Martin Stráník, #2 in the WCH in 2007, has a a great day in Labské Údolí where he did his first 8B flash, Sicarios. As can be seen on the video, it was raining heavily. "Cooling temps and high psyche made everything easy in Elbe valley yesterday, i sent 8B, 8A+/B, 8B+ FA and my first 8B Flash :) called Sicarios. So refreshing after all comps this year ". In the 8a ranking, the 29 yer old is #4. In the Combined Ranking the Czech is #36 after, surprisingly, having a hard time performing in Bouldering (best #29 and #43) at the same time he has been #6 and #9 in Lead. In Speed he has been #81 and #95 meaning, he has a great chance to qualify to Toulouse if he can make a good result in the last Speed event.

Emma Twyford, one of the best female multi discipline climbers out there, has done The Big Bang in Lower Pen Trwyn opened by Neil Carlson in 1996 as the first 9a in the UK. Emma did the second repeat of the vertical crimpy route and she comments. "Big Bang (9a) has been a long term project for me. Inspired my James McHaffie's ascent I decided to give it a try unsure of what would happen. Needless to say initially I was a bit off the mark but with some training I was soon linking the hard crux at the top together. That was when I knew it was possible. The hard part was finding the time to be fresh enough for the route between route setting. I came very close at the end of last year falling from the last hard move, then I got injured setting at the beginning of this year. So many doubts hit me, earlier this year I came close again. The mental battle kicked in, I was climbing the route in 2 sections with no rest but my head wasn't translating this to success. On Tuesday just myself and Angus Kille were the only people at the crag, the conditions weren't ideal but there was no pressure. I set off and just climbed it. Emma, who is working full time as a route setter and coach, is currently the best British female trad climber and this summer she did some hard multi-pitches in the Dolomites. Today she is setting their national championships. (c) John Bunney

Linda Sjödin has made some kind of record in grade progress going from 8A to do New Base Line 8B+ in Magic Wood. Remarkably to say the least as there are less than a dozen female that have reached that grade. Please give us your climbing background? I first started climbing in 2011 at age 19 but quite irregularly. In 2015 I started climbing more consistently and trained to perform better on the wall. How important is climbing in your life now? For a long time, I’ve identified myself primarily as a medicine student who likes climbing but the last couple of years climbing has become a bigger part of my life and who I am. Last year I took a break from med. school to focus on climbing, so there’s been a lot of climbing lately. How many sessions did NBL take and how much specific training? I didn’t count the sessions but probably around 15. Looking back, it would have been wiser to skip some of them and just climb something else. Starting a project at the beginning of the summer wasn’t the smartest decision, I’ve had too many bad sessions where it was just too warm, sunny or humid to climb at that level. I tried sending at 2 AM to get cooler temps but I’m really not a night person so that didn’t work out very well. I trained a lot but nothing specifically for New Base Line. What about comps next year and how do you train? I haven’t decided if I want to do comps or not next year. I mainly just climb and try to focus on improving my technique. What is your next plan? I’ll be home for a couple of months and then hopefully off to Brione and Albarracin and home again in January to get back to med school, but nothing is set in stone yet. (c) Åke Rosén

David Firnenburg, who has done two 9a+', has done his 13th 9a, Jungfrumarathon in Grimmelwand. "First 9a after my shoulder injury. Felt already possible to send on the first day but needed another two days because of bad beta for me at the crux. Pump of my life clipping the anchor :-D Thank you Andrea for your support! Such a nice place up here." More info on Insta. In 2016, David got the bronze in the Combined World Championship and he was #4 in a Boulder World Cup and he was one of the first who focused on making it to the Olympics.

Giuliano Cameroni has made the FA of a Fred Nicole ~10m bolted route in Rocklands naming it Legacy. Gradewise, it is an 8B+ with an 8b finish making it the first 9a in Africa. Fred had been projecting it every year since 2014. In last November he had a hip replacement so this year he was in better shape. "When Giuliano asked me if I mind him trying the route I sincerely didn’t know what to answer. In my generation, it’s not usual to try somebody’s project till the person does it or gives it free. In the same time, I didn’t feel like telling somebody I know since he was born, and that I respect for his performances, not to try it. I let the decision to him and wished him sincerely luck if he would go for it!", reported Fred on Insta Cameroni has made some comments on Insta saying he is very impressed of Nicole's ascents as his beta is harder being shorter. "Fred is a very humble person and before I climbed the route he didn’t tell me how close he was to send it. In my generation we tend not to close projects, rocks are free and everyone is able to enjoy them. In my opinion, this is the best way to progress our sport, by working as a team instead of competing against each other."