Max Bertone went to St Legér with his father Stefano while his sister Oriane got the silver in Meiringen. First he onsighted his first 8a+, Mélodie pour un ami ardéchois, and later he did La théorie des cordes 8c in his second session. "Special beta for short climbers :-). It felt easier than the 8c I climbed in Reunion Island but very interesting to climb !"

Stefano: I went 3 days in St Léger with Max during the WC because The French Minister of Foreign Affairs decided not to send the Youth B to the European Championship in Perm. Max was qualified in both Lead and Boulder and we had to find another challenge for him as he was so disappointed.

Oriane Bertone, who has dominated the youth competition scene for several years at the same time being one of the best female boulderers, got the silver in her WC debut in Meiringen. The 16-year-old is from Reunion, a small island near Mauritius, east of Africa. Her father Stefano comments;

"We stay in France for the moment and travel for comps, training camps and outdoor projects. School for them and work for me are impacted by Covid anyway. Their lessons are given remotely, by computer. There is no real difference between doing these lessons by computer in Reunion Island or in France due to the lockdown situation. So we prefer to stay in France in order to avoid travels and to have better conditions for training."

Stefano: How did Oriane prepare for her first World Cup?
Oriane prepared for this WC by participating in selective competitions in France and in training camps with the french senior team in Paris and Voiron. It was hard for her being close to Fontainebleau and not have time to spend on boulders outdoors. The last days before Meiringen she trained at the "Pôle France" in Voiron. There, specific boulder circuits had been created for her. For the rest, she has not changed her training habits. In the end, she wasn't completely ready to endure so much waiting in the isolation zone. She struggled to start her competition in qualifying and to finish it in the final. Her best streak was in the semi-final, where she was not forced to wait for too long. She has to do further progress in her volume of climbing which will allow her to withstand three such intense stages of competition. We will see during the next WC how it progresses.

Oriane: How was it competing with the seniors for the first time?
I had already experienced the atmosphere of a senior competition two years ago in Stuttgart, but I was really young and I didn't have the same interaction with the other competitors. Meiringen was really different. I stayed in the isolation zone for a very long time since I was the last climber to start and I had the opportunity to talk with the other athletes and the ambience was much cooler than I thought :) I didn't see things the same way, and I'm glad I got to experience of the final stages (semis and finals) of a World Cup. The outcome of the competition was incredible, it was hard to tell myself that I belong here, and for almost two days I didn't seem to realize what was happening. Thanks a lot to IFSC, the organisation and the route setters who made that event possible and set these incredible boulders, and evidently the french national team for the incredible support that I had along with the comp. I heard my friends and coaches behind me screaming and supporting me and it gave me wings! More comments on her Insta.

Alex Garriga has done his fifth 9a+ in Cuenca the last year by the FA of Líder negra, which is a link-up in between Following the Leader 9a+ and La Setra Negra 8c+. In the 8a ranking game, the 22-year-old is #4.

So what is next?
Try to make the lines that are close to my home and train for when I can go outside Cuenca. Now I am working on the hard link, between Following the leader and Circo Iberco and other FAs. I am trying some hard boulders too and a traverse around 9a+ route.

Lukas Sager, who has been in Margalef for four months, out of which the last two months without his parents, has done his third 8c, L'espiadimonis, during the last five weeks. (c) Eduardo Ruano Lin

Could you please describe your normal weekly routine with schooling and climbing?
Wake up at ten, having breakfast, e-learning with the French system CNED. Climbing in the afternoon under great conditions. Projecting, onsighting or just spooling. Depending on how I feel, I go ice bathing and stretching. 2 times a week. The last few weeks have been great, I had a lot of fun without my parents.

It was easier to stay motivated to climb than to do some e-schooling. I really progress in English, as I met so many people from all over the world. I will do an exam in May, so yet I will crush some 8b+ school stuff. Working harder than ever.

Eva Hammelmüller, who just onsighted her first 8a+ Reine Männersache, has done her eleventh 8c, Kantenphysik in Achleiten." A powerful and at the same time very technical route, as it requires precise heel hooks and also some tricky slab climbing. After trying it several times last year, I am very happy that it went down so fast this time!" (c) Tobias Lanzanasto

The 20-year-old, who is #3 in the female 8a ranking game, is also an active competition climber but missed Meiringen due to a knee injury. The Austrian has started to work on her first 9a, Kraftplatz put up my David Lama. "I am pretty excited that I could even make some good links. Can’t wait to get back on it!" More info and pics on her Insta.

Janja Garnbret topped all four boulders in just seven tries in the final, after having topped her first nine boulders in the two first rounds in just ten attempts. Overall, this was the Slovenians eighth straight Boulder World Cup victory. Runner-up was Oriane Bertone (16) in her WC debut, looking like she had been on the circuit for many years. Natalia Grossman (19), who previously had #7 as her best result, got the bronze. Noteworthy is that Slovenia had six girls Top-15.

"I really enjoyed it. We haven't had any competitions [in 2021] so far so it's good to be back," Garnbret commented. "I was training hard last year and this year, so I'm feeling confident going into the season with the biggest goal being in August. Back to training!"

1. Janja Garnbret SLO 44 (c) Vladek Zumr
2. Oriane Bertone FRA 24 (8)
3. Natalia Grossman USA 24 (10) Complete results

Adam Ondra won first the qualification and later the semi but then he could not get the first zone in the final. Then it took him five attempts to get the zone on the second boulder and in few seconds he topped it. Topping out the last two, showing a great technical repertoire, he secured another great victory and also creating a great show, saving the route setter from yet a round with too hard boulders. However, all 18 boulders in the three rounds were topped. It should also be mentioned that Japan had four Top-6.

Ondra comments; "I prepared a lot for this competition. In fact, last year and this spring, I was trying to eliminate all my weaknesses in bouldering.

Even though the spectators were not allowed to be here, the competitors and couches themselves created an atmosphere that is definitely worthy of the World Cup. The feeling when I topped the last boulder and the hall basically “thundered” was absolutely amazing and I will definitely remember this moment for a long time."

1. Adam Ondra 33 CZE (c) Petr Chodura
2. Yushiyuki Ogata 24 JPN
3. Tomoaki Takata 14 JPN
Complete results

Janja Garnbret, (c) Vladek Zumr, did all five boulders first try in Meiringen and Slovenia got another five girls to the semi. Also Akiyo Noguchi, Natalia Grossman, Oriane Bertone and Brooke Raboutou topped all five boulders. The biggest disappointment was that Petra Klinger and Kyra Kondie were tied #21 and did not make it to the semi. Other Olympians not making it to the semi were Viktoria Meshkova #23 and Laura Rogora #29. Another negative surprise was Fanny Gibert, finishing #35 among the 70 participants. It should also be mentioned that the results were quite different in the two groups as tied #41 had just 4 zones in one group and 3 tops and 5 zones in the other. Complete results.