Pietro Bassotto reports on Insta that he has done Extrema Cura in Gravere as his first 8c. Kind of impressive being 55 years old, video. Pietro started to climb more than 30 years ago and in 1989 he was #13 in a Speed World Cup. In 2010, being 47 years old, he did his first 8b+. In the last six months he has done four 8A's and two 8A+'. Lately, he has also done his first 8a onsight. When it comes to comps, nowadays he prefers boulders and last year he won la Tout À Blocs Tab among the veterans. "The reasons for my improvement are basically three: 1. I climb more in comparison to when had small children. 2. I am always very motivated. I am lucky to have a son "Davide" who climbs on 8c+/9a and 8B/+. He pushes me, especially when we train and climb together. 3. I only train the maximum strength to have the stimulus always high. I do pull-ups, I train on the wall of my house and I do Boulder outdoors.

Sean Bailey reports on Insta that he has done Coup De Grâce 9a. "All time dream line." (c) Keenan Takahashi In Meiringen, Sean was #59 and the next weekend he is competing in Speed and Boulder in Moscow.

Lucifer (5.14c/8c+) - Red River Gorge, KY from PhysiVāntage on Vimeo.

Leon Fraunholz and Giani Clement have both done their first 8C, The story of 2 worlds Cresciao. (c)Felix Hoffman and (c) Hannes Kutza Leon: "Last year I have finished school and since then I am travelling around with my van. In case of that time is not a limited factor while projecting, thats the main reason why I took the decision to try something harder. Since I stopped competing I put my focus on rockclimbing. From that point on I am trying to climb outdoors as much as possible. Giani and I tried Story very often together so it was extra special that we have sent it in the same session, congrats again Giani!" Giani: "I tried the Dagger jan/Feb 2018 and scored after 10 sessions on it at the end of February 2018. In December 2019 I ventured to the sitstart. It took me 12 sessions to link the start moves into the dagger and in total about 35 sessions within 4 months to complete it. I tried the Boulder especially with my friend Martin Keller. Together we worked out the Boulder and motivated each other."

Lucien Martinez has made the second repeat, after Adam Ondra, of Chris Sharma's Three Degrees of Separation 9a+ at Céüse. The name relates to three extreme dynos linking the route. Video of Lucien working the dynos. (c) Jan Novak

Katie Lamb, who recently was #3 in the USA Lead Nationals, has done three 7C+' and two 8A's in Joe's Valley, Prince Of Thieves and Pagan Poetry. (c) Kai Webler "I pushed my personal bar higher by learning the "climb free" mentality from my friends in Joe's Valley last week. To climb free means to let go of expectations, release your inhibitions, attack with calm and with fury, and hold to dreams. To train I use the Moonboard and campus board (speed exercise and pull exercise) 5 times a week, and always am practicing to "climb free". I also use the Mr. Stairmaster machine to strengthen my legs and mind. Climbing free even on the endless stairs!"

James Webb has, beside two 8C+', done his 18th 8C, Der mit dem fels tanzt in Chironico. "Maybe low end? But a bit harder than Insanity. Nice one Martin!" The ones having done most 8C and harder are Daniel Woods with 25+ and Dai Kokamada with 20+. When it comes to flashes, Webb is superior with 115 8A and harder.

Alex Waterhouse has done his first 9a, The Fly in Rumney. Insta video. The 8 meter route was put up by Dave Graham and has been both top-roped as well as soloed as an 8B/+. "Hung these holds so many times, dream to have finished it off. V13 boulder. Was ready to give it low 14 but moved my left hand 0.5cm left and the first move went from