Matt Fultz has done the FA of Polaris 8C in Reynold's Creek. Video on his Insta. The 29-year-old is defining the concept of being a late bloomer. For over ten years, he has had a steady slow progress which has speeded up the last 18 months when he did his first 8C. Just in 2020, Matt has done ten 8C and 8C+ and he is the new 8a ranking game #1. (c) Mike McClure More info to come.

Josh Ibbertson has just done Rainshadow 9a at Malham Cave where also his father James did his first 8c Bat route. "The whole process of climbing Rainshadow has been challenging but great. I've really enjoyed heading out climbing with my Dad, even on cold damp days, and working on the route with Toby, sharing beta and encouragement. I’m really looking forward to getting back into training and grit bouldering over the winter with an eye to get on some of Steve’s other test pieces at Malham and Kilnsey in the spring."

"When my kids were younger I had much less time to climb for myself: much of my time was taken up coaching juniors and belaying! Now my sons are older they can belay me and we train and climb together which is great. So over the last couple of years, I've climbed and trained much more and am making real gains." (c) Henry Giles

Nathan Michel is having his best bouldering year ever doing five 8B+' and now his second 8C, The Big Island in Fontainebleau. Video on his Insta. Until 2019, the 27-year-old had just done a total of three 8B+'.

"This year is a special one for me since I feel like I can finally start to express myself on the rock. I believe it comes from a few changes: - There is now around me a well-developed community of climbers that creates a strong emulation, making motivation and training easier,
- I seriously started proper training for bouldering again,
- I spend all of my free time climbing and go bouldering outside at every chance I get.

All this allowed me to finally climb a line I had been dreaming about for a long time: The Big Island. I had already tried it a few times three years ago, but I wasn’t strong enough at that time. In September, while listing on a paper my new goals for this year so as to plan my training, I included this boulder without hesitation. I then had two sessions in October that allowed me to refine my betas and work on the movements. I was close to sending it but conditions were far from perfect and I ended up being too tired to do it anyway. Though at the end of November, conditions looked like they were going to be excellent, so I planned another trip in Font. The first session allowed me to get back into the sequences and then, the morning after, I finally sent it on my second try of the day!"

Brooke Raboutou, who will compete in Tokyo next year, and Natalia Grossman have done Prospectors 8A in St. Vrain. Brooke has done a total of 35 boulders 8A to 8B+ in 2020 and Natalia has sent 36 up to 8B. In the 8a ranking game, the 19-year-olds are #3 and #6 respectively.

Brooke: "Fun one! Feels so good to be back in CO and climbing on some real rock with the best of friends! Felt very hard to get by butt off the ground but once I did I sent the boulder lol." More on her Insta.
Natalia: "Such a fun boulder! Hard to pull your butt of the ground haha. First day back outside with my climbing buddy which of course means another send train!" More on her Insta.