous PB, has done Intermezzo XY gelöst (9a) in Plombergstein. ”Such a good route. I am happy that this one is my first 9a. It starts with 4 moves of hard 8B boulder and then after a couple of of big holds you go into a nasty two finger pockets 7C+ boulder. Another classsic from Klem Loskot.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your climbing background?
Last season I spent a couple probably 4 or 5 sessions and this season I need 6. It was mentally challenging because Sunday was the last day I could go to the route and my last chance to do it. I fell a couple of times from the last moves and my knee was hurting from the first heel hook.

So for my climbing background I have climbed for 15 years and until 2020 I was a route climber and climbed until 8b+ and after that I switched to bouldering. This season I made my first 8B+ boulder and this bouldery route was the perfect one for me. I have tried it last year but couldn't do the crux, but this year I was feeling stronger and wrapped up the season with it.

Sera Gearhart, with four 8B’s the last 14 months under her belt, has completed Show of Hands Sit (8A+) in Moe's Valley. In the VL ranking game the 27-year-old is #2. ”Harder than you’d think for adding a single hold into the stand. I will never top this boulder out in good form, shout out to Vest for being the voice of God when I forgot my beta.”

What is coming up next?
I’ll be competing at the Triple Crown in Chattanooga and Boone! I’m trying to focus on my fitness for that event so less projecting, but hoping to try a few hard projects in the southeast on the side while we are there.

Amazing ticklist by Jakob Schubert based on two trips to Ticino: "✅ Story of three Worlds (8C+ / V16) - 2nd ascent, ✅ Return of the Dreamtime (8C / V15) - 3rd ascent, ✅ Vecchio Leone sit (8C+ / V16), ✅ Big Paw (8C / V15), ✅ Lion's Share (8C / V15) - 2nd ascent, ✅ Mithril sit (8B+ / V14)"

Noah Wheeler, who started the year by doing Return of the Sleepwalker (9A), has been on a trip to Hueco Tanks (TX) where he flashed two 8A’s as well as Slashface (8B) and Crown of Aragorn (8B).


Can you tell us more about the flashed and the beta preperation?
We came to Crown at the end of a long and hot 6-hour day, so re-warming up took an especially long time (1-hour plus). My fingers and forearms were completely numb at the top, and the grips are a bit split and crossly so it felt like I was grabbing every hold like a gecko. I had to split my fingers and squeeze the holds as hard as possible, rather than use an sort of technical crimping.

Our guide Marc was giving me beta, and I had watched a video for Slashface.

Preparing for Slashface was pretty standard! We went first thing in the morning so I just warmed up like regular and pulled on.

Gianin Regli and Štěpán Volf have repeated Dave Graham’s classical The Story Of 2 Worlds (8C) in Cresciano. It was established in 2005, with its name reflecting the two grading styles that existed at the time. In practice, grade inflation was curbed, and many personal downgrades followed, particularly in Ticino. Today, The Story is considered soft for its grade, as the use of knee pads and new beta have made it easier, with some even suggesting a downgrade to 8B+.

Volf, who two days earlier quickly also sent, Nihilist sit (8B+), comments The Story: “Suits me incredibly, also I am probably in my Best shape ever. 2 days to complete, thrilled for some more!”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The Story was one of my dreamline I just needed to try one day. Once I figured that I will not have any free time for climbing trip from February till June I immediately packed my pads and drive towards Switzerland to take advantsge of last week I could have free. I was in really great shape also this type of climbing suits me really well so I was confident to do it soon. Luckely everything clicked together just perfectly and did it surprisingly fast. Next year will probably return for Story of three worlds :)

What about being in your “probably best shape ever?
Always a milion dollar question. I changed a few things in my life like no more working late nights, regular sleep hours, no more light from phone but reading instead before sleep, yoga almost every morning, my girlfriend is preparing me more healthier food options, but also I gained 5kg to my autumn training preparation which I lost just at the start of winter and that training with extra weight and having more energy stores helped a lot. Guess that everything had a minimal impact on me, but together it improved my performance to another level.

Domen Škofic, the overall Lead World Cup winner in 2016, has sent Definición de Resistencia Demócrata (9a) in Terradets. The 30-year-old has previously sent 25 routes 9a and beyond. ”Incredible how well this connection climbs. Movement vice the crux is 5 stars. I enjoyed it big time and it was the perfect route to get back in shape after sickness. 4 sessions but I didn’t find it easy for 9a even with kneepads.”

Can you tell us more about the trip?
I’m here in Catalunya until the end of February. I started the trip on 15 January in Saint Leger but stayed in bed for 4 days straight because of some hard core stomach flu. Even before the trip, I had a high fever for a week so it was one sickness on top of another and I felt all my shape was gone. Now I’m just super happy that my fitness is coming back and I can play on my projects.