In this week's ticklist, we travel from Switzerland to Canada and back, with ascents of hard boulder problems, first ascents, tricky trad and an outrageous Alpine rope-solo:

Hard problems in Switzerland for Marine Thevenet

Marine Thevenet has had a fantastic year and has climbed over fifty grade 8 boulder problems. In the past week, she has made the first female ascent of Kingda Ka (Font 8B) in the San Gottordo Pass and Dulcifer Sit (Font 8A+) at Goschenen, Switzerland.

According to 8a.nu, Thevenet spent four sessions on the problem - two working it on a rope and then another two attempting it from the ground. Earlier this summer, she ticked Tony Lamiche's Stage Divers 8B at Les Bossons in Chamonix.

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💥Kingda Ka [8B/V13] 💫FFA This one was on my dreaming list since I tried it last summer. I really enjoyed to figure out the best beta that could allow me to climb it 🧩 : the foot that works 🦶, the perfect place for the thumb👍, the right moment to switch the hands 👋; • Thanks @giuliano_cameroni for this gem and for your advices and @clem_lechap for your unconditional support. 🙏 • San Gottardo è bellissimo ! • @moonclimbing #trainhardclimbharder @unparallelup #unparallelup @snowleader74 #reblochteam

A post shared by Marine Thevenet (@bould_herman) on Aug 7, 2020 at 12:40am PDT

Stil vor talent 8C/+ FA by Giani Clement

Swiss climber Giani Clement has made the first ascent of Stil vor talent - a Font 8C/+ in Magic Wood, Switzerland. The problem is his hardest first ascent to date and is an extension of La Grosse Tarlouze, a Font 8C which he had climbed previously. Clement's extension adds two hard moves which are the crux of the problem. He describes the crux as 'tension-intensive shoulder move from a perfect shaped pinch into the slopy roof, followed by a cool dyno to a big rail system.'

The 36-year-old's previous hardest climbs were The Story of Two Worlds (8C) in Cresciano and Practice of the Wild (8C) in Magic Wood.

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"STIL VOR TALENT" FB 8C/+ FA has been born.😍 . "IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT". Walt Disney . So far my hardest #firstascent & boulder at the same time - if you can still talk about bouldering - because the line is more like a sport climbing route in terms of length & amount of moves. . With the FA of "SVT" I'm fulfilling a huge dream✨ - a dream that has been very present in my life over the past weeks. I had a concrete plan & was very focused to follow it & implement it accordingly. I'm now super happy & very grateful that it worked out & that my dream line has become real. . I would like to say thank you everyone involved for their great support! You are the best! 🙏🥰😘 . The journey started already last autumn after my ascent of "LA GROSSE TARLOUZE" FB 8C. IMO already a great line, logical by the fact that you get off the "NES" 8B+ without a rope, on the easiest way - which is itself already a good challenge. The only point which I find disturbing is that you climb down after the big sloper-rail before you continue climbing towards top. Because of this small disturbing factor the idea & vision was born to get out of the boulder on a more direct as well as harder way, which leads to an add. hard two move sequence - the crux of the whole boulder. An upturning, tension-intensive, shoulder move, from a perfect shaped pinch into the slopy roof, followed by a cool dyno to a big railsystem. This crux we succeeded in late autumn 2019, towards the end of the last #magicwood season. So the incentive was definitely created to dream of the line and to return as soon as possible. . However, a lot of patience was necessary to hold out until after the corona lock-down & the area re-opening. At the beginning of May 2020 I started to clean & debug the overhang & the slab above. I was quickly thrilled by the rock quality & the style, which is still challenging the psyche up to the top. . Persistence, a good balance between sharp attempts & training units depending on the weather conditions were key factors for the final success. . More details & insights in the process until the final ascent will follow shortly. . . 📷 @hanneskutza 🙏❤️ . . . . .

A post shared by Giani Clement (@gianiclimbs) on Aug 8, 2020 at 12:53pm PDT

La Zébrée 8b+ trad by Emilie Pellerin

French-Canadian climber Emilie Pellerin has climbed La Zébrée - an 8b+ trad route at Mount King in the Laurentides, Quebec. The route was first climbed by Jeff Beaulieu in 2003 who climbed it on pre-placed gear and was repeated by JP Oullet in 2008, who placed the gear on lead.

Gripped Magazine has a thorough history of the route and explain that the route is very difficult to work due to the steepness. The gradient makes it very hard to clean, meaning you have to down-aid the route.

Unbelievably, Pellerin climbed the route when it was still wet! She wrote on Instagram: 'Sometimes the odds are against you, but it doesn't mean that you don't stand a chance... it only makes you believe that you don't, thus lower your expectations & stress level - just to help you send it.'

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La Zébrée, 5.14a Trad 🦓💥BAM! Can't believe I sent it! Sérieux j'y crois pas! 🤯🙃 13 years ago, the blue-hair-metalhead-me walked underneath that testpiece. I dreamed that, one day, I would be the one who's up there climbing it. Took a while, but I did! Officially got the most authentic ascent of the route... climbed it in its usual state: WET! 😅 Sometimes the odds are against you, but it doesn't mean that you don't stand a chance... it only makes you believe that you don't, thus lower your expectations & stress level - just to help you send it 🤣 @stmicheljerome @_alexafay and I walked up to the route (or should we call it a waterfall?) we laughed at it being just impossible in these conditions 😅 Well, funny enough, I swam up it like a champ, slid off foot holds, fought off rugs and sponges on the go, it was all but gracious... 😂 but I held on... 🙃 It marks a personal milestone in my climbing life, a one which I would never have achieved without the support of my friends and family. 😉😊❤ Thanks to the wonderful people who opened up the path for this to be possible: 1972 - FA (A2) Alain Haunault ~1990 - Almost free (5.13d-A0) François Roy 2003 - Pinkpoint(pre-placed gear): @beaulieu.jeff 2008 - FFA: @jpouellet 2008 - repeted by Sly 2020 (july) - repeted by @julienboum Thanks @arcteryx for believing in me 😝🤘 📷 by Witek Slusarczyk

A post shared by Emilie Pellerin (@emclimber) on Aug 7, 2020 at 6:23pm PDT

Łukasz Dudek rope-solos Pan Aroma (8c)

Polish climber Łukasz Dudek has rope-soloed Pan Aroma on Cima Ovest in the Dolomites. The route was first climbed by Alex Huber in 2007 and is 9 pitches long with the following grades: 7b, 6c, 6a+, 6c+, 7a+, 8b+, 8c, 6c, 6c+.

Writing on Facebook, Dudek said that the route took him 17 hours and topped out at 2 am. On the day of the ascent, he also managed to climb each pitch on his first attempt.

'I feel fulfilled as a climber. This is my summary and the culmination of my 20-year climbing experience.'