Japan and USA win again and again...
1. Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN - Claire Buhrfeind USA 2. Meichi Narasaki JPN - Aika Tajima JPN 3. Kai Lightner USA - Heloise Doumont BEL 4. Taito Nakagami JPN - Victoria Perkins USA Complete results (c) Eddie Fowke The result says it all. The Youth World Championship is just about to become a Japan and USA battle in Lead and Bouldering. Japan has gotten six golds and USA five. Talking about number of medals, Japan has been awarded by 17 and USA 9. Europe, who always has dominated the Youth World Championships, has just one gold and a total of ten medals. In the Youth World Champion in 2015 in Arco, Japan got six medals in total out of which one gold. Europe got eight golds and a total of 24 medals. The tables have completely turned in just two years. It should also be mentioned that while the best nations in Europe often have participated with six guys in each category, Japan has just participated with 2 - 4 athletes in each category.

Crag & route pages updated
Weโ€™ve updated the layout of the crag and route pages. The new page structure lays the foundation for bringing Topos to Vertical-Life Web. Alongside the new layโ€ฆ
Nearly 2,000 hectares of Font Forest destroyed by wildfire
Exceptional wildfires are currently sweeping through parts of France's Fontainebleau Forest. Located around 70 km south-east of Paris, the UNESCO Biosphere Reseโ€ฆ
13 + 12 boys to the finals
Due the tied results, Youth B 13 boys made it to the finals that will be live tonight. Among the girls, Japan got four to the final out of which three ranked Top-4. Complete results For the Junior boys, 12 made it to the final tomorrow also due to tied results. Among the girls, the Top-6 only had two different results meaning that time could be an issue if they are also tied in the final.

Great Youth B show
As in the boulder event, Japan took all three medals among the girls in Youth B and in fact, they all topped in a rather comfortable style. Among the boys, Collin Duffy was the only one to top meanwhile the others getting a medal, failed to hold the top jug. (c) Eddie Fowke 1. Collin Duffy USA - Ai Mori JPN 2. Alberto Gines ESP - Natsuki Tanii 3. Hidemasha Nishida JPN - Futaba Ito JPN Complete results Read more at the YWCH website report

8c+ again by Jakob Kronberger (16)
Jakob Kronberger, who previoulsy has done four 9a's has done his seventh 8c+, Speck in Salzburger Land. "I tried the route every once in a while over the past one and a half years. I never really liked the moves, so I did not get into projecting it that hard. Now that the conditions are getting better, I was able to climb it without that much time effort. The route used to be 8c, but a foothold broke off and since then nobody climbed it again. I think 8c+ should be ok. I am not in Innsbruck because I just prefer rockclimbing over competitions. I do not want to spent the time that would be needed to do really well in the climbing gym. At least not for now."

Megos does 12 routes 8c and harder in 8 days
Alex Megos has some kind of new record doing an 8c or harder in seven days in a row during his "Old school classics" tour around Switzerland. Here is his amazing tick list including also an eigtht day, in a row, going to Arco. Patrick Matros, one of Megos' coaches, accompanied him on the marathon tour where it also rained most of the days. "It was important for Alex to meet some of the 1st ascenders like Beat Kammerlander and Eric Talmadge. His aim was, to repeat some of the hard ultraclassics of Switzerland. Not so much to throw down every hard route there, despite his long list." Day 1. Speed 8c+ (2nd Go) 2. Speed Integral 9a (6th Go) 3. Ravage 8c. Enfant de Boheme 8c, L'appel de la foret 8c: (All 2nd Go) 4. Im Reich des Shogun 9a (3rd Go) Thomas Ballenberger 5. Les temps difficiles 8c+, Rammstein 8c, two 8b+': (All 2nd Go) 6. Coup de Grace 9a (2nd Go) 7. Deus Irae 8c+ (2nd Go) The eighth day in a row, Alex drove to Arco and had a gym session with Stefano Ghisolfi and later he did Sid Lives 9a and Bucking Bronco 8c+.

Third 8B+ by Alex Puccio
Alex Puccio, who just won Arco Rock Master for the fourth time in a row, has done her third 8B+ boulder, New Base Line in Magic Wood. "So psyched! Awesome boulder!" Her hard core grade pyramid is perfect and the runner up in the world championship 2014, is superior among the female outdoors. It looks like she soon is ready for an 8C. Alex is #1 in the female ranking game which she has been almost straight for six years, in spite of some bad injuries.