Alban Levier, the winner of one World Cup last year, who just did the FA of a 9a boulder route and two 8B+'s, has done the 3rd ascent of L'alchimiste 8C in Fontainebleau. The FA was done some 20 years ago by Marc Le Ménestrel as an 8B but some ten years ago someone broke several holds with a hammer. Nalle Hukkataival made the post chopping FA last autumn. Alban thinks it is an 8C and said that according to Bleau.info Nalle had suggested 8C/+, which made the Finn comment on Facebook. "I never proposed a grade for L'Alchimiste for the reason that I spent a long time trying it and then climbed it very quickly after discovering the easier way. Trying it with the wrong the method for weeks skewed my perspective so I chose to leave the grading to future repetitors. Well done!!"

Based on some 3 000 unique votes from the poll "Best Climbing Shoes 2016?", La Sportiva keeps their extreme dominance and Tenaya increases from 3 to 5%. In the first poll we did in 2009, La Sportiva had 47%, Five Ten 31% and Evolv 8%. In 2010, Scarpa did get 7% and and Boreal 3%. (in brackets, the result from the 2015 poll). 47% - La Sportiva (47%) 15% - Five Ten (15%) 15% - Scarpa (13%) 9% - Boreal (10%) 5% - Tenaya (3%) 3% - Evolv (4%) 2% - Mad Rock (3%) 4% - Other (Ocun and Red Chili mentioned most often)

Cathy Wagner, who started climbing in 1986 and had her most productive year in 2015, has started this year up really nice with six routes 8a and 8a+. Last weekend the 50-year-old did two 8a's in her second go in Gorges du Loup. During the last 12 months, the grand lady has done 60 routes 8a to 8b and in total she has done 527 of them. Maybe it is time to step up to 8b+ before turning 51!

BBC has made an interview with Ashima Shiraishi, where, among other things, she says her goal is to break records held by her male counterparts. The 14-year-old claims to be the only female to have done a 9a+ (Direct open your mind R1 in Santa Linya) and the youngest person to have reached that grade. It should be noticed that the route was originally a 9a until some holds broke and it was speculated that it might be a 9a+. Later Edu Marin repeated it saying it is still a 9a. The first woman to claim having done a 9a+ route was Josune Bereziartu (route: Bimbaluna), which has been subject of being downgraded.

Television Addict from Nils Favre on Vimeo.

Here are some of the amazing "world records" held by Ashima Shiraishi, most of which are actually also records for boys. Basing on her combined Route and Boulder tick list, she has been the best female rock climber in the world since she was 12 years old. Bear in mind that all her records have been done fast as she has very limited time for climbing outdoors, living and going to school in New York. Imagine how many 8C's and 9a+'s she could do if she was a professional climber! The picture from her Instagram, where she says her goal is to compete in the Olympics. Ashima's achievements: 9 years old: 8A, Chbalanke 10 years old: 8B, Crown of Aragorn 11 years old: 8A flash, Black Demon 8b+ flash, Omaha Beach 8c+ redpoint, Lucifer 13 years old: 8B+ Golden Shadow 9a Open Your Mind Direct R1

UKC reports that Dawid Skoczylas has done the third ascent of Mike Adams's Serenata 8C in Impossible roof in South Yorkshire. What makes the ascent even more impressive is the fact that Dawid has four kids and a full-time job. © Monika Janicka-Skoczylas "I am very pleased and surprised I did it. Relieved that a couple of years of effort (including time spent on Serenity and Serendipity) materialised in the ascent. Also relieved that I didn't get injured in the process! Brilliant line which can you can drop on almost every move."