Charlotte Durif (15) is already the best female onsight climber ever, having onsighted fiftyfour 8a's and harder, including one 8b. She is #7 on the 8a world ranking, including the men! In the beginning her ascents were questioned by the french but since she has won two Junior worlds in a superior fashion they are, instead, very proud. Charlotte who started her climbing career in portaledges on icefalls etc, at the age of 9, has the possibility to become a world famous athlete. By Rachelle McElroy

How, why and when did you start climbing?

Charlotte winning the Junior world 2005 in Bejing

When I was nine years old I started to climb indoors, after my brother and father had taken me mountaineering a few times - many camps on walls and ice. After that I started to practice sport climbing.

Who is your trainer? Do you have a training program?
My father is my trainer. I've never had any specific training program and I've never lifted weights. Instead I do as many climbs as possible, enough to develop the skills necessary for me to evolve. In my training I learn to judge what the routes require while always increasing the difficulty of the climbs. I practice on some of the best walls in Europe and I also vary the type of rock that I climb on (sandstone, limestone, granite), and the types of climbs I make (steep, pockets, small holds, overhanging, flat). I climb as regularely as possible - two times a week and during the weekends. I also keep track of my progression during the year (from fall to summer).

How would you describe your style of climbing?
The routes that I enjoy the most are the long ones, 40 - 70 meters. They are like journeys without an end. They allow me to balance my rhythm and to enjoy the climb. I've always climbed near, or at my peak level and I prefer onsights. I don't like to systematically practice a route because that requires little creativity. A cliff isn't like an essay - they aren't simply technical exercises with rules. Each section of each route is like a new discovery.  I love to try solving a climb and imagine how it should be done, but regretfully there are areas where I'm almost too comfortable: Tarn, Ceuse, La Balme. I'm a bit sorry that I've started to grow out of these areas.

How are the 9a routes determined and confirmed?

The method of grading and confirming easier routes is rather simple:
Everyone that has repeated a route can confirm or disagree of the grade suggested by the First Ascensionist (FA). Little by little, and based on these opinions and the "scorecard" of these climbers, the grade of the route gets consolidated (or downgraded)

The problem is that in routes of high level, this method is clearly "inflationary". Why?

1. In what other sports is it the sportsmen themselves that rate of their performances?
2. Who will have the courage of  lessening his performace downgrading the route?
3. And if your sponsorship depends upon your rock results? (material, money, awards ...)
4. And knowing that downgrading the route means also downgrading other repeaters "scorecard" ? (probably friends) 

All the factors seem to back the standpoint tat the hardest routes are clearly overgraded or at least rarely downgraded. Very few are the climbers who are brave enough to reduce their curriculum, downgrading the routes they have done. Some honorable exceptions:

David Graham thinks that Bain de Sang (9a) is 8c+
Nicolas Favresse thinks the same about Critical State (Siurana, 9a)
Yuji Hirayama in his onsight of Kombat Mortal (8c) downgraded to 8b+ (8b today) 
Elfe (9a/9a+) has gone down to 8c

OK, the grading method is clearly "inflationary" but is there any alternative? Opinions? Comments?

Comments by 8a
We do think, as Oskar, that there is a grading inflation that is going down and we have written about it before by doing a metaphor with the fairy tale of The emporer's new clothes. Based on facts, we can see that some 50 % of the hardest boulders have been downgraded in Magic Wood etc.

The 8a scorecard systems link all routes and boulders that have been registered with different grades. Italic links means that other have suggested a higher grade and bold means the opposite. In other words, you want a scorecard with bold links as this means that you are brave and humble with your grading.

8a have six comments of the article by Oskar.
   1. Confirmation of grading can and should also be done by climbers who could not do the climb. The
    confirmation of a 9a etc, is in fact based upon unsuccesfull attempts. As soon it is repeated, the grade could be
   questioned.
   2. Downgrading is foremost the case when there are many climbers with a personal best of the grade.
   3. The FA should not only base the grade of his/her feeling. He/she should also have in mind what the
   community, who could be taller, have smaller fingers etc, would think.
   4. New projects often seem to be harder than the climb or FA you did after 30 tries. This does not mean that the
    new project is harder, only different, and your muscles and technique have to be adopted.
   5. Grades in topos are not facts only suggestions. The 8a database could help author of topos with grades. In
   many cases the grades suggested by the 8a community is more correct than the topo. Check for example
   the topo of Kalymnos which on average is almost one grade too high.
   6. Routes/boulders should be upgraded if they stay unrepeated, in spite of many attempts, for a long period. 

We and Oskar are looking forward to your comments!

Article 2005-01-20

Dave Graham has opened The story of two worlds something that he describes as the new standard for 8C. Here's a part of what Dave has to say about the problem and grading.

"I changed some of the grades on my scorecard, because I thought they were incorrect. They weren?t consistent with my present views of how hard certain things seem. Didn?t make much sense to me. They were heavily influenced by what other climbers thought. I have posted what things feel like for me. Its my personal comparative analysis. My abstraction.

So, those new grades are just my grades, not the real grades, not the world grades. I don?t want to offend anyone. I just want to climb REALLY hard. Maybe 8C finally. Real 8C.

"The boulder is a pure sit start to a chunk of rock Toni Lamprecht climbed and called The Dagger. I have done the whole line now, after 6 days of trying and 3 years of fucking around with trying to get an idea how to get on, can compute as an intense, super technical-PAINFUL- Monster of a problem. It starts with 7-Big moves at 8B or 8B+(it's harder than The Dagger for me, and then directly into the incredibly physical 8B+.

I think this is the hardest bloc yet, and I think it can change the mal-progression we can see when we are seeing millions of 8B+ and 8C blocs climbed everywhere. Now its just about comparison. The big point is REVOLUTION, hell with the media, hell with 8a.nu (don't take that personally, it's a symbol of the people who abuse the concept from the page), hell with climbing big numbers to keep yourself sponsored, now, it's time to climb the REAL numbers, and really progress our sport. The Story of Two Worlds, proves that point."

We at 8a.nu believe Dave's right. It's about time we, the media, and we, the climbers, start to focus on honesty rather than ego-inflating that leave a bad after taste...

8a.nu members taken in action by Keith Ladzinski www.ladzinski.com

Andy Raether	Andy Raether warming up on the Cathedral - Utah	Andy Raether
Dave Marquess	Daniel Woods on Future Development, 7C - RMNP	Scott Hahn
Luke Evans	Brian Gallant on Spew, 7c - Eleven Mile Canyon	Daniel Byrne on King Cobra, Camp 4 Boulders

Slovenia: Best females in the world	World Cup 2005	8a.nu   ranking
Maja Vidmar (85)	2	8
Lucka Franko (83)	8	3
Martina Cufar (77)	18	2
Natalija Gros (84)	10	-
Mina Markovic (87)	Junior world champion

www.MajaVidmar.com (19) is the new dazzling superstar from Slovenia. She is #2 in the World Cup 2005 (5, 3, 3, 2, 4) and has onsighted several 8a's. Compared to most climbers, this talented young women trains a lot (seven days a week) and she is far stronger than she appears to be. We believe that her secret is the hand-feet* sessions and maybe that could be an explanation to why Slovenia, with only 2 millions inhabitants, has some of the best female climbers in the world. 

How and When did you start climbing?In primary school, 7 years ago, I became aware of free climbing for the first time. I liked it very much and since then I have dedicatet most of my spare time to climbing.

Any good crags beside Misja pec?
Yes, in Slovenia there are many good crags, such as Kotecnik, Bohinjska bela...but I prefer Misja Pec because there are many nice routes.

Which is the best crag you have visited?
Last year I went to Kalymnos, which I must say is my favourite climbing place right now. There are many nice routes, and I hope I can return to Kalymnos soon.

Any special trainer or program?
My personal trainer is Roman Krajnik and I have climbed with him since the beginning. He has a special program for me and it suits me very well. Mostly I train on a small boulder wall in the gym, but if it is possible I go outside and practise on rock. Between competitions I train only endurance and power-endurance, predominantly on long routes. However, in the beginning of the year I mostly practice fitness, which improves my power skills.

What do you like the most with competitions?

Competitions are special to me. Every competition is difficult and it excites me, I like that. If I manage to perform well, it gives me even more satisfaction. Also, at competitions you get a chance to meet a lot of new and interesting people and visit a lot of new places.

What is your best climbing memory?

One of my best memories is from Aprica 2002, when I came 2:nd and got my first medal. Besides that, I really like competing in Serre Chevalier. Every year they create a great event and a competition that is really enjoyable.

Describe a perfect climbing day?
Igo to a new climbing spot where there are many beautiful and hard routes. The weather is sunny and warm. When I start climbing I feel very strong and by the end of the day I do some hard routes, which makes me happy.

Any special dreams, plans or goals?

Currently my goal is to win one of the world cup competitions and to be among the top-3 in the world cup 2005. Outdoors I just want to climb some hard routes.

How do you finance your climbing?
I don't have a lot of expenses since my federation covers all my costs at world cup competitions. My individual climbing I pay with money that I win at the competitions and Scarpa supplies my climbing shoes.

Training during competition season

Monday       - Running

Thusday      - 30 Hand/Foot moves

Wednesday- 70 moves routes

Thursday     - Running

Friday          - 70 moves routes

Saturday      - 30 Hand/Foot moves

Sunday        - 70 moves routes

*Hand/Foot means that she only does very big moves with the same holds both for the hands and for the feet.

www.majavidmar.com

 

Many comments have been posted regarding, and questioning, the 1 000 8a & 8A First Ascent which are written in the Mr 8a article. We like interaction in the community, however we do think that any comments regarding Andrada should be initiated with some positive remarks what he has done for the climbing community.

If this 1 000 is somewhat true, everyone that has questioned this should think about what negative comments like this create both for themselves and for Dani.

Regarding the estimated 1 000 FA's which has been done by 8a.nu based on information from Andrada, this do not indicate that he has done FA's of 1 000 bolted lines. The following facts should explain some and maybe it is "ONLY" 500 bolted lines.

1. As we have written 8a & 8A's, this means that both routes and boulders are included.
2. Many routes do have two anchors, i.e. it is possible to pro-long an 8a with some five bolts creating an 8b+.
3. Sometimes two different lines are linked, creating a new route for the topo.
4. Sometimes you can add 2-3 bolts in the start or finish to create a new variation.
5. The information from Andrada was some 950 routes and boulders 8a and harder FA's which we rounded up to 50 % of the total of some 2 000.
6. In many topos you find two persons mentioned as the First Ascentionists.
7. There might be other alternative explenations...

To sum up, we like interaction and especially as nobody is allowed to use only a nickname, as in other forums. However, try to start with some positive remarks before you start the debate. This is something that the climbing community will win from. 8)

Note, we have not been discussing these seven points with Dani Andrada. This is just our quick thoughts and speculations by 8a.nu.

Pic Marko Prezelj

Martina with her father in 1988

Martina Cufar, world champion in 2001 and #2 in the 8a ranking for three years, could be the main reason why Slovenian women, with only 2 millions,  lately, have actually become to dominate our sport. Our new Slovenian editor, Uroš Baumgartner, has made an interview with the nice dedicated lifestyle climber, martinacufar.com, more Slovenian interviews are coming up...

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">What do you like most about climbing?
The fact that every practice, every move can be new, different, and that daily, one can learn something new about him/herself, about the movement itself. And it’s a constant source of challenges. But what I enjoy most is climbing abroad, in new climbing areas, meeting new people and places, and not thinking about anything else but the route ahead.
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Who discovered your talent? I believe it was myself. Once I have tried it I knew that was “it”, and then I kept  bugging dad to take me climbing. style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
What are you goals for the future? I have never set any long-term goals. At the moment rock climbing is my priority, either shorter or longer routes. I also wish to visit , climb an 8c route and prove to myself that I am still capable of achieving top positions in the world cup. style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
How do you train? I train a lot but employ variety. I don't have a trainer. I train in a way that makes me  enjoy each and every training session. I do a lot of rock climbing, the rhythm being two days of climbing followed by a day’s rest. In addition to that, I do yoga in the morning, I run a lot, rollerblade and cycle. I also do power exercises in my home fitness studio. Lately, I have been spending increasing amounts of time on mental training (relaxation techniques, visualisation…).

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
Where do you prefer to climb and why? Outside! I love nature, fresh air, the feeling of rock on my skin … style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
Do you pay attention to what you eat? I believe that good, healthy food is just as important as good practice. If you do not provide your body with what it needs, or if you burden it with too much food, than you cannot expect to be in top form. That is why I really focus on eating healthily: wholemeal  bread style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">, no sugar or frozen food, lots of fruit and vegetables, and also meat and fish. style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
What about competitions and eating?
I am always food conscious. It’s not just about good results, health is the most important. style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
What does climbing mean to you?
It provides purpose to my life. style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
Describe your perfect climbing day.
I am awaken by the singing of birds. The morning is crisp, the air is fresh. I salute the sun and do some yoga. After a good breakfast with my friends, we drive to a new crag with beautiful routes, preferably with some stalactites. I notice the “route of the day” immediately, let’s say an 8a … Then I look at it and make plans. After a good warm up I start the route. I have to do my best, push very hard, right up to my limit, but I focus and succeed. The joy of reaching the top, the fatigue in my body… I fall asleep with memories of another beautiful day. style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
Can you comment on your hardest routes including Hotel Supramonte?
I “live” my hardest routes, climb them in my head countless times before actually climbing them. I get really emotionally attached to the routes. It is a really pleasurable experience to observe yourself do the hardest parts with the body moving by itself, and you feel the rock helping you reach the top (provided you have invested enough), and you do not think of anything else but the holds, the breathing and the contact with nature. “Hotel” was one of those perfect days! 10 pitches without a fall, a success for both Marko (Lukic) and me, and then resting on the sunny beach and the warm sea … style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
What will you do once you’ve stopped climbing? Climb J

Sponsors?
Five Ten, Beal, Vrh and the Slovenian Army.

style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
Any advice you could give young climbers? Do not compete with the others, compete with yourself. 

From the very good website of www.martinacufar.com
"Since I grew up gazing at the peak of Triglav, Slovenia's highest mountain, it's no surprise that I would want to reach it. So I did when I was nine. But walking up seemed to tame so next time my father took me up the North face. Although the route was easy I was scared by the falling rocks, so I didn't like mountain climbing very much. But then, in 1988 when I was 11, I went to youth mountaineering camp in Austria and that's where I fell in love. Not with a boy but with sport climbing. We climbed on an artificial wall and that was something new for me: pushing my limits, swinging on the rope…

After coming home I only wanted to climb. My dad put a piton on the top ob 5m boulder near our house and that was my beginning. Then he started driving me to the cliffs and artificial walls farther and farther from home. In 1990 the first Slovenian junior competition was held. I came in 3rd … among the boys! That was great motivation for more training. Soon I became the member of national team. In 1993 I competed in my first World Cup in Frankfurt and finished at the bottom. But with each experiance I was getting better and better. I reached my first final in Birmingham in 1994, the podium in Courmayeur 1997 and finally the winner's stand in Chamonix 2001. The same year I became World champion. In the next years I was on the podium of the World Cup many times, but most of all I am proud of my victory in Serre Chevaier 2002, where I climbed to the top even in the superfinal.
Year 2003 was a turning point in many aspects; I lost my father in an avalanche. It was a big shock for me, since we were very close to each other. He helped me a lot in my climbing career and made many other sport becoming a part of my life. In comparison to this event, competitions became worthless to me, I started to feel the routine. So in 2004 I decided to left them for a while, and dedicate myself more to rock climbing. The best achievement was a 300m route on Sardinia - Hotel Supramonte, where two pitches are graded 8b. I did the first women ascent.In 2005 I want to compete again as well as raise my limits in rock climbing. My big wish is to go to Yosemite and climb El Capitan, but for this I will have to learn a lot about crack climbing."

'Climbing...my life will never become boring.'

Fabi Christof has been the unknown #3 in the 8a combined world ranking for a couple of years. Competitions, media and sponsors don't seem to interest him, he just focusing on delivering 8c's and 8B's. Imagine any world's top-3 that have not at least free equipment! Finally the german agreed to do an interview.

How long time have you been climbing and what does it mean for you?

I started climbing in my home town Würzburg for some ten years ago. It´s a town about 140 kilometers away from Frankenjura. Climbing means for me to have found something and the rest of my life will never become boring. I like to put my whole energy in a route or a boulder and to strain my body in the way that I feel really tired after a good climbing day. I also prefer to spent a lot of time at the crags or boulders. At the moment i live in Nürnberg so I drive 45 minutes to Frankenjura and to go climbing is a good thing to get a rest from daily live as a student for economical science.

What kind of climbing do you prefer?

Usually I really like to do short routes or boulder. Our routes are something between 15 or 30 moves long and you can´t say if you do the next dynamic move of your attempt. They are really powerfull for fingers and body. But I also like to climb on endurance routes. I climbed some 45 meter routes that is hard for me to getting not pumped on hard finishing meters and in the end to fall off. At bouldering for me is the best to move on granit or sandstone. In Frankenjura we don´t have this kind of friction. I love to use this friction and to manage impossible sequences.

So you like bouldering and climbing as well?

Born	1979 - Germany
Length & Weight	170 cm & 63 kg
Interests	Punk, hardcore music, concerts & splatter movies
Sponsors	Prana & Five Ten
World ranking	#3 in combined (Route + Boulder)

Yes. Sometimes it is a bit more stress to climb a route so after I stick a hard route I try to relax and go bouldering. I do both for most of a year but in winter I spent more time with bouldering. Usually it depents on my motivation.

Do you do special training for the fingery pocket climbs in Frankenjura, i.e. campusboarding like Güllich?

Not really. Sometimes I've made a few campusboard sessions but usually when I climb indoor I prefer bouldering. The routes or boulders in the higher grades in Frankenjura are more crimpy not really so much pockets but everyone who comes to visit this area has got the pictures like Action Direct with the hard mono-moves in the head.

Have you ever tried Action Direct?

Not really, but I checked out the sequenzes as a friend tried the route. I could climbing the moves but to do the whole thing is something completly different. For this route it would be not so bad to do a few campusboard exercises. But I know that Action Direct is in my home area so when I am strong enough I will going to try it hard.

And one last question why are you a relative unknown climber?

I never thougt about things like interviews or articles and I also had no sponsors until this year. Since a short time I get shoes by Five Ten and clothes by Prana and I have recogniced that my climbing is not so bad so i do a bit more things in this direction. In Germany it is also quite hard to get some attention without being a competition climber and I never climbed competitions with a few exceptions. Good luck in the future ;)

Delusion of grandeur, 8B in Chironico	Fred Feuerstein, 8b+ in Frankenjura	Burn 4 you, 8c in Frankenjura

Welcome to the 8a climbing Community.

Here is a short guide to some of the 8a features in order to give you a quick start

1. Log-in with your ID#, you find it on the presentation side, or with you email address. If you don’t remember your password or if you have other problems logging in, this link might help you.

2. Keep track of your ascents through a scorecard or log-book,log-book membership means no score or ranking. Set your preferences on the "Settings/presentation" page and then use the "add routes" and "add boulders" buttons, here you will also find a grade conversion table (8a=5.13b=29=V11)

3. Points and score system is explained here. The ascents that count for you will be found at the top of your scorecard "Top-10 routes/boulders". 8a means routes and 8A means boulders. We introduced this convention in 2002 and it is now getting a widely used standard.

4. Via "Updates – Search" you can search for your friends, routes/boulders or ascents.

5. You can stay automatically updated of your friends' latest ascents, by clicking on the "Add to My Updates" button on their scorecards/log-books.

6. You can send messages to any member, a good way to e.g. get information of crags, routes and boulders.

7. In the Crag database you may search for the three stars routes/most onsighted or most popular routes for a particular crag!

8. Other features include photo gallery, personal blog and training log

We would also like to mention that there is no thing such important as access and safety for the climbing community. Always try to make other climbers be careful with access and safety! We would also like to explain that we do think that climbing is foremost about adrenalin, scenery and nice people Sometimes you can add grades and points and it gets even more exiting, but don't lose your perspective.

Take care and enjoy!

Climbing regards,

The www.8a.nu team

[email protected]

We have ranked 12 strategical and practical short cuts in order to push grades. Most climbers focus on strength, i.e. in comparison it is easier to develop technical, tactical and mental skill, which are in focus here. Give highest priority to the first four short cuts as the biggest gains are found here. The last four are really supplementary studies for reaching 8a and beyond. If this doesn't work our last trip is to go to Railay beach or Kalymnos!

1. Look down on your feet
Some 90 % of all climbers would improve simply by giving more attention to footholds instead of handholds.  A climber that is looking down will automatically stay more relaxed, find better positions for the feet and body and also lean less outwards than the one using the neck as a periscope. If you do this while training you will quickly adapt. An easy way of checking the experience of a climber is measuring how much of the time he spends looking downwards.

2. Avoid lactic acid - Lift your arms
If you could avoid lactic acid in your arms for a month or so, you would probably advance one grade as your muscles could grow instead of being broken down by acid. Top climbers (8a<) and other competitive athletes sometimes teach their muscles to work with acid as a source of energy, but only for short periods, as acid in the long run will break down their muscles. Warming up is the key to avoid acid. Very often, the arms are flooded and the blood circulation decreases as a result of too hard warming up. One trick of increasing the circulation is to lift and sink your arms when needed.

3. Breathing & Relaxation
'Breath' is something everybody has screamed or been encourage to do after some desperate moves. With your breathing you can either get more relaxed or, with some hyperventilation, more tensed and stronger. As yoga is based on breathing, so could your climbing. Before you start, concentrate on your breathing. This is something you have to practice. The best way of getting immediate relaxation on jugs after the crux is to focus on your breathing. Count down from 10, shut your eyes and imagine you are placed in syrup. Take some quick breaths and push through the next crux.

4. As many meters/moves as possible
During an hour a top climber do up to 100 metres per hour while other climbers fight to get 20 - 40. In order to build a broad base and avoid acid and injuries one should strive towards climbing easier grades. Some 50 % of your training should just be based on easy climbing where you could focus on technical training.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


5. High point
Most climbers struggle with pushing themselves mentally but instead of falling they say 'Take' (I am one of these guys). By doing so you never learn where your limit is and you never practice making moves under pressure. It is very easy to give up when you realise this attempt won't take you to the top and you might be afraid of falling. However, if you once (or sometimes) go for a high point, meaning that you fight as long as possible including a jump to get chalk as high up as possible, you will get surprised. By climbing on top-rope you will make it easier to push yourself and by doing so you will take the advantage of training climbing under pressure.

6. Coaching & Memo in chalk bag
We think most climbers would gain from being coached while redpointing. This person should pep talk but also remind you of certain things like; Breathing, Finger positions etc. You could also put a memo symbol in your chalk bag like a coin or a stone which symbolises Breathing or Looking down. It is very easy to, once you have started to climb, getting into the zone and forgetting all your tactics.

7. Finger positions
The key to do the last moves is often to keep that closed crimp position. As you get more tired and lands on the last holds with open hand, you have to stop to adjust to the crimp position before you do the next move. This is almost impossible to do as a routine so here you want to hear your friend scream - Criiiimp!

8. Safety
Do you trust your partner 100%. If not, you will instinctively feel that something could happen when you?re standing there shaking with you feet well above the last bolt. By doing some short falls you will be a better team and your climbing will be better. Tell him that you want him to say ?? I got you, come on!?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supplementary studies for reaching 8a, once you have done your homework above ;)

9. Pulsation holding
This is very hard to learn quickly but it's nevertheless one the best ways to improve your endurance by avoiding acid (pump). Your heart tries to pump out fresh blood more than once every second. As you hold a hold for some seconds the circulation is hindered. Try to pulsate your holds often even if only for a fraction of a second to keep the blood flowing. By training this technique you will quickly get a much better endurance compared to simply working your muscles.

10. Clipping later
Let's say you do five hard moves before reaching a jug and the clipping position. If you immediately, with high tension, put in the quick-draw and the rope it is like doing seven hard moves before you rest. Instead, strive towards relaxing (see short cut 3) first and chalk later, with low tension, then make the clip and you have just saved energy. 

11. Hang-dog
There are many tricks how to hang-dog from bolt to bolt. With a good technique, or a clip-stick, you will increase the actual climbing time instead of just being frustrated from not getting to the top of a climb. (We are preparing an article with some hang-dog tricks).

12. Recruiting muscles fibres 
Most of you do have to do some 30 minutes of climbing and some maximum moves until you have recruited all your muscle fibres. Once you start practicing and maybe hang-dog the route it is very easy to loose self-confidence as you don't feel that strong in the beginning. Don't start telling everybody that you feel weak or that it is bad conditions. Instead, recruit your muscles. If you are a slow starter you have to be like a robot (with no feelings) in the beginning of each climbing day.

When you have done a personal record it is very important to state that you think it was a hard climb, which suited you perfectly, you are in good shape and you have gor some tips from 8a and that you have been training hard lately. Otherwise it is easy that you will start hearing downgrading rumours ;)