Sergio San Martín Fernandez, who started climbing in 2020 at age 18, has completed Las meninas R2 (9a+) in Rodellar. Between the ages of 9 and 18, he did breakdancing. During the last year before he started climbing, he also practiced calisthenics.

” A dream come true: my first 9a+! 🥹 A super long, incredibly pumpy route, and in a season that, if you ask me, is way hotter than it should be. The first pitch is 9a+, and I guess the second is around 8c? I'm not really sure, but I absolutely loved climbing it. Thanks to everyone who has been there supporting me. Now it's time for more—there's still plenty of summer left! 🥹🍳⛱️”

Can you tell us more about the trip and sending your first 9a+?
What I had been wondering for a while was whether I was ready to make the jump to the next level after climbing 9a, especially since there aren't many routes in the ninth grade around Alicante. So I knew my main goal for this trip to Rodellar was to give it a serious try. I started by attempting Meninas Sixtina (8c), a pure endurance route that suited me really well. I managed to send it on my second day of the trip.

The following week, I dedicated myself to working on Las meninas (9a), especially its crux: a highly pumpy endurance section with very technical knee-bar rests. I was lucky to figure it out fairly quickly, and that's when I realized I actually had a chance. Everything came down to the final pitch—an incredibly technical 8c.

In total, it's about 50 meters of climbing. With the heat we've had these past few days, it was a real sufferfest, but in the end I managed to send this absolute 10/10 route after just three weeks. I definitely paid the price, though—I could barely walk afterward from all the knee-bars I had to jam into that roof.

It was a grade I'd been chasing for a long time, and finally achieving it has given me a lot of confidence to take on even bigger goals.

What is next?
I’m going to start trying La Vie (9b) without pressure. But I feel it will be a more ambitious project.

Ajda Remškar, the Slovenian team manager in the current Youth World’s in Arco, has sent Kingslayer (8c) in Ter. The five star line was bolted by Rajko Zajc and then Klemen Novac did the FA of in 2018.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
This one was a big challenge for me— a series of mini cruxes that kept me at my full span and required some creative solutions for the powerful and dynamic sequences. An absolutely phenomenal route.

Attempting it during a heat wave felt silly, but the send go came as a rare moment of calm during a pretty turbulent period so it felt really satisfying to finish it off.

Satone Yoshida, who last Sunday was seventh in the Chamonix WC, has sent Three degrees of separation (9a+) in Céüse. Impressively enough, it only took him four four days and seven tries to repeat the Chris Sharma’s classic. ”I still can’t believe I send it…. I’m only 166cm, and it was kind a dream to send this classic dyno route!! If you don’t have enough height, you’re definitely going to struggle. But if you can find tiny holds and build the right sequence, sending it is far from impossible!!”

Last year, the 22-year-old finished third overall in the World Cup standings. This season, he currently sits eighth and has reached the top-eight finals on 18 occasions throughout his career.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
The first dyno turned out to be twice as far as I expected. I had to use a tiny foothold that no one else was using just to make the jump. Even getting to that point, I couldn’t do the standard beta, so I had to add a few extra moves using tiny holds.

Once I had the beta figured out, I knew this had become one of the projects I wanted to finish at some point in my life. That’s why I’m still the most surprised that everything came together this quickly and I managed to send it on this trip!! I think it was one of the best climbs of my life.

Shawn Raboutou reports on Instagram that he has repeated Ryuichi Murai’s Floatin (8C+) in Mizugaki. ”Felt more like 15 [8C] to me, especially since I did it on my first day of this trip.”

It should be noted that Shawn has tried it in a previous trip.

Laura Rogora has sent MegaGeremia (9a) in Valbrona and onsighted Menhir (8b) in South Tyrol. In the last year, the Italian has sent 20 routes 9a and beyond and onsighted 19 routes 8b and harder. (c) Mauro Sormani

Can you tell us more about those ascents?
On Saturday I tried Megageremia. I had six attempts, but I never managed to reach the first anchor of the 8c+ section. During the first few goes I kept refining the beta and figuring out the best sequence. On my fifth attempt I made it to just one move before the end of the hard section, but by my sixth go I had nothing left. Thankfully, I came back on Sunday and sent it first go.

On Monday, on my way back to Innsbruck, I stopped at Passo Gardena after a friend asked if I wanted to try Menhir. What an incredible route. Two French climbers had been trying it, so there were plenty of tick marks, which definitely made the onsight a bit more straightforward. Still, I'd wanted to climb this line for years, and it absolutely lived up to the hype.

Quinn Mason, who last year sent her first 9a, has sent Spectre Del Norte (8c+) in Squamish. ”Turned myself into a chalk ball. Maybe the most sweaty, pumped, and chalky I've ever been. An incredible reminder of what its like to be terminally pumped but somehow keep climbing. This climb is such a good test piece of resistance climbing and recovering on the wall - my favorite :) Still reflecting on the grade...”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Spectre del Norte was the 7th line I’ve completed at Paradise Wall and my 4th this season. I keep coming back because the quality of the rock and movement is unbeatable and it’s the ultimate training grounds for me to keep my sport climbing fitness up. Spectre del Norte takes all the hard climbing on Spirit of the West (8b+) and uses a techy, crimpy boulder to link back into Queen Bee (8a+). The boulder itself features improbably small feeling crimps and requires precise footwork. I sent the route on my second try but I had already climbed all of the individual sections of the route.

Hannes Puman has been on a ten days trip to Flatanger, sending seven routes up to 9a+ and trying another five of the hardest routes in the big cave.

The 28-year-old Swede first made his mark on the competition scene, winning the Youth World Championships in 2014. As a senior, his PB’ are fourth at the European Championships and eighth at the World Championships in Lead before gradually shifting his focus to rock.

Since then, he has put together one of the most well-rounded climbing résumés in the game: a big wall first ascent in Yosemite, trad climbs up to 8b+, and boulders up to 8C. Few climbers can match that level across so many disciplines.

Can you tell us more about the trip, the most memorable ascents and which other routes you tried?
This was my first sport climbing trip in a long time. As usual I wanted to climb many routes and a bit randomly I wanted to do at least one new climb every day. The first three or four days of climbing, the conditions were not ideal, so I just tried many routes to see how they feel. I tried;

Change (9b+), Iron Curtain (9b), The Trap (8c+), Witchhammer (9a), Thor's Hammer (9a+), Kangaroo's Limb (9a+) and Illusionist (9a).

I just went through the moves once on each route and went to the next, sometimes I tried it again the day after. Then a good wind came for two days and I decided to try to do one of the hard routes. I was really lucky and climbed Kangaroos limb without a lot of drama. I also did some attempts on Illusionist and thought I was really close. I came back the next day thinking I would do it quickly but after maybe 6 - 7 tries I was not so hopeful anymore, I did one last try and to my surprise I did it!

During the trip I also sent; Steiny L2 (8a+), Frigg (8a), Break free (8b+), Hand-made Jam (8b), Dumpster Master (8b).

Most of the routes that are not the most popular ones are still really good! But not all... I have been to Flatanger many times but the trips have not been very long, just a few days up to two weeks. The rock is great, mostly friendly and sporty but sometimes you get a nice surprise of something different unexpected. The wall to the left of the big cave is definitely my favourite!

What is next?
At the moment I’m back in Norway, in Lysebotn with Kristoffer Klev. We are trying to find out if we can free climb Smelveggen.

Shauna Coxsey reports on Instagram that she has repeated Francesco Bernardino’s recent Quiet Storm (8B+) in Gottardo. (c) Adam Cooledge

”It sure felt nice to try hard and get to the top of a boulder after lots of time spent mostly slipping and sliding around on my project. This boulder has some of the most impressively terrible holds I’ve ever pulled on! I was pleased to get it done fast and not split a tip!”

The 33-year-old, with five previous 8B+’ to her name, has won ten World Cups. Her big project for the trip is Hazel Grace Sit (8C) but the heatwave in combination with a muscle tear in her forearm made her opt for another hard boulder.

Alex Ventajas, with over 20 routes 9a and beyond to his name, has completed Générations Futures (9a) in Céüse.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what went into completing it?
I decided to try this route because I wanted to do something different, not just for the grade but because it inspires me. When I saw the videos of Hugo and Gabri climbing “Générations Futures” I immediately knew this route was what I was looking for. I think climbing it it’s a real process, starting from the approach, the logistic, the meters you’ve to climb to reach the start. And then there is this perfect route: powerful, technical, with a great variety of holds and rock almost untouched. What I liked the most is that you’re so high that you feel in another dimension, you and the wall, with just silence around you.

I just had one week of holidays so I didn’t know if it would be enough to send it. The first day I just did one single try to put the correct gear to reduce rope drug as much as possible, and from the second day I started to try the moves seriously and did some links. I managed to do the moves quickly, but climbing from the ground I realize the route needed lots of endurance and good conditions to secure one tricky boulder on small holds and some bad two finger pockets. Anyway, the route let you fight, so every day I had better feeling climbing and I kept my motivation high!

The day of the send I did a very good first try, falling at the end of the last boulder because my foot slipped! Failing feeling so close put a little pressure on me and the second try wasn’t that good. At the end of the day a storm was coming, the wind started to blow and I decided to give a route a third try! From the very first moves, I felt completely in the flow. The opening 9a section and the boulder cruxes went down smoothly. Then the pump kicked in, and fighting through the next holds till the last easy part felt absolutely epic. I truly think climbing “Génération Futures” has been one of the most emotional moments of my climbing journey!

Leo Bøe, with 18 routes 9a and beyond under his harness, has done the first ascent of Verdens Ende (9a+) in Flatanger. The 130-meter route begins with Brunhilde low start (9a) before continuing for another 70 meters on traditional gear, as additional bolts are prohibited. Remarkably, the 26-year-old completed the climb using an 80-meter rope, forcing him to pull up the rope three times to minimize rope drag. The ascent took more than an hour to complete. (c) Clemens Popp

Can you tell us more about the first ascent and what went into completing it?
I was looking for the most obvious and straight line through the whole roof that also could be secured with gear at the same time. After climbing Brunhilde and looking up I thought it could be exactly what I was looking for, but would it go? How hard would it be? And with the bolting ban I had the added challenge of finding a path that could be secured through the whole roof.

One day I ventured up from Brunhilde anchor and it took me two days to get out to the lip of the cave. It was hard and intimidating work, with physical climbing between gear placements, but I soon had a line that would go pretty much straight through the whole cave and to the top of the mountain on trad gear.

I had to borrow trad gear from my friend Elliot Ashe and even order more to have enough to secure the whole 70m section without bolts. There is a dispute between land owners and therefore we are not allowed to bolt any new routes or even rebolt. It’s been that way for more than 10 years. I knew that if I wanted to create new lines in the cave this would have to be the way. The bolting ban turned into an interesting challenge and I could still attempt to climb the whole roof whilst respecting it.

Before giving attempts I had to solve the rope drag puzzle which often occurs on these long lines. I figured I needed 3 rope changes in total. In the best resting positions I would clip a long quickdraw into my belay loop so that my belayer could disconnect and me pull the 80m rope to the ground with my free hand. In case I slipped while resting the quickdraw would catch me. When the rope was pulled to the floor, my belayer could move over to that spot and belay from there. It would act as a «reset» for the rope drag without ever wheighing any gear. Now I could attempt the 130m single pitch.

After working the route alot and getting the right links I started working the bouldery start, which now was hard with the lack of power from all the endurance climbing. It took some days before I passed it, but when I did I pushed for the top in a very good tempo. I knew that if I wanted to send I couldn’t stop forever in each rest. I needed to be efficient and not waste time or I would end up very thirsty.

After passing the bottom for the first time I climbed the whole Brunhilde Low and got into the crimpy 7C boulder that comes shortly after. To my surprise I fell on the last move, but with great conditions. I knew that it would go and on my next day I climbed even better. I passed the redpoint crux and pushed all the way through the roof and onto the lip where I did the final little victory bounce to a jug. It felt awesome, but I was nervous for the top which I hadn’t climbed before.

Something like 35m of vertical and slab and my worst scenario was breaking a hold and waste the attempt. Luckily it felt in control and around 6b and I was so relieved to reach the summit.

How much gear did you use and how did you clean it?
I’ve left the gear up there in case someone wishes to try the route! So I only cleaned the upper 45 meters of vertical climbing. To clean the route I will first lead it to the lip and then downclimb as I pick down the gear. And where it gets too hard then just jump down after taking a piece out

What is next?
This got me excited to start bouldering again and take a break from long routes, but I also had a look to both my sides in the roof and see more king lines to be explored. I will check them out, that is for sure and they might be even cooler!!

My goal is to develop new routes, and I don’t really have any specific route in mind other than maybe Move 9b/+, which is just so cool. It’s a route I really wish to climb one day. Right now I’m in Lofoten trying all sorts of boulders. Both established and untouched.