Peter Kuric has had an amazing trip to Margalef, onsigting twelve routes 8a to 8b in just six days. He also did another six routes flash or redpoint including Los ultimos vampiros hippies 8c in just three tries. Kind of impressive as 8c was his previous personal best. "The sixth climbing day. I wanted to try something harder so I chose Los últimos vampiros hippies 8c. In the second attempt I fell in the third move. When I jumped into the crimp I felt my finger pain. But even so, I gave a third successful attempt. We were supposed to be 8 days in Margalef, but I knew the trip was over for me."

Matteo Menardi has done his fifth 9a, Thunder Ribes in Arco. (c) Garreth Parry "Prime conditions yesterday at the Pueblo crag. I managed to send Thunder Ribes, a 90 moves 9a which is made up of a 60 moves 8b+, followed by a very good rest point. Then there is the 12-moves crux, which leads to a decent rest. The final step is clipping the chain."

Jonathan Siegrist, who previously has done 40 routes 9a to 9b, has done the FA of All You Can Eat 9a+ in Mt Potasi. In the 8a ranking game, "J-Star" is #3. Next up is a six weeks trip to Spain. (c) Matt Kuehl "It climbs all but a couple moves of andy Raether’s ‘Eggporkalypse’ and then without any rest does the entire crux of Francois Legrand’s ‘Bachelor Party’. Both routes are 9a. I really like the style of the route because you can really keep fighting - no rest but also so resistant."

Yuji Hirayama, one of the best climbers in the world since the late 80'ies, report on Insta that he after almost two years projecting has made the FA of Time Machine 8c+ in Gozeniwa. "I train very very little, not regularly. Because very busy for my work and working for the Federation but I just try to squeeze into my schedule to go outdoor climbing once a week or once every two weeks. Time is so precious for me now." The name relates from getting inspiration from his routes from 1988 at the crag. " Time Machine will bring you to my generation forever." Yuji redpointed Les Specialists 8b+ in 1988 and in 2000 he won the Lead World Cup. Four times he has broken the Speed record at The Nose El Capitan. In 2008 he did two 8B+ boulders and in 2012 he put up a 9a MP in Mt Kinabuli. In other words, the young 50 year old Japanese has been in top of the game in all disciplines for over 30 years.

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Evan Hau, who previously has done three 9a's, has done Life of Villains in Hurricave giving it a personal 9a grade. (c) Christopher Weidner "Incredible king line by Joe (Kinder). I was so inspired by trying it briefly and watching others on it over Christmas that I centered a second trip primarily around this route. Stoked on the experience and how it all came together! I tried Life of Villains two days last trip just to try the moves and then it took ten days this trip which makes it my fastest 9a ever. I started training specifically this winter for the first time and it seems to be paying off! Normally in the winter I just climb for fun in the gym. Next I have one week left in Utah to try a few more things and then back home to Canada where I'm working on a 9a project I bolted and also I want to try Sacrifice 9a+, a route I bolted that Adam Ondra FAed last summer."

Moritz Welt, who is #3 in the senior Combined ranking, has done his fifth 8B+ through the FA of Royal Flush in Frankenjura. "The full line on the boulder starting like Mutant and going all the way up to the end of Backgammon! Wanted to do this for a long time and after getting close last weekend I came back this afternoon and crushed it first go! 16 hard moves in a row - a technical first part into a powerful ending - climbs just perfect but pumps like hell!"