Fedir Samoilov, who did his first 9a last month, has done his second, Hades in Nassereith. - I feel like I can climb harder and would like to try many projects especially in Spain. But now pause until the autumn: in the near future competitive season begins. There are plans to speak of the junior European Cups and championships, of course on the World Cup in Imst, Arco, Chamonix, Briançon and Kranj. And the ultimate goal of this year - is the Junior World Championships in China. Then again, climbing on rocks. In Spain, I expect the grade 9a+. I hope this project will be an interesting end of the year and the beginning of next year. Plans interesting and great. I hope to find sponsors to help me carry out my plan

The climbing market is growing and so is the competition between producers. In comparison to some years ago, it seems that the prices in general have dropped some 15% and on EPICTV SHOP you can buy Shoes and 60-meter-long Ropes for below 100 euro. Quickdraws start from Euro 8 and harnesses are available for Euro 35, and we talk about high class products. Here are some examples: La Sportiva Testarossa 99 E Five Ten Hiangle 110 E Tenaya Oasi 90 E Boreal Kintaro 85 E Mammut 10.2 m rope 108 E Tendon harness 38 E

The winner of the Chongqing Boulder World Cup, Tomoa Narasaki (19). (c) Udo Neuman

Chuck Odette, who started climbing some 40 years ago, has done two 8b's in Hurricane; Inner Worlds and Big Man On Campus (in the picture). The great and inspiring story is that Chuck, who has put up 50+ routes 8a and harder, did his first 8b+ being 44 years old and now he is 60.

Malgorzata Rudzinska, a former Speed climber from Poland, who has achieved two Top-8 positions in Youth World Championship, has done her first 8A+, Amores Perros in Borzęta. It is especially impressive since there is no good climbing wall in her area (it was closed down in 2014) and there is four hour drive to any good rock.
(c) Gajewski-foto

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.