Keyword: Daniel Woods

The international bouldering elite are currently cavorting in the Swiss sun room - from Woods to Graham, they are all there. This high density of strong climbers is also reflected in the fact that numerous classics have been repeated, hard boulders have been projected and new lines have been climbed for the first time.

A little audiovisual flashback to start the year: Daniel Woods in Valais. In 2022, the American climbing professional spent a month traveling through western Switzerland and climbed many a classic, including Foundation's Edge (8C), Scarred for Life (8B+) and Compass North (8B+, Flash).

As early as the middle of this year, there were rumors of two 9A boulders that Shawn Raboutou is said to have first climbed in spring 2022. One of them is Alphane in Ticino, the second Megatron in Eldorado Canyon near Colorado. Now the video for the second 9A first ascent by Shawn Raboutou is online.

The Ticino bouldering classics seem to appeal to Will Bosi. After his success in Alphane (9A), the strong Scot also managed the flash ascent of the 8B classic Vecchio Leone in Brione. Also going strong was Daniel Woods, who repeated Fred Nicole's Radja (8B+) from 1996 with the original beta.

This video shows eight super strong boulderers as they tackle the Kingdom Wall in Brione, Ticino.

The American top climber Daniel Woods flashes the Boulders Compass North (8B+) in Fionnay. It is only the third ascent of the line after Clément Lechaptois and Aidan Roberts and one of his most difficult flash ascents for Daniel Woods.

Jimmy Webb tore multiple ankle ligaments in a fall this spring. The strong American seems to have survived the forced break resulting from this. He recently repeated Drew Ruana's test piece Insomniac (8C+) in Lincoln Lake and is definitely back in the game.

We have compiled a list of the most difficult boulders in the world from difficulty level 8C+. There are currently five 9A boulders: Alphane, Megatron, Return of the Sleepwalker, Burden of Dreams and Soudain Seul, with Alphane and Burden of Dreams being the only ones that have been repeated and graded.