IFSC has informed 8a that there will only be six in the Speed finals in the Combined format. What they previously said, which 8a questioned, was wrong. "For the Speed Final the concept of “Lucky loser” (7° and 8° ranked Athletes in the 1/8th finals) applies, as a quota of 6 does not allow the duel system." IFSC says now that the six finalist will compete in three Duels and that the winners as well as the best time of the losers will qualify to the semifinal.

Steve Townshend, the fastest 8c+ climber in the world, has always used speed to do hard routes and here he explains the importance of breathing. Adam Ondra, known for his Speed, agrees with Steve and have also given some comments in the end. "Generally fast is better as long as you don't sacrifice efficiency. On some hard moves or sequences I have discovered I need to force myself to slow down. I also have practiced a lot of yoga, where you time your breathing with your movement, and I've learned to apply this same concept to climbing and that really helps. I used to fall off at the crux sometimes but other times I wouldn't and I couldn't figure out why? Until I applied this "breath with movement" idea and discovered that if I was breathing in during the crux I would fall. I needed to take air in just before the hardest moves and then either hold it in during the crux or exhale during the crux. This is why Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma scream (and tennis players and Bruce Lee) during the hard moves: it enhances your power. A hard part about this "rest" or with climbing slowly in general, is letting other thoughts enter your mind. You want to stay in the "zone" and not start to over analyze things. Sometimes if my mind starts to wander I just focus on my breath to keep those thought out. Deep breathes seems to be a key to climbing at your max. Just listen to Adam and you'll see he's figured that out too. I'm making a conscious effort to get better at breathing deeper and louder and times with the moves better when I climb at my max and at "full speed"." We asked Adam Ondra if he could comment Steve's interesting article and climbing style. I definitely try to breath as much as possible, because why do you get pumped (ie. get lactic acid)? Because of lack of oxygen. The more you breath, less lactic acid. What I usually do when I get to the jug or any rest - breath a lot at the beginning of the resting period, then slower to let my heart rate go down and just before going for it breath deeply a few more times again to motivate myself and "wake" myself up. Steve's climbing style is very impressive, but I would guess he could try to find a few half-a-second- or 1 second-shakeouts while climbing the first section of the route up to the rest. He has a very good pace with a generally relaxed body, but there is not even one second when he would shake either of the hands completely. He just keeps going. And that is tiring. Or the route is too long to be climbed in this style. Of course for somebody as fit as Ramonet it is not efficient to climb as fast. For Steve or me it could be the most efficient to climb that fast. But if we decide to train like horses, we could be fitter, our ability to shake out while climbing would better and it would be more efficient to climb slower and find more short rests. Other climbers have this fitness naturally, or due to long-life training, ability to rest almost everywhere (weight-dependent and genetic too). For these climbers, it is probably useless to start climbing faster."

Ella Adamovska reports on Instagram that she has done her first 8c, Fish Eye in Oliana. Last week, the Czech did her first 8b+ and in total she has done six routes 8a and harder in Oliana. In 2015, she was #7 in the Youth World Championship.

Nico Pelorson, Euro Youth Champion last year who just was #2 in French nationals, has done three 8B's in a day in Fontainebleau: Gecko Assis 8B+, Khéops and Satan i Helvete in the picture, without his left shoe. In fact he also did Verdict 8A on the his amazing record breaking day. In the 8a combined ranking game, the 19 year old is #6. "I have previously had one session on "Satan i Helvete", two on "Khéops" and two on "Gecko". Conditions were perfect, not much sun and a little fresh wind. I did "Satan" with only one shoe because there is a kind of 2 finger pocket hold for the left foot which is impossible to use with a climbing shoe. Barefoot, I can put my big toe into this hold and it's easier."

The Anatomy of Bouldering - Part 2: Conditions from Frischluft on Vimeo.

The Anatomy of Bouldering - Part 2: Conditions od Frischluft na Vimeu.

L'Evasione - A Week in Switzerland from David Mason on Vimeo.