Nicolai Užnik flashed American Gangster (8B+) last November. "American Gangster was high up on my list for a while since got really close on flashing Anam Cara (8B+) this summer. I was psyched to try flashing this grade again and so I just went for it. Quite surprised it actually worked out on the flash since it‘s quite low percentage!"

Sofya Yokoyama, who was #11 in the Innsbruck Boulder WC last year, has during the last three weeks done three 8A’s in Chironico; Nobody ist der Größte (8A), Teamwork (8A) and Le Pilier (8A).

Can you tell us more about sending those three 8A’s?
It’s been really fun being able to spend my pre-season a lot more outdoors. I wasn’t one to climb much outdoors before so I feel like I progressed quite fast by just climbing more on rock. Not only do I feel so much stronger but also a lot more comfortable (I definitely needed a bit of time to adapt from comps).

I had already tried Le Pilier and Nobody ist der Grösste once before and struggled quite a bit, especially with Nobody. Then came back a couple months later and felt so good! Really surprised myself with the send of Nobody since I was missing quite a few links the first time.

Then someone suggested trying flashing Teamwork. I was really close but just missed one of the crimps. But happy that I was able to send straight after!

Daniel Fuertes, with 26 routes 9a and beyond under his belt, has completed Digital System Extension (8c+) in Santa Linya.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I had the route in mind since I did the first pitch ten years ago, but we have been a long time without going to the cave... Now we are motivated here, it is very good with the family and there are many projects!!! My projects are actually different, but I had this route in mind and I wanted to do it to the top, it has been good for me to gain physical shape and motivation!!!!

How come is this your first hard route in over a year?
Last year in spring I couldn't do the projects that I was trying (in sports you don't always achieve your goals). Then in the summer I rested and in the fall I was studying and I had little time to try hard routes. Now my project is Fuck The system (9a).

Noah Wheeler repeated Daniel Woods' Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) three weeks ago. "I first tried Sleepwalker stand 2 years ago but barely had any time on it because of the weather. I had 4 goes last year for the stand, 14 on the sit last year, and 2 this year. So about 20 sessions for the full thing. I was getting to the last hold in around 8 of these sessions." Full story.

Janun Hornegger, who last year did his first two 9a’s, has completed Legend (9a+) in Wilhelmswand. Starting climbing at 18, with a focus on multipitch, the 29-year-old climbed his first 8b+ in 2022. The picture is from Baumwesen (9a).

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I am really happy that it worked out so well. The route was put up and first ascended by the local legend Klem Loskot and had seen just one repetition since then. The route is located in Salzburg and was classified at 9a+.

I don't have experience in this grade but I think it is 9a or maximum 9a/+. So I say 9a/+ so that other strong climbers are more motivated to come and try this perfect line. In any case the route is a real Kingline, regardless of the grade.

It is divided in three pitches. The first is a short bouldery 8a. The second pitch is probably 8c/+, a bit high dependend. The crux is a cool jump in a 2-fingerpocket. For taller climbers it maybe feel like 8c. For me it felt bit harder. After that you have a good rest. You can recover your hands very good (no-hands rest), but you have always tension in your feet. After that there is a hard boulder on really small holds. Maybe 8A boulder, hard to say in this style.

After this boulder there is a medium rest followed by a maybe 7C boulder with a crux on a perfect 6mm crimp und tensiony footwork till the top.

If the rests would not be that good it would be 9a+ for sure. The route is about 40m long, but you don't need monster endurance. So for all bouldery climbers a perfect testpiece. The route is really in my style and took me about 10 days to send it.

Martina Demmel, who started climbing in 2017 and within 15 months had onsighted her first 7c onsight, made her first VL/8a in 2020 when she at age 18 had made it to #2 in the onsight ranking game. Focusing on onsight, she became the first female to be ranked above all male in the onsight disciplin. In total, she has onsighted 14 routes 8b and beyond as well as having done two 9a’s beside having made the finals in the World Cup.

Little did the climbing community know that she had been silently battling an eating disorder for four years before she even began climbing. In a long Instagram post she explains her situation. ”~addiction is giving up ONE thing for everything - recovery is giving up one thing for EVERYTHING~”(c) Jan Novak (2021)

How have climbing and the community impacted positively and negatively for your situation?
I was already deep in the eating disorder when I first started climbing but it quickly was very connected to my climbing performance. I guess overally it definitely helped me because climbing at a high level made me reflect my own behaviours more frequently, gave me access to a sports-psychologist including a whole support-system and finally made it possible to escape this cycle by talking to a teammate with the same history. But I also have to highlight what a toxic enviroment it can be by noticing lots of other climbers struggling with sth similar what almost made it feel "normal" to me and as sth necessary to achieve success. Climbing obviously is dependent on the weight but not only!!!! Over the last half year, I ONLY experienced positive effects after stopping my bulimic actions, mostly that I have endless of energy, not only for climbing but also for life!

What are your plans for 2025?
Since my recovery is already on a very good way, I've recently decided (with my therapist, my coaches & doctors) to try to qualify for the WC's and hopefully, I'm allowed to do the whole lead season. Besides that definitely some rockclimbing every now and then💃☀️!

Gonzalo Larrocha has done Selección anal del fuego (9a+) in Santa Linya, which is a new 15 m exit to Selecció anal (9a+). On the original route, he broke his pinky while using a mono, and over the course of several years, he made “hundreds” of attempts. In total, the 40-year-old, who did his first 8c+ at age 27, has done some 120 routes 8c+ and beyond. (c) Mar Diaz Miranda

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
For me, it has been the most difficult route, mentally and physically. I spent several years trying out the moves, looking for different methods, I injured my little finger, I went half crazy. Finally, I started trying an exit towards "Stoking the fire" to avoid the hole where I had injured myself. The day of the chaining was strange. It was wet and I didn't feel very energetic. On the first try I fell in the lower area, which is common with natural selection, I have done this area of ​​hard 8c+ more than 20 times in the last few years.

On the second try, after passing the lower part and having a good rest, I went out to try the block that I had tried so many times, suddenly I found myself passing the last move of that block. There were still 15 meters of 7c+ left with some steps that made me nervous, but little by little I overcame the moves and I was able to clip the chain of my eternal project. At that moment I screamed with rage, because of what I had caused myself, an unparalleled obsession to do this route.

I would also like to thank all my friends who have not told me to go to hell for being so annoying with this route. Especially Pol, with whom I have been training, and Silvia, who has had to put up with me being sad at times.

Alex Ventajas, with 16 routes 9a and beyond under his belt, has done Omen Nomen (9a) in Arco. (c) Crimp Films

Can you tell us more about the process behind the ascent?
I have already tried the route on two occasions. The first time was around three years ago, and I remember it felt really hard! It was spring and since the wall gets a lot of sun, the tiny holds, and slippery feet combined with hot temperatures discouraged me from trying it again. The second time was the past autumn, even if I already had another project in mind, I randomly went back to Padaro and found Simon Raffeiner trying Omen Nomen. I decided to share some tries with him and thanks to his betas I managed to do all the moves.

Even if the route caught my attention, I didn’t come back since last week. That day I had no expectations, I just wanted to revise the sequences! After warming up on the route, I gave it a second try and unexpectedly found myself falling on the last hard move before the chain!

This Monday, after five intense route-setting work days for a boulder competition and a few skins left on my fingers, I came back to Padaro! Everything flowed perfectly, letting me send the route on the first go of the day! It’s kind of strange because I have never thought about Omen Nomen as a real “project”, the send just happened!

It’s funny to see how our perception might change over the years! The first time I couldn’t fully appreciate the line but, on the contrary, the past days I found it five-star, varied and spicy, and enjoyed every move!

David Bermudez Carbonell, who sent five 9a's in 2024, has done La Bongada (8c+/9a) in Margalef and (H)as de-cotaciones (8c+) in Cuenca. (c) Nieves Ruiz

Can you tell us more about the latest hard ascents?
I went to Margalef last Christmas with the goal of improving my onsight climbing and trying to do a 9th grade route . I decided to try la Bongada, an 8c+/9a in Espadelles and I could quickly progress faster than I expected. After five days of work, I could redpoint the route after falling three times on the last hard moves. Some days before I went to Racó de Misa , where I could climb three routes onsight, an 8a, an 8a+ and Hidrofobia 8b.

Then I returned to my home crag, Cuenca. Past Saturday I could send (H)as de-cotaciones, a very solid and hard 8c+ in a total of 6 tries. I tried 3 tries on December 2024 and 3 tries on Saturday.

Alex Megos, who two days ago made the FA of Tuareg Blanco (9b/+) has flashed Tom Bolger’s Mr. Big (9a) in Margalef.

How did you prepare for the flash?
The route was right next to my project, so for 2 weeks I watched about 5 different people on the route. I had all the beta in my head after that.

It was very much in control the whole way, but I don't think it's 9a. It felt a bit easy for 9a