Cambell Sarinopoulos, who last month did her first 8A, has completed Euro Trash (8A+) in Little Cottonwood. Pictured here is the 20-year-old on Bronson's Arete (7B+).

Can you tell us more about breaking into 8A+ and your climbing background?
I really enjoyed this climb, the moves were pretty powerful and definitely fit me well. I was psyched to send it pretty quickly on my third session. The actual send attempt was messy and I grabbed every hold wrong but I was psyched it all came together. It was my first of the grade and I’m psyched to start trying some harder stuff!


I competed in both the youth and adult circuits for pretty much my entire life. I have made the youth and adult national teams and competed around the world. This year I took a break from the adult circuit and have just been getting out as much as possible.

What was your best competition result?
I won youth nationals three times and got 6th in bouldering at youth worlds in 2019. I got 5th at Team Trials and made the adult US national team in 2021 and competed in World Cups that year and the year after. My best World Cup placement was in the 30s

Amandine Loury has onsighted Elleanor (8b) and redpointed Fin del Conflicto (8c), both in Margalef. In the 8a ranking game, the 34-year-old is #6. (c) Jean-luc Jeunet

” A friend told me that it was maybe possible to onsight Elleanor. At the begining I thought it was too hard. After the send of Canto a la Libertad, I felt very well and I was not pumped. So I thougt, finally maybe it’s possible to try Elleanor onsight. I had very good feeling, it was crazy!

Fin del Conflicto is a route that I tried in October, but I had fallen in the middle section completely pumped. This time I took just two tries to remember the movement, and just two days just before leaving Margalef, I did a try and I went to the top. Fin del Conflicto is a very beautiful route bolted by O. Jimenez and Dani Andrada. There are three sections. The first is the most difficult on small pockets. The second is very very nice on crimps and tufas and the last is stressfull because it’s again difficult on tufas and pockets.”

Elisa Lauretano, who has sent ten 8A’s over the last year, has done Toy Boy (8A+) in Val di Mello.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your climbing background?
I've been climbing all my life but for the last 4 years I've been devoting myself more to bouldering on rock, which I have discovered to be my true passion! Since then I've started watching a lot of bouldering videos to [help] try out [climbs] around Italy and Switzerland. As soon as I saw the Toy Boy, something inside me clicks! I absolutely wanted to climb that crack, for me who loves crimps it was something incredible.

Last year we went to Val Masino for the first time and after finding the line I discovered that it was even more beautiful! You need strong fingers, but it's a very physical and endurance boulder. Two scattered attempts over a period of months were not enough for me to get the single [moves] right. This weekend we decided to go up to the valley, everything was quite wet, so I put my hands back on Toy boy and unexpectedly I sorted out all the singles!

Kerry Scott and Maya Madere, who last November both ticked their first 8c, Trebuchet (8c), continue their team redpointing by doing Still Life (8c) in Summersville Lake. (c) Colette McInerney

Kerry: ”Still Life is a short, bouldery route at the NRG. It has a heart breaker last move- a huge jump off a credit card crimp- that I fell on for over 10 attempts before sending. Maya Madere and I started working it together in November, and we returned in March and again in April to try and send. Normally, I feel like everything has to go perfectly in order for me to send a route, but the send caught me by surprise. I had split [finger] from the attempt before, so I had Tension tape on my index finger, and the route felt the hardest it had felt in a while…. But somehow I managed to pull it together! Maya also sent, which was the cherry on top of a great week.”

Maya: ”Dream team send with Kerry Scott, my hardest & proudest ever. Absolutely stellar line. I use an intermediate edge to bump to the big gaston in the roof and deadpoint right hand off the iron-band crimp for the last move.”

Austin Purdy has had some nice days in Magic Wood sending Power of Now (8B+) and Practice of the Wild 8B+, finishing off by flashing Deep Throat (8B).

Can you tell us more about the flash and the beta you got?
Previously I have never focused on trying to do hard flashes, as I generally enjoy the process of doing boulders more when I do not have the pressure of trying to flash them. Recently though, I decided I wanted to try and flash 8B/V13 as it is something I have always wanted to do, but I knew it wouldn't happen if I didn't make it a priority. Unfortunately though, I haven't left many good flash candidates in Colorado, since I've tried or done many boulders of that grade around there over the years. On this trip to Magic Wood I wanted to try and find some good candidates for hard flash attempts, but I realized that I had done or tried many of the well known 8Bs when I came here years ago and Deepthroat was the only good candidate for a hard flash attempt. Because of this, I wanted to save it for the right moment. After sending Practice of the Wild earlier in the session I was feeling really good and got psyched to try and give Deepthroat a proper flash go. Luckily the boulder fit me really well and I was able to execute it perfectly to end up on top!

I watched beta videos and spent time visualizing the moves before the attempt. Luckily it is easy to feel all the holds from ground in the boulder too so I knew what to expect at every point.

Alex Ventajas has had some productive days in Rodellar sending No pain no gain (9a+) and Los Inconformistas (8c+/9a).

Can you tell us more about No pain No gain?
The line is a 40 meter roof in the most iconic sector “Ventanas”. I started trying it last year. The first part of the route consists of athletic moves were efficiency is key for reaching the crux in the middle. The crux is really powerful and requires much body tension and perfect execution to endure the rest of the route. The next three quickdraws drain your remaining strength and lead to a traverse section of 15 movements on small crimps. Finally, a 7c section where you should not fall leads to the chain.

The crux was rather hard to read and required a few attempts to get the beta right. Once I figured out the central boulder problem, I always managed to pass through it but kept falling in the final traverse. The two things I remember hardest trying this route were the slippery knee-pads due to the heat and the days spent resting to recover properly from every climbing session. Everything became harder when a foot broke and I had to readjust the beta in the traverse.

On the last day, we enjoyed the sunrise from the cave in Ventanas to give one last attempt. Unfortunately, I fell right before the jug from where it’s hard to fall [after that point]. Reluctant to leave the project, I left Rodellar knowing I would come back to complete it.

Finally last week I was again at the bottom of “No pain No gain” and I immediately felt in really good shape. After a few attempts, I was already clipping the chain!! Such an indescribable emotion!

Stefano Carnati, who has already sent five routes 9a and beyond this year, has done Peščena ura (9a) in Sopota. ” Modern route involving an intro section (ca. 8B fb) with a great coordination move followed by a power endurance 8c route.” (c) Jernej Kruder

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Sopota is a relatively small crag with only a few hard but beautiful routes. So after watching some clips from this place I put it on my list. The first route I could climb there was “In time”, which shares the upper part with “Pesčěna ura”. This latter has a great intro boulder involving a dyno requiring good coordination. After the send of “In time” I briefly tried it during a really warm day, while people were swimming in the beautiful natural pool (I’d better do the same). So, back on it a few days ago with colder temps, the first time I stuck the crux move, I could link the second part and clip the chain! I haven’t climbed [on] and I don’t even know many routes with modern-style movements like on this. It is definitely special and I’m happy to have it in my ticklist!

Cody Roth, who managed to climb four routes 8c+ to 9a last year, and onsighted an 8b/8b+ last month, has done Biologico (9a) in Arco. Over the years the American, who lives and works in Italy, has FA'd a 9a+, flashed 8b+, greenpointed 8b+, and bouldered up to 8B.

On Instagram you said you're a quadragenarian, can you explain that more?
That's just a light-hearted term I came across to describe someone in their forties. Honestly, I never thought I would be climbing and feeling stronger at 40 than I did at 20, so I have a hard time not feeling a little extra psyched about that. For sure some things do feel different, I don't think 40 is the new 20... I'm going gray, I don't understand trap and drill music, the same way my parents didn't and don't understand The Fugees, B.I.G., Radiohead and Wu Tang, and I have to regularly pluck a really annoying hair that suddenly started growing on the tip of my nose, but my raw power and fitness hasn't declined like I thought and was led to believe.

For now, I guess I feel a bit like the way my youngest brother must have felt when he woke up from surgery after me and my other brother had cruelly convinced him that tonsil removal also included Johnson removal, and he suddenly realized, to his relief, that it wasn't as bad as we said! Humor aside, I'm psyched to see so many climbers and people in general dispelling old stereotypes of all sorts nowadays. If I help with that in some small way, I'm happy.