Iziar Martinez has done her fourth 8c, Suma cero in Cuenca. "I went to Cuenca this weekend and my trainer told me I had to try something hard so I tried Suma cero 8c. I thought I could do it and the route was really cool and I did it in six tries." (c) Javi Pec

James Webb, who previously has done five 8C+', has done his 8C #30, Dicktopia in Camp Dick. "The bloc took me two sessions. I climbed it first try on the second day. Most definitely suits my style quite well. Right now I’m back home in South Lake Tahoe, CA and the fall season is just kicking off. I have a lot of projects here so hopefully, we’ll be able to put some down soon!"

Martina Demmel has done her tenth 8c in 2020 by the FA of Formiert 8c in Kochel. Interesting is that she started climbin in 2017 when she reached 7a and now the 18-year-old is #2 in the 8a ranking game.

"I've been "Voi miad" after clipping the chains of this old forgotten project/combi (from Markus Meier; thx Toni L. for motivating me to give it a try) at Afrikawand within 4 tries but with knowing some sections pretty well already, which makes the grading even harder;) no possibilities to rest during this 38 moves resistance beast! The direct and more logical version of "Ratzfatz..." Biggest thanks Isi for all the belays including the sending one. More infos on Insta:).

Just barely possible to chalk up a few times which means that it's maybe the one longest continious sequence I've done so far as I normally find some hidden rests to shake out which unfortunately didn't happenend in this one...👐😅"

Jan-Luca Posch has done his first 8C, Sierra Madre in Zillertal. Video on his Insta. Until ten months ago, his hardest boulder was an 8A flash and later he has done six 8B and harder. The picture is from Agnet 8A+ in Flatanger.

Do you think your progress relate from you previously focusing on comps and seldom going outdoors? And what is next?
I think it's a combination of both. For sure the hard training in the gym and the comps, but also rockclimbing, where you also learn a lot about trying really hard. I won the european championships in bouldering in the juniors in 2017, also I got 3rd at the junior world championships in bouldering 2017. I didn't reach the top level in the seniors yet. My best international result in the seniors was this year at the studio bloc masters, where I could reach the finals among many top world cup climbers.

This fall I will focus on rockclimbing. There are so many world class boulders and routes I want to climb here in austria. Around Nov/Dec I will start to prepare for the next worldcup season in lead and bouldering, and hopefully reach my goals there. Also, I have many projects on rock that I want to send :)

Daniel Woods is the best boulderer in the world having done some 30 8C's and a handful 8C+' since 2008. However, comparing annual tick lists, Daniel or any other boulder, are not close to what Drew Ruana has done during the last 12 months; 3 8C+', 9 8C's and 20 8B+'. Amazingly, last October he had only done one 8B+ and he was still doing World Cups in Japan trying to make it to Tokyo. Then there was the the Covid-19 lockdown and in September he started Chemical engineering at Colorado School of Mines. (c) Alton Richardsson from Drew's Insta, where you can find many videos of his hardest sends.

How was this amazing progress possible?
I don’t know, I think it’s just the way I pick climbs. I like to build a base before trying a hard hard project and then it makes climbing feel easier. An 8C now feels like 8B+ did in February. I don’t train at all right now, I feel way physically weaker than I was before. Just better at linking stuff together. I also went vegetarian in July , and that’s when I started sending a lot of stuff fast haha. (His father says, "He was so stressed out on the World Cup and was miserable. I think climbing outside with friends and in nature has really rejuvenated him.")

Which has been the hardest boulder and the most beautiful you have done? Echalo 8C (+) was the hardest of the recent ones. It took me nine days. (Most beautiful) Probably White noise or Dicktopia (8C's).

What is next? There’s probably 15 other 8B+ to 8C+ boulders I got really close on but never sent too 🤷‍♂️. There’s also a few more 8C and 8C+ boulders around here I wanna do but I’m not sure yet gotta see what looks cool.

How much how you been climbing outdoors lately?
4-5x a week. My normal amount. I just go by myself to whatever I’m psyched on or I get one friend to come with. But I have to be focused to get al my school done.

It should be mentioned that Drew was #13 in the Combined World Championsip last year, missing to qualify to Tokyo by one spot. Later the 21-year-old skipped the last chance to qualify in the Continental. During the years, Drew has made the headlines some 20 times mainly as a route climber. His first appearance was in 2012 when he as age 12 did his first 8b+. Being 16-years-old he did his first 9a. Here is an 84 minutes podcast with Thundercling from September and here is one from May with The Nugget.