Thilo Jeldrik Schröter has had tremendous development the last years, especially when it comes to flashes. During just the last 40 days, the Norwegian has flashed four 8As and two 8A+s, making him the new #1 in the flash ranking. Next week, Thilo will compete in the Boulder World Cup. (c) Tina Hafsaas - Tea with Elmarie 8A+ in Rocklands. "I think my progress in flashing comes mainly from getting better and stronger overall. I have always enjoyed the challenge of flashing, so I guess I have practiced it quite a lot. The only thing that makes you a better flasher apart from becoming a better climber is the mental game. Obviously you need to be hungry on the flash and you need to know the beta. However, putting too much effort into the preparation is counter productive for me. Since 99% of all flash attempts on boulders at your very limit fail, putting more time into preparation than watching a video or two, and giving the holds a solid brush, would ruin my joy with climbing. And joy is key to success after all."

Anna Stöhr, the #1 female boulder competition climber of all time, comes with amazing news on Instagram. (c) Alfons Dornauer "Today I climbed 'steppenwolf' 8b and 'new base line' 8b+... after checking out the moves for the first time on Saturday I did both problems today." New Base Line was put up by Bernd Zangerl as 8C, but has later been down graded. It should be noted, however, that the 8B+ grade has never been questioned in the 8a database. With regard to Steppenwolf, some have suggested 8A+, though it should be considered a soft 8B. This means that Anna Stöhr once again has set new standards in female bouldering. Next week, Anna will compete in the World Cup in Meiringen, trying to win her 23rd World Cup. The Austrian has also won the World Championship twice.

In 1994, Alex Huber put up Weisse Rose in Schleier Wasserfalle as an 8c+, which was based on Action Directe being 8c+. In a recent interview he says, "Today, the grade of “Weisse Rose” is definitely 9a+," making it the first in the world (see picture). In fact, three of his hardest routes have all been upgraded and only repeated by Adam Ondra. Huber says that it was in 1995 after the 9b proposal for Akira by Fred Rouhling that grades started to become softer. In 2003, Bernabe Fernandez put up Chilam Balam as a 9b+, which Huber questioned, "I cannot take Bernabé's proposal seriously as I can't see any references that would demonstrate his skills of climbing at such a high level -- far above the rest of the world," for which he was criticized for. Now we know he was right. He also said that La Rambla original does not add so much difficulty in comparison to his first anchor 8c+. He was questioned again, but now we know he was right, and his variation is now considered 9a. In fact, he said back then that due to grade inflation, most of the hardest old-school routes need to get upgraded. As of 2017, we know that Alex Huber was both ahead of his time when it comes to climbing and understanding the grade system. This includes his world class FA big walls and having done the hardest solo route in the history: The Communist 8b+ in 2004. It is time to say that he is one of the very best and most influential climbers in the world!

Thilo Jeldrik Schröter sa v posledných rokoch neskutočne zlepšil, hlavne čo sa týka bouldrov prelezených štýlom Flash. Len počas posledných štyridsiatich dní si tento nórsky lezec zapísal štyri flashnuté 8A a dve 8A+, čo ho stavia na prvé miesto v hodnotení flash prelezov. Budúci týždeň bude Thilo súťažiť vo svetovom pohári. (c) Tina Hafsaas - Tea with Elmarie 8A+ in Rocklands. "Myslím si, že moje zlepšenie vo flashoch je len odrazom celkového zlepšenia a zosilnenia. Vždy som mal rád výzvu, ktorá prichádza s flashovaním, takže som ju jednoducho vyhľadával a nacvičil si ju. Jedinou vecou, ktorá odlišuje dobrého flashistu od dobrého lezca je mentálna stránka veci. Samozrejme musíš mať pred flashom motiváciu boulder preliezť a vedieť kroky. Dávať do toho príliš veľa energie je však pre mňa kontraproduktívne. Keďže 99% flahových pokusov v bouldroch, ktoré sú na hranici tvojho maxima končí neúspechom, nevidím význam v tom dávať tomu viac ako pozrieť si jedno-dve videá a poriadne si očistiť chyty. Iba by to zničilo moju radosť z lezenia. A radosť je predsa kľúčom k úspechu."

Jakob Kronberger, who did his first 9a when he was 14 years old, has done his fourth at that grade: Hantilio in Drachenwald. "The route is located near Salzburg on a big wall called Drachenwand. Klem Loskot made the first acent in 1996. Since then it was only repeated once. It took me over 20 days and I have never invested more time in a project. I am really excited for the next weeks and if I get really good conditions it might not take long for the next project to go. I do have some projects I want to climb in the future. Most of them are around 8c+ and some even harder. Maybe I'll be able to make the step to 9a+ this year and if I do, I won't hesitate to go for it.

Sveits mars 2017 from martin mobraten on Vimeo.

Alexander Rohr has done his third 9a by Pirmin Bertle's Chromosome Y 9a in Charmey. In the Combined ranking, the 21 year old, who clearly seems to have stepped up one level this year, is #9. "Amazing route and very very powerful!!! Another one which I tried last year and I was pretty far from success. Now just two days and it went down... In terms of the grade it's very hard to say. I got much stronger but I don't know how much... So I think it's for sure 8c+ or an easy 9a.... Anyway.... Such a good one on very beautiful limestone!!!"

Sveits mars 2017 od Martina Mobratena na Vimeu.