William Bosi, who was #3 in the European Youth Championship last year, has done his first 9a, Rainshadow in Malham. "Super psyched and in shock after possibly my best every day climbing." Video of the the nice crux.. - Basically Rainshadow is by far the hardest route I've ever done and one of the best. It is probably the most inspiring line at Malham and one of the most in Britain. It climbs through the steepest and longest part of the Malham roof and its pretty much in the middle of the cove as well. This was the first route I've ever spent more than 2 days on so I really got a feel for the projecting side of climbing but I'm not sure I'm convinced. This route was my main ambition for this year so now I'm keen just to go to lots of crags and try I lots of hard routes. The main ones I have in mind are Hubble and Hunger 9a. I'm also hoping to get some good results in the youth competitions this year.

Oriane Bertone has done a left variant of Ganesh Assis 8A in Ravine Saint on Reunion Island. Actually, it was a reclimb as she first did it a month ago but then some guys said she dabbed the crash pad. Video of the ascent.

From 5 to 8 May, the Bouldering world will meet again in Val Masino, northern Italy for the legendary Melloblocco. This year, there’s a new open fun contest, which features the Vertical-Life Climbing App. Everybody is welcome to take part and discover different Masterpiece Climbing Circuits throughout the valley. Climbers can use their smartphones, download the Vertical-Life climbing app, check out the special Melloblocco Event guide and benefit from live social features. The guide provides topos, access maps and gives the possibility to mark sent boulders with a ‚Zlag‘. All the live results are displayed at the Melloblocco Center and on Vertical-Life website. The real time ascents are also visible in the Zlagfeed and in the local hero ranking in the app. In order to be able to synchronize offline Zlags, the organizers provide wifi-hotspots at the Melloblocco Center and throughout the valley. There are four difficulty levels and different rankings for male and female. It is possible to register for the individual and team score. Also, the more difficult money blocs for pros are visible in the app with topos and access info. Climbers can register for the event online or on-site and receive their free access code with the starter package at the Melloblocco registration desk.

Shauna Coxey won her fourth WC event straight, including also having won the last year. Last week in Japan she won both the semi and the final rounds. Last year she was #2 overall after Akiyo Noguchi, who was the runner-up in China. Among the male, Tomoa Narasaki got his first victory, having been #18 and #15 in the two first events. Complete results.

Dave MacLeod has had a couple of very good days in Magic Wood climbing Practice of the wild 8C. He also repeated Steppenwolf 8B in 3 tries and made a quick ascent of Dark Sakai 8B. A couple of weeks earlier he climbed Shallow Water to Riverbed 8B+. Click here for his blog with a video. Dave should be considered to be one of the best overall climbers in the world having been on the cutting edge in trad, winter and ice climbing. auther having publish two training books and here is his 8C story which includes dropping six kilos.

1. Alexey Rubtsov RUS 177 - Shauna Coxsey GBR 300 2. Rustam Gelmanov RUS 165 - Melissa Le Neve FRA 203 3. Kokoro Fujii JPN 155 - Miho Nonaka JPN 153 4. Jan Hojer GER 152 - Akiyo Noguchi JPN 147 5. Tomoa Narasaki JPN 138 - Fanny Gibert FRA 131 Complete results.

Martina Cufar become the World Lead Champion in 2001 and since than, Slovenia has been one of the leading nations in climbing. In 2006, she onsighted her first 8b and last week, the 39-year-old onsighted her first ever 8a+, Allo ctave, ici Bemol in Verdon. She got the tip from Bruno Clement - Graou, who has established a new sector there, Baume aux Couillones. - Graou told me one evening that he equipped one line in the bottom of which should be written " For Martina", because there are many small crimpers and it's technical. smile emoticon So I went in one day and did it on sight. He was right , it was for me. Otherwise I try to keep my shape with climbing when I can but for sure it's less than before I had my two boys, Tommy and Paco. It's quite a job to entertain them! In the last time I climb often in Bionnassay (half an hour drive and half an hour walk up). It's the place I like, but the problem is that I did all the routes until 8b...So I got myself on the 8c now, a route with a crux with a long move, boys do a jump, that I was not able to do for years (Well I went to check once a year) ,but in december I found the solution. Well I do the move once or twice in three attempts, so I don't really know if I am close ot not. but I enjoy climbign on it. I hope I have some luck and do it this year,:-) I try to climb 3 - 4 times a week, 1,5h or 3 in the rock. I do kundalini yoga every morning when everybody sleeps, from 6 30 to 7 30 - 8.