Adam Ondra is getting closer to do his Project Hard in Flatanger, speculated to be the first ever 9c, by doing the FA of Move Hard 9b. "Good training link up. From the first crux of Move move right into the crux 2 of Project Hard." This was the third 9B FA in Flatanger which can say have the highest concentration of hard core routes in the world. Previously, Adam has also put up four 9a+'s and one 9b+ FA. (c) Petr Pavlíček

Filip Schenk, who has won two Euro Youth Cups this year and was #16 in the European Championship, changed arena to Magic Wood where he flashed Jack's broken hear 8A+ and did another six boulders 8A to 8B. "In this period full of competitions we decided to go one week to Magic Wood to have also some fun on the rock and relax from the comps. I went there with a list full of projects that I could try. Now back to the comps!" The next comp that is coming up is a Euro Youth Cup in Bouldering where he won the Championships last year. The big goal is the Youth World Championship in September where he was #3 last year. As he already can do the Speed in around nine seconds, means in practice that he will be faster than most seniors going for the Olympics. (c) Pietro Biagini, who was #4 in the Combined and who did eight boulders 8A and harder during the same trip.

Alex Puccio is really kicking it with seven 8A to 8B during the last two weeks. Yesterday she did three 8A's in RMNP and the day before, No More Greener Grasses 8A+ in Mt Evans. "What a day! Nina convinces me to wake up at 7am to do a early session at Mt. Evans, thought she was crazy, but it worked out!"

5th year in the making V10 FA from Elliot Gaunt on Vimeo.

Alex Megos report on FB, with a nice picture from Natacha Jagd, that he has done Monkey Wedding in Rocklands in just 30 minutes. "Did try it 3 years ago for half a day but thought I was too weak. This trip it didn't feel very hard at all! Totally suites my style I guess. Super excited for more! "

Ryuichi Murai has done 12 boulders 8A+ and harder in Magic Wood including two 8C's: In Search of Time Lost and Practice of the wild. Amazingly, the Japanese did it in just eleven days although it rained half of the time and he is now #1 in the ranking game. "By the bad weather I could perceive importance to climb problems that I want to climb regardless of the grade. In the second half of this tour, the weather improved and I could produce many good results! I already can't wait next trip!" How did you prepare yourself before Magic Wood? There are many hard roof problems in Magic Wood, so I went to Shiobara which has many big roofs. What is the next plan and ambition? First, I want to complete my big project in Shiobara roof. This Magic Wood tour was also good training for it. The project links original part (8A+) to UMA 8B+. So hard and long, maybe more than 40 moves. Then I want to climb V16. I haven't even tried yet though.

Black Pearl (fb8a+) from Christian Welkhammer on Vimeo.