Based on the IFSC provisional calendar 2018 it seems there will be a record number of comps during 2018. In total the senior calendar includes seven Lead and Boulder World Cups plus the World Champion. For the juniors, there will be a total of ten Euro Youth Cups in Lead and Boulder, a World Champion and also Olympic Games. At the same time there are more comps then ever, they are spread out more meaning more travel. For the guys focusing on Tokyo 2020, the schedule is so hectic that it will almost not be possible to do all Boulder and Lead events, without loosing some valuable training time. Boulder 13/4 Meiringen - Switzerland 21/4 Moscow - Russia (Speed) 5/5 Chongqing - China (S) 12/5 Taian - China (S) 2/6 Tokyo - Japan 8/6 Vail - USA 18/8 Munich - Germany Lead 6/7 Villars - Switzerland (S) 12/7 Chamonix - France (S) 20/7 Briancon - France 27/7 Arco - Italy (S) 29/9 Kranj - Slovenia 20/10 Wujiang - China (S) 27/10 Xiamen - China (S) World Championships/Games 6-16/9 Innsbruck - Austria 7-19/7 Central Saanich - Canada: Youth 6-18/10 Buenos Aires - Argentina: Youth A

Although nobody agreed on the Combination format in the Olympics, many of the best have said they will go for it or have started trying the other disciplines. However, with the multiplication format it might be counter-productive to seriously train Speed before the qualifications are over. Most likely, some 20 Speed specialist will try it out, as if you win the Speed and get lucky in Boulder, you just might make it to Tokyo. This means that the very best Speed climber, out of the regular guys focusing on Lead and Boulder, can only get #21 in Speed. On the other hand, training Speed and especially the leg muscles, will most certainly have some negative aspects on Boulder and especially Lead performance. Here is the math showing that it might be counter-productive to seriously train Speed before the qualifications is over. The base of the analysis is that you drop (at least) one position in Lead and Boulder if you seriously train Speed. 21 (Speed) * 3 * 3 = 189, looses to 47 * 2 * 2 = 188 21 (Speed) * 2 * 5 = 210, looses to 52 * 1 * 4 = 208 Training Speed seriously to become #21 in the World Champion qualification should mean at least 5 hours a week. This will make you gain at least 2 - 4 kilos at the same time you will have less time for training Lead and Boulder as well as getting outdoors. In other words, the guys investing in serious Speed training will loose much more than just one position. This means that the "ordinary" results in the World Cup also will deteriorate and if you can not evolve yourself into an Olympic robot, your mental health and strength will be poor when the qualification starts. In fact, Janja Garnbret and Adam Ondra just might have greater chances to win the golds by totally skipping any serious Speed training what so ever. First they will enjoy and have fun winning all the World Cups as many of their competitors will be weaker both physically as well as mentally. The twist of this counter-productive claim is that in Tokyo, where all the Speed specialists that eat Lead and Boulderers as breakfast, have failed to make it. The #21 Speed guy would finally get turn on his investment winning Speed in the first round where 20 competes. Any how, if Ondra walks the Speed track in 20 seconds and then win Boulder and Speed, he will get an multiplicative score of 6 points. Even if the Speed winner remarkably gets #2 and #3 in Lead and Boulder, he is runner up overall. 1 (Speed) * 2 * 3 = 6, looses to 6 * 1 * 1 = 6 on count back

Adam Ondra publishes on his Instagram a new FA in Arco, One Slap 9b. First he climbed Stefano Ghisolfi's One Punch (9a+ suggested by him and more in the 9a+/9b range for Ondra) and then he added with local Mauro Mabboni one more bolt to make a harder route. "After a while, I got to experience the moment when conditions are perfect, my mind is fully aware of it, that influence my state of mind, I climb free and confident, and I have the feeling of ease, flow and joy. First, I ticked off One Punch in Arco, a great first ascent from @steghiso. He gave it 9a+, but 9a+/b is probably closer to reality. It took me a few days over the last months. Then we added one more bolt and I made a first ascent of a harder start, calling it One Slap 9b. What a day!"

Igels cup 2017 from igels on Vimeo.