Grimper reports that Charles Albert has made the FA of a 9A in Fontainebleau. "Mowgli" stopped using shoes some five years ago and says the biggest problem is that you have to rest more in order for the toe skin to recover.

Video from last year when he got close. Previously he has done a handful 8C's and one 8C+ in Fontainebleau, out of which several unrepeated.

Nika Potapova has done her second 8c, La Fabelita in Santa Linya. The pic by Henning Wang is three years old when she first tried it being 12 years old.

"She worked on the route just for few days and fell several times on the last hard move on her last day. The hanger of the last bolt had fell of so she took some very long falls and hit the wall some times due to a bad belayer. Great will power to try hard."

Some months later she did her her first 8c. When she was 13 years old, Nika hung on the Zlagboard for some 2 min and 40 seconds, which is an un-official female world record.

Vadim Timonov has flashed his second 8B, PFC in Albarracin where he the day before flashed Zarzaparilla 8A+. One year ago he had a bad snow board accident where he ruptured the acromion joint that left him with two plates in the shoulder. He started training in May and then in September he was #25 in the Boulder WCH. More pics and training videos on his Insta.

Cathy Wagner has done her 149th 8a+, Le monde perdu in Destel. "An exceptional route defined by a very physical endurance effort (for me anyway) as you climb on the edge of a prow-like overhang. Took me 2 days to get the right beta and was totally wasted afterwards! Today, I managed to send it straight away after warming-up, thanks to the perfect conditions and Seb cheering me. Getting fit again after a bad cold which lasted 3 weeks feels good!

In total the 53 year old has done 703 routes 8a to 8b during the last 25 years. Interestingly, like one third she has done second go. Possibly it is time to raise the bar to 8b+ in 2019?

Max Bertone, little brother to Oriane, starts to catch up to her level. During two weeks, the 11 year old has done 13 boulders 7C to 8A+, ouct of which second go of Proa 7C+ and Light Saber 8A+ in less than ten tries sticks out. As a matter of a fact, the latter was put up by Dave Graham as an 8B but it has been recorded as a soft 8A. Both are captured in this video.

Isabelle Faus has done her
17th 8B, The Wheel of Fortune in Clear Creek Canyon and she is #1 in the 8a ranking game. In total, she has now done 107 boulders 8A to 8B+. Next project is Memory is Parallax 8B+.

"Started trying last year. Two of the moves took me like ten sessions to be able to do... super outta my style... one huge move and another really dynamic pop. Coming of an injury I was kinda using this boulder as a way to learn how to do big moves. Last year after a lot of effort I eventually made my way to the last move... and then we flew to Swiss the next day.

This year I got back to my high point quickly and fell there a bunch. Then yesterday I found slightly better beta for this move and did it pretty quick after that. Really satisfying to do moves easily that last year seemed crazy... next is the top section and try and link em."

Oriane Bertone has done another three hard boulders in Rocklands; Sassy squash 8A, The arch 8A+and The Master Key in Rocklands. "Fantastic hidden boulder ! One hard move. I found my beta at the third session and solve this problem. Very happy for this ascent!

In total, the 13 year old has now done 39 boulders 8A to 8B+, out of which 19 the last 12 months and she is #2 in the 8a ranking game. One more 8B, and she takes over the crown from Isabelle Faus.

Toni Lamprecht, legendary hard core FA-ionist in all disciplines; 9a routes, 8C boulders, 8c MPs and 8c DWS, has recorded his sends from 2018. On the pic he shows god adaptation to the modern school with his double dyno of Seitensprung 8c in Kochel. Add to that 8c+ and 8B boulders FAs. With his 88 kg on his 187 cm, the 47 year old might be the biggest multi-discipline climber operating world class level. In total he has put some 2 000 boulders, routes, MPs and DWS. 8a interview from 2009 - Insta 2019.

What are you most impressed by the new generation?
The most impressive is the huge number of very very good climbers and a lot of them almost unknown, too. And of course the top five people doing everything from boulder to multipitch and they seem very "grounded" and open minded. Wish the political world would have leaders like that..

How do you train nowadays and what is your 2019 ambition?
Normally 2-3 times in the week. I rest if I go skiing or in the summer while surfing. No training the last years only climbing outdoors or trying projects, because my "old" body needs a lot of rest after every climbing day.
In 2019 I'd like to try a really hard boulder project nearhome (15m roof), work on the FSK-Project, a possible solid 9th-grade-route and travel a lot for skiing.

Jan Hojer, #3 in the Combined WCH in Innsbruck, has done his second 9a route, A Muerte in Siurana. His first was Action Directe in 2010. The 186 cm tall and 78 kg powerhouse has also done the 9b DWS, Es Pontas last year.

"My only goal for the 2019 season is to qualify for the Olympics. If I qualify at the world championship I will spend a lot of time on rock afterwards! Right now I just want to enjoy some rock before the season starts and climb a bunch of nice routes here in Spain."

How many World Cups do you plan to do this year?
As many as I need to qualify for Toulouse. (The qualification event for the ones not getting their ticket in the WCH). If I have great results in Meiringen and Moscow I will not go to China.

How much Speed focus in your training?
I try to train speed once a week but haven’t done any leg training. I think with better coordination and technique I can still improve a lot. I hope to get to 6.7 until the world championship.

Ashima Shiraishi, #5 in the Lead WCH in Innsbruck, reports on her Insta that she has done two 8A+' and Tilted World 8B. (c) Ben Burk

The 17 year old is a contender for having the best boulder and route ticklist out of all female. She did her first 9a being 14 years old and two years ago she did an 8C boulder, Horizon.

Visa det här inlägget på Instagram

Ett inlägg delat av Ashima (@ashimashiraishi) 7 Jan 2019 kl. 1:21 PST

Keegan Sullivan, who did his first 7C when he was 7 years old having climbed in just over a year, has done two 7C+'s in Hueco Tanks; Dead Serious and Stubby of the Bush Veldt. During the week he also sent three 7C's and onsighted two 7A+' and three 7A's.

His father Brandon comments, "Being in Hueco exemplifies what we love about climbing. In traditional sports, few athletes have the opportunity to engage with the professional experience. Yet in climbing, we can visit the same venues, read the same beta, and pull on the same holds as the legends that precede us. Keegan loved the opportunity to send problems that have been ticked by many of his idols."

Family blog with more pics and info about also his two younger bouldering brothers Killian (7) and Lochlann (5).

Vojtěch Trojan, who won the Czech bouldering Championship last month, has done his first 9a (8c+), A Muerte in Siurana. (c) Martin Pelikán

"It took me 5 days. I think that this route suits me well. It's short, bouldery and powerful, almost without rest, pretty similar to competition climbing style nowadays. definitely one of the best routes I've ever climbed.

In 2019, I'm gonna try my best in WC circuit for sure, but still want to focus at outdoor climbing more than ever."

Three years ago, Vojtěch fell from 8 meters in the gym and which also created some fatigue syndroms and it was not until last year he could train maximum again. His personal best was 8c before A Muerte which he did two weeks ago in Margalef.

Karoline Sinnhuber, #8 in the last Boulder WC 2018, has had a very productive trip doing eight 8A's out of which La persistencia de la memoria (8A+ in the topo) and Pamplemousse 8A sticks out. "Might be the most beautiful boulder in Ticino." (c) Michael Eisenmann - Entwash.

"I was in Ticino from 26th December till 5th January. Due to perfect weather we had only 3 rest days. I spent a lot of time in the gym the last couple of weeks to get in shape for the trip, which worked out quite well. I havn't really done much boulders in Ticino yet, so I decided to literally "run through" the 8As and go for harder stuff next time. I might return in February for a week or so, if the weather is fine.

2019... I'm super psyched at the moment for outdoor climbing! Definitely have to go to Maltatal again to finish "Air" 8B. Rocklands in summer are also tempting to finish "Ray of Light" and "L'Arche", both 8B. Or maybe Hueco through December. So many wishes and possibilities, so little money to spend! Bummer. Regarding competitions: we will see how it goes. There are now only 5 starting spots (instead of 6) for the world cups and we are around 10 girls who want to compete. And the young guns are pretty strong :)" Full blogspot report with more superb pictures.

Clay Gordon reports on Insta that he has sent in different days but in one session, two 8B's in Bishop, Spectre and Buttermilker. He also did The Mystery 8A+ and Evilution Direct 8A. Pic from Spectre, © Michael Pang

Clay was 4th at the Youth World Championships in 2016 and four times he has been the national champion in USA.

Marcello Bombardi, winner of the Chamonix Lead WC in 2017, has done Estato Critico 9a (8c+) and L'odi Social 8c+ in Siurana. (c) Elisa Negro

"They took me two days each, five attempts for Estado Critico and seven for L'odi social. In 2019 I will focus on the competition and especially on the combined, trying to get a pass for Tokyo 2020. It would be a dream to qualify for the Olympics."

Alex Totkova, who is #9 in the 8a ranking game, has done her first 8c, Goofy in Leonidio. "Cool route is Goofy. It starts with less difficult movements. You can squeeze your knees twice. Passage is the transfer from one route to the other. Then go on 8a+."

Alex compared her previous achievement, a route called "4x4" at the home crag Vratsa 8b+, as "The cruxes at Groofy were riskier. Now I would try something harder"."

Oriane Bertone continues her rampage in Rocklands by doing Law and order 8A+, Pendragon 8A and onsighting Tail of a Caracal giving it a personal 8A grade. To make it even more impressive, the daily max temperature have reached 35 degrees the last days. "Cool traverse, called 8A+ on the topo. I felt it 8A soft (à single hard move at the beginning). May be 7C+ in comparison with Atomic Playboy in Font, that I climbed in october. Very happy to send onsight this crimpy traverse."

In total, the 13 year old has done 36 boulders 8A to 8B+ out of which half the last year. The video shows her amazing spider women technique with the feet sometimes like 1 meter above her head! Truly amazing!

Laura Rogora, who did her first 9a when she was 14 years old, has done her fifth, Esclatamasters in Perles. It was put up by Ramon Julian Puigblanque in 2007 and we have seen some 8c+ suggestions but then a hold broke in 2015 and the 9a grade has been confirmed again. (c) Marco Lacono

The 17 year old has been a successfull competition climber for several years and in 2017, she was #6 in the European Championship and also #6 in a World Cup. Last year, she won all three European Lead Youth Cups she entered as well as the Youth Worlds in Bouldering.