The great news for the first Boulder WC in China is that there are 45 male and 39 female on the starting list which can be compared to 28 + 22 last year. Eleven of the Top-12 ranked female and seven out of the Top-10 ranked male participate. In total there are 19 male and 10 female competitors from Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Iran and Indonesia. There are also competitors from Kazakhstan, India and Taiwan. Live Streaming starts on Sunday 09.30 GMT+8 with the semifinal and and the finals start 17.00.

Jonathan Hörst has done his first 8a+, Pushin' Up Daisies in Red River Gorge. "Third go! My first 13c. I did it on a burn when I was only supposed to go every couple of bolts, but I kept going because I felt good. Thanks to Margarita for great beta for the top crux." Jonathan's two year older brother did also his first 8a+ being 11 years old and if he wants to keep Cameron's standards, Jonathan has to do 8b+ before turning 13. Their father Eric is one of the most famous climbing trainers and who has published many books. On the picture by Mike Kessler, we also can see Kai Ligthner (14) who has done 8c+ and to the right two other younger kids who also probably have done 8a ;-)

James Webb has added another two 8B+' in Magic Wood, Believe in Two and From shallow waters to the riverbed. During the last weeks he has done 15 boulders 8B+ and 8C and flashed eight 8A+ and 8B including giving a personal grade of one third. The picture is a selfie by his girlfriend Kaisa Pietras. How can you compare the US and Swiss boulders and rock? The quality of the rock in is definitely better than anything I have climbed on in the US. When it comes to the actual rock I find Swiss' to be a bit more subtle. It's more beta intensive and requires you to be more technical. Pure power I think won't get your far here. How can you explain your recent great progress? I'm really not sure. I think it just relies on my motivation. Right now I'm just really psyched on climbing, traveling, and being in such a beautiful place. Maybe I am just simply feeling stronger than ever at the moment but... I don't think this will define my success. Sometimes you just feel in tune with the rock. Maybe you climb a few problems and the momentum carries in your favor. Maybe the weather has been treating you well? It's really just many things that sometimes have to come together in order for you to succeed. It's almost like pure luck. I could never accurately explain it. Tell us about the new projects you have found? Is it not about time to raise the bar to a big 8C+ challenge ;-) (To be continued)

Baptiste Ometz who last year won one Euro Boulder Youth Cup has had two amazing weeks having done Fauler Wili 8B+ in Valle Bavona and five 8B's in Magic Wood. During one day he did seven boulder 8A and harder. The 180 cm 15 year old did his first 8B when he was 11 years old. The reason for the rather slow progress until the last week are numerous injuries like like broken wrist, toe problems and meniscus. Since February he has been OK bouldering four times a week. Baptiste's says his Easter tick list, including eight 8A's and harder in a day, could have been much longer.On the last day, everything was dry and I could try many boulders and somehow send most of them really quickly. I wanted to climb many more 8a’s, but I unfortunately made a huge split.

Domen Škofic has done Water World in Osp. "Second ascent after Klemen Becan :) The best and definitely the hardest line in the Osp cave. Needed good 10 tries and feels very solid for the grade. My second hardest 9a." Domen has been a very successful competition climber for five years, having won 12 Euro Youth Cups and Championships. Last year he was #9 in the Lead World Cup after once being #3.

Euan McFadyen has had a great Easter trip to Magic Wood where he did his first 8A+', Massive Attack and Left hand of darkness, and also his first 8B (A+), Dark Sakai. The hardest boulder Euan had done one year ago was a 7C and the amazing thing is that he started climbing in 2012! "Before I started climbing I would go to the gym at school a lot, which meant that I had a strong upper body when I started climbing. I also did a bit of gymnastics.

Tamás Farkas has done Histerija 8c+ in Misja pec. "The first real project of my life. Around 30 tries. I felt 5 times from the last hard move in bad conditions. Milestone for me! :)" Tamás is from Hungary which has just one big crag Kis-Gerecse, so there is a lot of travelling going on for him.