Anak Verhoeven sent La Planta de Shiva (9b) last month, twice. Here is her story. (c) Jona Oberle

“This spring I traveled to Villanueva del Rosario in Spain with a goal in mind: to check out a 9b called La Planta de Shiva. It’s a route of about 45 meters and the main crux is a long traverse on tiny holds. I knew that I might not be capable of sending it within this trip and that I might have to train for it specifically and then come back later to try and send. 

Figuring out all the movements was a tough process, but step by step I felt that I was getting closer until I had found all my beta and knew that I was ready for redpoint attempts.  I had 3 good tries and reached a new highpoint every time. And then it happened: on my 4th  attempt I sent the route and  almost couldn’t believe that I had just done my first 9b! A dream come true! 

A couple days later, I decided to give myself a personal challenge by trying to send the route again, but this time without kneepads. I felt less pressure than during the first send and the no-kneepad-send worked out! What an experience...

I’m so glad and relieved that it was possible to finish the project this trip and I’m quite surprised that I even got such a special bonus send.  A lot to be grateful for!”

Moritz Welt, with 23 routes 9a and harder under his belt, has repeated Alex Megos’ Classified (9a) in Frankenjura. ”A lot of ups and downs on this one. Finally found a way that worked for my finger. Quick send this season.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent and your finger situation?
Classified was kinda special for me because I injured my finger on it some years ago. There is one particular mono in the lower part of the route (not even the crux) that damaged my lumbrical and since then I couldn't hold it anymore. Luckily this year I found a new hold next to the mono, which made the move a little bit harder but at least possible for me. I immediately knew I could do it and on the second session of the season, I fell three times at the last move. Yesterday was my third and I did it on my first try of the day 🙂

What are your summer plans?
A bit of everything, some alpine bouldering, french sportclimbing and of course a handful of Frankenjura projects on my mind.

What does a normal climbing week look like?
Usually, I do one session of non-specific strength training and one board bouldering session. Most weeks I have to do one day of routesetting and I try to have at least two quality outdoor sessions, depending on the weather.

Christoph Bräuer has repeated Klem Loskot’s Intermezzo XY gelöst (9a) in Plombergstein. ”First 9a. It took me 4 days and I struggled only on the hard second move on the big pinch. Did it today even though some holds were a little wet. About the grade I‘m not sure if it is solid 9a or a little softer but I don‘t have a lot of references. Still happy about it!”

Jules Marchaland, who did three 9a+’ last year, has repeated Chris Sharma’s iconic Three Degrees of Separation (9a+) in Céüse. ”Crazy route, maybe the best I have ever climbed. Took me 6 days and I fell two times at the last dyno…" (c) Marc Daviet

How hard is the start of the route and how hard are the dynos?
I think the first part is like a soft 8c+ , but it depends on your [preferred] style of climbing. After that (for me) the first dyno (with the fews moves before) is around a 7C+ boulder, and then the two next dynos (also with the few moves before) are around 7B boulders.

I felt good on the dynos. I flashed the 2nd and 3rd one and did the first and hard one 2nd go. This route is just crazy, so fun to try.

Tanner Bauer has flashed Quintessential (8B) in Rocklands. The 20-year-old has a very solid bouldering foundation having already flashed six 8A+ graded boulder problems and completed close to 60 8B’s and harder, including one 8C.

”I've been chasing after the infamous 8B flash for around 3 years now. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of good contenders to do so. I've gotten close to achieving this goal before while climbing in Red Rocks and Moe's Valley but was never able to pull it off. Once my trip to Rocklands was confirmed, I knew I would have another good opportunity to try and finish off this goal.

On my very first day of the trip and my first day ever climbing day in Rocklands, I ended up at the Quintessential. I quickly realized that it would be very feasible to flash this boulder because of its easy accessibly. There are a ton of really good warm ups right near it and all the holds are reachable from the ground. Two things that are really important for flashing hard boulders.

I spent about an hour just touching the holds and deciding which beta I was gunna use. The hand moves are extremely straight forward but there are a ton of different foot options. It came down to two main betas that I had to choose from. The first being a more physical method that required more pure strength. The second being a more technical method that required highly specific body positions. I ended up choosing the beta that was physically harder because I didn't want to blow the flash due to a silly mistake. The more physical beta meant I had to pull harder but at the end of the day, I think it was easier to execute due to it lending to more natural body positions.”

Lorenzo Bogliacino, who two months ago did his second 9a+, has completed Moksha (9a). (c) Mattia De Leo

”I went a couple of weekends to Pic St Loup since I wanted to see the crag for a really long time. I checked Hélix au pays des merveilles (8c+) on my first weekend and already tried a bit the crux of Moksha. Next weekend I did Helix on saturday and Moksha on Sunday. Conditions were bad in the morning but then the air came and I did the route at the end of the day unexpectedly. Had a huge fight on the top part since I was very tired!”

Jorge Diaz-Rullo, mainly known for his over 80 routes 9a to 9b+, has repeated Pablo Zamora’s Muerte por asfixia (8C+) in La Pedriza. The 25-year-old, with also seven 8C's under his belt, needed only three sessions for the send. (c) Javi Pec

"The boulder is amazing. This is lower start, adding 9 moves into, Flor de loto (8B+). In total, there are 15 moves, so endurance is a part of the difficulty, and some moves are quite difficult, technical with body tension. I considered my style more or less, and it was definitely a surprise climb this midsummer."

Sierra Blair has sent Antimatter (8A+) in Priest Draw, video. Over the last 12 months, she has done four 8A’s and three 8A+’s and she is currently #8 in the female boulder ranking game.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
I started working Antimatter at the beginning of May after I sent Flat Black (V10/7C+). Antimatter traverses into Flat Black and the crux is a throw to a right hand crimp after the two boulders meet.

I was able to reach the crux on my first session, but it took until my sixth session to figure out the beta that actually worked for the crux. During the final session a friend was also trying Antimatter and he could easily do the crux section in isolation. I decided to try his beta and immediately was able to do the crux move in isolation. All it took was this simple change to make the crux move go from impossible to doable.

After learning the new beta it took me two attempts to send the boulder. I am beyond excited to send such a cool line and I can’t wait for whatever is next.

Domen Škofic has made the FA of Passaaat (9a) in Hvar and Klemen Bečan, who had bolted it, did the second ascent the same day. Domen, with 25 routes 9a and harder, was the over-all Lead World Cup winner in 2016. Klemen, 41, has won one World Cup and he is one of the best onsight climbers in the world with over ten 8c’s onsight.

”Thanks a lot Klemen Bečan for showing me this place and let me try this epic line. The process of discovering holds and moves was so much fun. At the start we were sure this thing will be a solid 9a+ but on my third day I finally found the perfect sequence trough the top part and all of a sudden the chances of success went up significantly. The feeling of sending this line on the Hvar climbing festival on my last try before leaving was incredible. I had the perfect flow and just enjoy fully all the 50+ meters of this beast.

The best thing was that we did it both on the final day of the festival, one after the another. The line is huge and the crag has so much potential, it’s mind blowing 🤯”