Saïgon & L'alchimiste from lucas menegatti on Vimeo.

During the last ten years we have seen an extreme development when it comes to the number of boulderers, Boulder problems, gyms, training facilities and training theories. At the same time, the female and the youngsters have pushed several grades up and in fact getting closer to the male, who show limited progress. Why do we not see more progress in male Bouldering with all these improved preconditions including videos, chalk, shoes and crash pads? Bouldering did become a sport about 20 years ago with great development during the first ten years but then it more or less stopped. Could one of the possible explanations be that some 8C's actually deserve the 8C+ grade?

Clayton Reagan has done his first 9a, I, Me and You in Texas. It was put up by Rupesh Chhagan as an 8c but later three guys have given it 9a. It is supposed to be an 8B+ linking a 7c+. "Had to use Vinny's liquid chalk to grab these little crimps. I didn't expect so much to do about a little route in Texas, but it is nice to see so much support from the community. Happy to put this one behind me. It is nice to think I still have a few year of competitive play left in these old bones. On to the next! I've been climbing 5.14 since the late 90's so I'd like to think this is the natural progress. I will be 37 in May. If my math is correct, I should be climbing 9a+ by the time I'm 40 right? Seems to be working for Ben Moon and Peyton Manning. "

Based on 1 100+ unique votes from the poll "Best Climbing Ropes?" we can see that there are three winning brands and then three runner-ups. In comparison to a similar poll from 2013, we can see that Beal is getting lower positions and that Mammut, Petzl and Tendon have made a great increase. 21 % Sterling (24 % in a similar poll 2013) 19 % Beal (26) 18 % Mammut (12) 13 % Edelrid (10) 12 % Tendon (8) 11 % Petzl (4) 5 % Other: Roca mentioned most often (16)

Jour de chasse 8c from kevin LOPATA on Vimeo.

ROCKLANDS - Dreamlines & Dynos from Serious Climbing on Vimeo.

James Webb has done his 36th flash of an 8A+ or harder Boulder by Bleu sacré in Fontainebleau, which is actually considered to be an 8B by most of climbers. Without his personal grades, the best flash boulderer in the world would have done almost 50 8A+ to 8B+. In the 8a ranking game, James has been more or less #1 the last five years and in fact, his trend diagram has been pointing steadily upwards for the last ten years.