Japan continues to dominate Bouldering in the Moscow Youth World Championship. In Youth B, they got two golds and two bronzes in great finals with almost perfect route setting were all boulders were done. Complete results (c) Eddie Fowke 1. Rei Kawamata 44 - Natsuki Tanii 34 (6) 2. Thomas Podolan 34 (4) - Naile Meignan 34 (8) 3. Nukui Ryoei 34 (5) - Hana Kudo 24 Rei, who also won last year, did his first 8B+ this summer. He has no trainer and his training is just made of my working and repeating the high class boulders at his gym.

Stefano Ghisolfi has done his 17th 9a, Pure Dreaming in Arco, which Adam Ondra put up this spring. " It would be a hard 9a if Adam wouldn't find this kneebar after the first section of the route, so it is "just" 9a." (c) Sara Grippo In the Lead World Cup, the Italian is #2 after having won one event out of four. Currently he is training hard often in Innsbruck in order to prepare for the upcoming World Championship next month.

Kind of strange finals for Youth A in bouldering. A bit too easy for the boys and too hard for the girls. All three medalists among the male got almost identical results as they all did four tops in just five tries. The two best did take the four zones in five tries meanwhile the bronze guy needed five tries. For the female, only two of the boulders were done and the winner, Laura Rogara flashed them both. (c) Eddie Fowke Complete results 1. Laura Rogora 23 - Sam Avezou 44 (5/4) 2. Lucka Rakovec 14 (4) - Eneko Carretero 44 (5/4) 3. Futaba Ito 14 (5) - Nathan Martin 44 /5/5) Overall, Japan has been the best country in bouldering with one gold and two bronzes. The big sensation is that Austria has not had one finalists!

Alex Honnold sat a new standard in climbing by free solo the 30 pitches Freerider 7c (+) in Yosemite last year. In his scorecard, including 949 ascents, he commented, "Solo! 3:56 on route. The end of an epic life dream. Such an experience. Logged it as a boulder problem - thanks 8a!" The National Geographic documentary Free Solo is set to open on theaters September 28.

Hanna Slaney, who never has stood on a IFSC podium before, won the first bouldering gold in Moscow after having been #12 in the qualification and #4 in the semi. Among the boys, Meichi Narasaki, who was second last year in both Lead and Boulder, arrived on top. It was a perfect start thrilling to end with perfect route setting by Jacky Godoffe and his crew. Complete results (c) Eddie Fowke

Chaehyun Seo, who last week did her first 9a, has done Wacka Flocka 8c and the two 8b+'in Rifle; Simply redlined and Zulu. In the 8a ranking game, the 14 year old is #2. Chaehyeon's father, Jungkuk was #10 in an Ice WC in 2015 and in 2016 he did an 8b+ in Red River Gorge. Back home in Korea, he is a youth trainer in his own gym in Korea. Her mother, Chigon is also an 8a climber and has participated in some World Cups.

Excellent start of the Youth World's in Moscow with great boulders on volumes and 02.30 PM GMT+3 (Euro 13.30) the junior finals in bouldering starts. Among the male, three Japaneses were ahead in the semifinal and for the female, there were two from Slovenia and one from Japan in the top. In the Youth A category, with the finals on Sunday, two Japanese girls stood out and among the boys, Sam Avezou, who was #16 in Speed, was the only one with four tops in the semi.

Ryan Sewell has done his second 9a, Moonshine in Wild Iris. Video of the ascent (c) Jacob Mutchler-Brown "It took around 12 tries total. I first tried it during the summer of 2017 to see how it would feel but didn't return that season. This year I went out to The Wild Iris with the goal of doing Moonshine specifically. I put in a few goes to dial in the body positions, because with a route that's only 24 moves every move needed to be executed precisely. Over three weekends this summer I had six attempts falling on the crux move- a dynamic stab to a slot that's only good for two fingers (photo is of this move.) In the end, the time I stuck the move I went to the top. The route definitely suits my style being that it's more bouldery and powerful. The pockets are actually much nicer that it might seem and the movement is excellent. BJ TIlden is the routes developer and first ascensionist and he did an amazing job with this route and so many others at The Wild Iris. We all have so much appreciation for everything he's done for the Wyoming climbing community."

The Youth World Championship started today in Moscow with the Junior Bouldering Qualifications, updated results. In total, 699 youth athletes from 5 continents and 43 countries will participate. Full schedule 9th to 16th August. "Every semi-final and final round in Moscow will be live streamed on the IFSC homepage, and follow scores from your phone by downloading the “YWCH 2018” results application. (c) Eddie Fowke