Jan hojer and James Webb have done a double flash ascent of Quoi de neuf acte 2 in Fontainbleau giving it a personal grade of 8A+. The boulder was set up by Jacky Godoffe as an 8B but later suggestions of upgrading to 8B/+ have been put forward. James (184 cm) is by far the best flash boulderer in the world with 39 flashes 8A+ and harder, frequent using personal grades. Jan (187 cm) is the best flash boulderer in world-class competitions. Last year he won the European Championship and was #2 in the World Cup.

Crag & route pages updated
Weโ€™ve updated the layout of the crag and route pages. The new page structure lays the foundation for bringing Topos to Vertical-Life Web. Alongside the new layโ€ฆ
Nearly 2,000 hectares of Font Forest destroyed by wildfire
Exceptional wildfires are currently sweeping through parts of France's Fontainebleau Forest. Located around 70 km south-east of Paris, the UNESCO Biosphere Reseโ€ฆ
8B+ in undiscovered Ireland after four years of climbing
David Fitzgerald started climbing in 2012. 2.5 years later he did his first 8A and now he has done his first 8B+, Soul Revolution SS in Glenmalure, Ireland. "All of the good aspects of bouldering rolled into one - the full package. I will never get tired of that spot high up in the hills, far away from everything. A dream come true."The picture is from Wonderland 8B in Glendalough, which he did on the same day. "Iโ€™ve spent the last four years exploring the bouldering in Ireland, and although the quantity of established areas and lines arenโ€™t large, they make up for it in quality. There is so much untapped potential here on this small island that I feel weโ€™ll never discover all of it. I'm always in search of that next great boulder and I'm aware that Irelandโ€™s Chironico could be no more than an hour's drive away... In the Wicklow area, Michael Duffy has dedicated himself to establishing some of the best lines that Iโ€™ve ever laid eyes upon, including Wonderland (8B) in Glendalough and Soul Revolution (8B+) in Glenmalure. The lines that he has established have led to some of my most cherished memories and I still have a mountain of them to climb."

8b+ by Angie Scarth-Johnson (11)
Angie Scarth-Johnson has traveled from Australia to Spain again to find some of the best limestone climbs in the world. Last year she did an 8c in Rodellar, being just 10 years old, and today she did Speed baby 8b+ in Margalef. "The start was wet, short powerful climbing, I really enjoyed it after the first Boulder problem. I had to use one finger for intermediate."

An 8c for the boulderer Isabelle Faus
Isabelle Faus, who is #2 in the Bouldering ranking game and did an 8B+ last year, has done the endurance test piece, Prime Time to Shine 8c in Clear Creek Canyon. Next she is going to Boulder in Font and then probably Routes in Red River Gorge followed by Boulders in Rocklands. "It was a fun transition, I like to get up high and take big falls and stuff, I like the sport climbing process, learn all the beta and execute. My plan is to just keep trying hard and keep doing my thing! Really happy, when I was first starting climbing 5.14 seemed so crazy.. but now the possibilities seem to be as high as I want them, excited to keep going with sport climbing, thanks to Chad for amazing and supportive, :::)

Ondra: Combined Olympic format is the great tragedy for our sport
Chris Sharma has previously said that the suggested combined Olympic format is "a big shame!" Adam Ondra, the best competition climber in the last two years, is even more critical, which goes hand in hand with what 8a has stated. As for his plans for 2016, Adam will once again focus on rock but possibly do some World Cups as well. "Combined format is the great tragedy for our sport. I think that Olympics is amazing thing for climbing, but honestly, no other choice could have been worse than combined format. It is just sad to see lead climber on the speed route and speed climber on lead route. It is embarrassing for the climbers because they are on a completely different level. Athletes are going to be forced to train what they do not specialize in. The audience is interested in seeing top performance, right? But it will only see more average performance due to the format. Additionally, it shares no spirit. Competition climbing is originated in rock climbing, where the speed is not taken into consideration (well, there are few exceptions like The Nose). What you climb and in which style is what matters. Lead and boulder fit into this philosophy. Speed does not. And it does not reflect the current situation either. Nobody is interested in doing all three disciplines except Sean. Why should something, that one person in the world is interested in doing, become Olympic? I did not participate in World Championship 2014 in Gijon in speed. And because of that, I was not Combined World Champion. I did it deliberately, with full awareness, just because I did not agree with the rules. IFSC chose the combined format in order not to disappoint anyone, but at least I feel disappointed. In my opinion, going for speed only, lead only, boulder only or lead and boulder combined is much better than all three combined." It should be mentioned that the latest IFSC Plenary Assembly, was opened by Marco Scolaris, who said, "We cannot say anything about the format at this point as the decision has not been taken yet.", although the application is based on 30 + 30 athletes competing in Lead, Boulder and Speed for one set of medals.

The webmasters have now fixed so you can just click and enlarge all the videos going to full screen.