Jason Campbell, Francois Legrand and Liv Sansoz won big this summer at Mt. Charleston, outside of Las Vegas. Hard redpoints and flashes were all in the cards.

Campbell can testify that the life of a professional climber is not an endless, pleasant climbing binge. After his redpoint of Necessary Evil (5.14c) in February, Campbell and his wife Tiffany had to hit the road, running clinics, route-setting at competitions and putting together the climbing segments of the Ford Sport Trac Challenge. The work, though climbing related, left Campbell with little time to maintain the fitness he had earlier in the year.

The solution? Schedule some time out and head to Mt. Charleston, home of wickedly steep, pocketed limestone. "I came here pretty darned out of shape and got into shape here," said Campbell. "It's cool to be strong again."

Within a few weeks, Campbell took his regained fitness and sent a new 5.14c, Gutbuster. The route starts on Wailing Souls and traverses Hypersoul, climbs the crux of an old Tony Yaniro project and then finishes again on Hypersoul. "It's really steep. In the crux section, you're on half-a-digit one and two-finger pockets. A couple of powerful mono moves in a row. Pretty rad." Campbell spent nine days spread over two years to complete the route.

Campbell is now working on Ghetto Booty, a link-up route that Legrand, a Frenchman best known for his multiple World Cup wins, did the first ascent of in early August. The route starts on Ghetto Boyz and finishes on Infectious Booty, a route variation put up by David Graham last year.

Legrand's compatriot and fellow World Cup champ, Sansoz, also cleaned up at Charleston. Sansoz did second-try ascents of Infectious Groove (5.13b), Ghetto Boyz (5.13c) and Screaming Target (5.13c), as well as a fourth-try ascent of Soul Train (5.13d). To top her trip off, she redpointed Hasta la Vista (5.14b/c), her hardest route to date. The only woman who has climbed harder is Josune Bereziartu of Spain, who redpointed Honky Mix (5.14c) in her homeland earlier this year.