In the last competition in Briancon, Alex Megos won ahead of Romain Desgranges but they were eliminated in the Arco semifinal. Among the female, it is the same old story with Janja Garnbret winning both the qualification and the semifinal. Complete results

Lo Spreco (8c+) - Filip Schenk & Günther Karbon from Felix Rier on Vimeo.

Janja Garnbret got her 13th World Cup victory in Arco. In the last 15 Lead and Bouldering World Cups she has entered, her worst result is bronze and she has won ten. Among the male, Jakob Schubert got his 19th Lead victory. The route setting was not at it's best as the best male just came two thirds of the route and for the female, time was an issue. At the same time, it should be mentioned that the route setting was perfect in both the qually and the semi. 1. Jakob Schubert - Janja Garnbret 2. Stefano Ghisolfi - Jessica Pilz 3. Domen Skofic - Anak Verhoeven 4. Adam Ondra - Claire Buhrfeind 5. Shuta Tanaka - Helene Janicot Complete results On the picture (c) Eddie Fowke, Claire Buhrfeind (19), who with 8.90 is the fastest speed climber of the non-speed specialists. In 2018, she has also been #18 in bouldering. The other #4, Adam Ondra, did just come back from one month rock climbing trip in Canada and did use the comp as his first preparation for the World Championship in Innsbruck in September.

Double tops from Janja Garnbret, Adam Ondra and Jakob Schubert in Arco Lead qualifications. Max Rudigier had some interesting results ending dead last on his first route as he slipped from hold #1 but as he topped his second route, he made it to the semifinal Top-26. Complete results Semifinal on Saturday 12.00 and Finals starts 19.45 with the female. (c) Eddie Fowke capturing Hannah Schubert who was #4.

Barbara Zangerl reports on Insta that she and Jacopo Larcher have repeated the Path 8b+ R at Lake Lousie. R added to the grade means long run-out and risk for injury. (c) Jacopo Larcher Barbara was some ten years ago one of the best female boulderers including the first female 8B, Pura Vida. In 2009, she got an herniated vertebral disc which made her to stop bouldering. Including several world class multipitches up to 8b+, trad up to 8c and sport up to 9a, the 30 year old must be considered the best female multi-discipline climber in the world.

The world famous bouldering and sport climbing destination Maltatal, in the south of Austria, has a great website now. Climbing guidebook author and main developer Gerhard Schaar has put up maltatal.rocks in order to inform about the whole area. The website is available in all major languages! 8a has made a short interview with Gerhard Schaar. In the picture, Gerhard Schaar, Hochsteg © Rainer Eder.