Svana Bjarnason, who led the Oliana restauration work after the big fire, has completed Joe Blau (8c+) in Oliana. The 34-year-old’s story includes an Olympic quest, injuries and a surgery eight months ago. (c) Toni Mas Buchaca

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
This ascent is a significant milestone for me because it’s my hardest one to date, but also because it’s an emotional comeback after a long and uncertain recovery period.

I suffer from severe deep endometriosis along with adenomyosis, which can cause heavy symptoms such as intense belly pain, uterine cramps, neuropathic pain affecting the legs and lower back, nausea, digestive issues, …

On September 12th, 2025, I underwent surgery to treat extensive deep endometriosis affecting multiple areas. At the beginning of the season, I had no clue what my body would be capable of. Besides, after surgery I thought the symptoms would be gone forever but, unfortunately, you can’t eradicate endometriosis.

Therefore I struggled (and still am struggling) the whole season, physically but also mentally. There were way too many days when pain completely changed my plans, training, mood and expectations. With this disease you never know in which state you’re gonna wake up. You never know whether you’ll be climbing hard at the crag or crying at the crag. In addition to this, I partially tore one my pulleys and I am still recovering from it, which isn’t ideal to climb at your highest level.

That’s why climbing Joe Blau means much more than a grade to me — it feels like rebuilding trust in my body and getting a small revenge on endometriosis. The day I sent, I wasn’t expecting to do it at all. I knew I was getting close but there’s a tricky section at the end and I was always sure I would fall up there a few times. Therefore it felt surreal when I clipped the chains and I immediately burst into tears. So yea, I know the journey with the disease isn’t over, but sending my first 8c+ eight months after surgery did like a first victory :)

How many sessions were needed and how was the progress?
I have no clue how many sessions but a looot haha. The long story is: I first tried the route a couple years ago, but at that time I was trying to qualify for the Olympics, so I barely climbed outdoors. Therefore I decided to project it the next season, last year. I made some progress on it, but I got injured and I think I realized I would not be strong enough to do it that season, so I chose to focus more on all my “side projects”. Therefore I actually didn’t climb on it that much. At the end of the Oliana season, I switched to plastic - competing in World Cups and European Cups - and learned I would need surgery to try and help with the endometriosis symptoms. I knew I needed to have a big goal in mind to get through all this, Joe Blau was an obvious one. Of course, I had to start with easier routes after surgery, but I quickly hopped back on Joe Blau. Along the season, I slowly got back in shape, sent some of my side projects and made good progress on the big one. With some ups and downs of course. My training plan was based on being strong enough in May to try and send, and it worked pretty well because that’s exactly what happened! I have to thank Melissa Le Neve for that (she’s my trainer) :)

Austin Purdy, with four 8C+’ under his belt, has sent Dying To Live (8C) in Lincoln Lake.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
Dying to Live wasn't something I was initially planning on trying this season, but I have been dealing with some issues with my finger this spring and it was something that I could actually try the moves on without too much issue since it is not too intense on the left hand and is a longer power endurance line. It ended up fititng me quite well and I was able to send it my first day giving send goes after a couple of sessiong trying to figure out the cryptic sequences.

Daniel [Woods] FA'd this boulder in 2012 and proposed V14 but it broke shortly after he did it and then fell into obscurity even though it is right next to the classic Evil Backwards (8B). The break ended up adding a second crux in the middle of the boulder and certainly bumped the difficulty of the whole line which is why I proposed an upgrade, however, since I haven't been getting outside as much lately I am a bit unsure about the overall grade and am interested to see what future ascentionists think. Hopefully, it will get more attention with the road opening next week now that people know it still goes.

What is next?
I have a trip to Rocklands planned for this July, so I am trying to get my finger healthy and fit for that.

Stefano Ghisolfi has repeated Stefan Scarperi’s Big Illusion (8C) in Val Daone. The 33-year-old Italian got the bronze in the Italian Lead Championship last weekend but does not plan to do any more World Cups. His big summer plans are The Ratstaman Vibrations (9b) and Silence (9c).

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
It was very hard for me, probably the second hardest boulder I've ever climbed after Gioia. Took me 7 sessions and I used the calf pad beta instead of the original beta from Stefan.

When will you go on your projecting trips?
I'm leaving for Céüse now and then Flatanger in August and September.

Buster Martin, with five 9a+’ under his harness, has completed The full journey (9b) in Margalef. During the process, Buster climbed the opening 9a+ pitch around 15 times before completing the full route. Interestingly, the 29-year-old works full time as an online climbing coach and has no gear or shoe sponsor.

The route climbs the blank right-hand side of the huge Finestra overhang, running parallel with Cafe Colombia.

The opening pitch, The Journey (9a+), is around 30 moves of steep power endurance climbing on monos and two-finger pockets with almost no real rests, finishing at a large shakeout. From there, the route continues through an 8A+ crux and a final slap to the top of the wall. Although the chains are lower, the ascent was continued to the top-out.

The climb takes around 10 minutes on the wall in total and felt very different from the shorter, more powerful routes Buster usually prefers.

Leo Skinner, with ten boulders 8B+ and beyond under his belt, has repeated Will Bosi’s Trance (8C) in Peak District. “Dropped the last move two years ago and dropped it another 18 times until now. Free from Badger Cove jail!!“

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
In 2024 I had a run of good form and managed to get Bewilderness (8B+) done really quickly. After doing the moves on the extension straight away I thought it wouldn’t be too bad. To my surprise I struggled a lot initially largely with my skin burning or becoming too numb with how spiky the holds are. Towards the end of the season I started to get really close but ended up having to settle with getting to the last move. I started training with this and another project in mind in the winter which was going really well until I got sick which left me barely able to do a few pull ups for months and having no endurance at all for a long time, so I spent the entire 2025 season struggling with both fitness and numbing out and ended up giving up really early, being a bit burnt out and didn’t do much hard climbing towards the end of the year.

I came back this year and felt a lot better on the last section but was struggling with how wet the bottom was. Luckily after only 3 sessions this time around I didn’t punt the end when I got there, even if I had to dry the holds multiple times prior to pulling on with every attempt!

For how long were you sick and what was it?
I don’t actually know exactly what it is was I never went to a doctors about it because I wasn’t registered for one where I lived at the time! But was in bed for 2 weeks then just super weak for a while and would be able to have one attempt at doing more than a couple moves in a session then I’d be done. Then I got an eye infection and had insomnia for a while because of it😎 very fun times

Katie Lamb, who previously has sent a dozen boulders 8B+ to 8C+, reports on Instagram that she has done the first ascent of 130 BPM (8C) in Yosemite (CA). (c) Eric Bisell

”I often feel unlucky in the lottery of predisposed climbing skill sets because, among the people I climb with, I almost never do a project first. So I’ve spent a lot of time trying to physically emulate the best of what I see in others, maybe falling into the modern trap of believing there’s always a fix to make myself look, feel, and climb exactly how I want to.”

Moritz Welt, with 24 9a’s and beyond, has climbed Pantera (9a) in Frankenjura. The 25-year-old has done 14 9a’s and harder only in Frankenjura.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Pantera was another one of the classic FJ lines I hadn’t properly tried before. It’s at the same crag as Corona, Black Label, and Burn4U, all of which I’d projected on and off over the years. Here and there, I’d had short working sessions on the moves of Pantera after trying one of the other lines. I finally finished Corona in 2023 and then shifted my focus to different crags, so I never came back. This year, I was looking for some classic lines I was still missing and could probably climb in a few sessions—something different to try in between working on my long-term projects. A friend reminded me that I should head back to Schneiderloch, so I did, and finished Pantera in three proper sessions :)


How many interesting 9a’s and harder still remains in Frankenjura?
Still a few, but most importantly there are still some very good 9a+ range projects to try. There is one I’m specifically psyched on that I’ve tried for 2–3 seasons already. It’s a really good line and will for sure be next level if I ever get a chance to send it. Right now, I don’t know if it makes sense for me, but I’m trying my best and just seeing how it goes :) It is an old open project.

What’s the name of the project, who bolted it and how is your progress?
No name yet but I tried a bit with Yannick [Flohe] who described it as the 'german excalibur' :D Harald Röker bolted it. German oldschool legend, who bolted a lot of hard stuff quite early here.

Only small links so far after some 20 sessions.

Jonathan Siegrist has done the first ascent of Samadhi (9a) in The Pagoda. The 40-year-old has now sent 97 routes 9a and beyond out of which 12 only the last year. (c) Ryan White

Can you give us the full story from finding the line, bolting and sending it?
I found and started developing this area last fall. Right away I was super psyched because of how unique and high quality the rock and features were. I put in a bunch of work last year and then as soon as it warmed up enough I was back this spring. This line in particular looked like it could be impossible from the ground but when I got closer I could see just enough holds, all really bad - but the rock was excellent and so interesting. The first several days I didn't even do all of the moves but eventually I learned the body positions and started to trust my feet a bit better.

The meat of the route is only around 20 moves but every move is hard and there is no rest. I was struggling a bit to make progress with two very hard sections but could feel that a breakthrough was coming - to my big surprise the breakthrough was nailing both hard parts on the next try and sending the route! It has to be one of the best routes in this grade range I have ever bolted. It's just hard not to love climbing on such perfect rock.

Noah Wheeler, who four months ago fully ruptured his left ring A2 pulley, has repeated Nalle Hukkataival’s Burden of Dreams (9A) in Lappnor. Technically, he actually had to send it twice as he touched the pad with his left toe on the first cut loose move. In 2025, the 23-year-old sent his first two 9A’s as well as flashed his first 8B+.

”7 sessions over two trips. Got to the last move from start every session. I think every move has to be over 75% success rate in iso to send. Extremely in-style such that I would guess this is objectively harder than Shaolin, but easier for me.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
There is a lot of optimization that goes into climbing, obviously. You have to optimize your beta, weather alignment, skin tactics, diet, and much more to climb at your limit or close to it. Burden demanded something different than optimization for me to unlock it - it demanded reorientation. Reorientation towards the boulder, towards climbing, and towards myself. Not trying to be pretentious - this was genuinely the path towards sending for me. I had all the links and moves fairly high percentage within the first session, but every time I got to the last move, I just couldn’t execute properly. I had a lot of difficulty sleeping the night before I sent, and I spent most of this time navigating my mental game, attempting to find a mental space in which I would be comfortable doing the last move. I found it, envisioned it, and when the session came, acted on it.

I had 3 sessions in my first trip and 4 in my second, so 7 total. None of my sessions except for the first and last felt ideal with regard to conditions. First trip the boulder was wet for 2 weeks straight. Second trip the weather hovered around 55-65° the entire time (for such a crimpy boulder, colder temps are ideal). I think thats just the nature of Burden though. Last session was 80% humidity but no wetness, which is ideal for my dry skin.
What about the new drop knee sequence?
New sequence is the same that Simon and all subsequent climbers have used except for Elias. I would guess its half to a grade easier than Nalle’s beta? I think what makes it easier is less the moves themselves and more the fact that you are doing less moves and so have more space for failure which snowballs into a fall. Interestingly, nalle had beta he used before the beta he is known for, where you get a left foot after the first move and reach straight up left to the 3 finger crimp, similar to the dropknee but with a foot squeeze. Ryuchi uses this beta despite being aware of the dropknee beta.

To address the discourse about Nalle’s pull on: I have done the move both ways and it doesn’t make much of a difference. Nalle is a few inches shorter than me so it may be more difficult for him to place both feet when sitting down. We also have different pads, although we do not double stack. Regardless, the beta difference here is fairly small and unimpactful.

Michaela Kiersch, with over 20 routes 8c+ to 9a+ under her belt, has completed Dolby Surround (9a+) in Zillertal. It took her 20 sessions to unlock the new crux sequence ending with a jump which has been estimated to an 8B+ boulder. The nearby waterfall inspired first ascensionist Kilian Fischhuber to the name of the climb.
Can you tell us more about the ascent and the process behind?
This route was bolted in 1998 and in the last 30 years has seen ~ less than 10 ascents with Kilian Fischhuber completing the FA in 2008. The route was graded 8c+/9a until recently, when a crucial hold broke adding an even harder sequence immediately following the old crux. After chatting with some others who have tried the route and mostly leaning on my own experience, 9a+/5.15a feels appropriate. But time will tell and hopefully we see a few more ascents in the next decade haha (Will Bosi you’re next!!)

Dolby Surround is one of the most beautiful routes I’ve ever tried. Striped granite/gneiss at a 45 degree overhang with the Zillertal Alps in the background.

Two months + 1 day and 20 sessions until I found myself clipping the chains!! Longest project yet which was an experience in itself. I’m really proud of my perseverance and that I kept “punching the clock.”