Tom Randall started his online coaching and training platform almost ten years ago. Now thousands of dedicated climbers around the globe follow Lattice's individual training plans. They also run a popular YouTube channel.

“I am not a talented climber like the ones doing 9a’s just based rock climbing. I started creating and following training programs in order to go above 8a. It is great to see that these programs motivates climbers to reach new levels.

Do you think there is a risk for youngsters and newcomers to too early going for quick progress through programs?
We actually stopped new sign-ups of online coaching for kids below age 18 a couple of years ago as we felt that youths need a different type of support that is often more long-term beneficial in person. We mostly focus on adult climbers that have reached a plateau, or would like help with time and session management so as to reach new levels, reduce injury occurrence or just improve their longevity in the sport.

Surely, some climbers are possibly in it for short term progress and possibly we should address this more. Everyone in the Lattice coaching team are dedicated and passionate climbers (many of them semi-pro athletes from the outdoor scene or IFSC comps) that have been climbing and training for many years.

Your question is interesting and possibly we could follow up this in some way. Every climber is different and what is working really well for many could also create protential problems for others. It's so individualised! When it comes to the youth athletes, their 'in person coaches' and parents are a bit of an unknown factor and in a practical sense this can be very challenging to manage, because just like in normal life, if you have large teams working together the communication is more complex! On the other hand, a self-reliant adult working with a professional coach is a little simpler.

Marco Zanone, who in 2022 previously has done three 9a's and his first 9a+, has sent Action Directe (9a) in Frankenjura, in just six sessions. (c) Andrea Zanone

Solid work! Can you tell us more about your ascent?
The first time I tried AD was at the beginning of this trip. I left Italy on the 4th of October, and after a few days to get used to the style I went to check the route. It was a grey and humid day, but still, I was very psyched to try and see how the holds on this legendary route are. Honestly, I was feeling under pressure because of the holy atmosphere you breathe, when you are staring at the line from the bottom. It’s very hard to describe the feeling. After that session, I was hooked, but conditions in Frankenjura this fall were very bad. It was raining almost every 2 days and inside the forest, it was crazy humid and damp. Sometimes the temperatures were quite high, which was almost even worse than humid and cold, because the surface of the rock was wet due to condensation. I could try the route, but not as much as I wanted and day after day I was more conscious that the chance of failure was higher than succeeding.

I ended up sending AD after six days of effort, It was also the last chance for this trip. That day the conditions were quite good, the wind was finally blowing inside the forest and the rock was stickier than ever before!! I was feeling very fit but also very very stressed out. After 3 tries falling in the middle section, I could enter the traverse part for the first time and climb all the way to the top. It’s a priceless experience being able to stand on the top of this legendary route. Thanks, Wolfgang for your vision.

Alberto Gines López won the Olympic Games and Luka Potocar the World Cup 2022. In the Red Bull Duel Ascent they are team mates for the first time. 8a got the possibility to have a chat and here are some of their interesting thoughts.

Driving force?
Luka: The feeling on the wall in front of the crowd. A great mix of feeling nervous and pure excitement. You know you have support from your family, friends, and spectators.

What about winning as the drive?
Luka: The result does not matter during that feeling. You never know when you will win. It is about focusing on the climbing and winning can come to you. In the interviews afterward. It is hard to answer: “You looked so strong?” Sometimes you perform and I know crimps and less dynamic suites me but it is also about minimizing being unlucky.

Suffering?
Very seldom I actually do not want to train. Having a bad session is anyhow about giving all I have although falling already on the tenth move. Afterward, being tired my feeling is always good and I get motivated by this.

Training?
90 % is done doing circles on a steep spraywall. My coach points out 3-4 boulder routes which I try to repeat a couple of times. Most of the time I train with Vita Lukan but there are many different climbers who join. We do five, four hours sessions a week. It is nice to go to Innsbruck climbing onsight but after two days I have done all the routes and we are back on the spray wall again. I almost never do any supplementary training. It is about fighting and doing circles on the spray wall.

Alberto joins:
You do not need a plan. It is just about climbing hard. I get upset when climbers tell me that I am not serious and that I should do this or that. I am not a coach but my personal opinion is that when you climb 8a, 8b, or even 8c you do not need a training plan. Doing hangboard session if you climb 7a is wrong. I do some injury prevention exercises in the gym and a lot of stretching but no real supplementary training. Training is easy when you are motivated and for me, it is better with friends. I always arrive home with a good feeling.

New Olympic format?
Alberto: I think the new one is better but I do not care. I just climb and I want to win more comps.
Luka: I would have preferred to have three medals. Possibly IFSC should have pushed this more.

It seems you have a different approach: Feeling (Luka) contra Winning (Alberto).
Alberto: Luka wants to win also… and they start to discuss the subject and I read Lukas comments about feelings.
Alberto: Interesting. It is good. I like it.

Alex Ventajas, who previously has done a handful 9a’s, has flashed 5 Uve (8c) in Narango. The Spaniard has been waiting for the perfect moment for a year, checking others working it, and after he watched a video of it he finally went for it.

Could you say something about the flash?
When I started climbing I wasn’t really thinking about anything, my mind was kind of blank and my body was flowing, one hold after another. All the way up I had the feeling I already knew the moves, such as when you are projecting a route and you have already metabolized the sequences.

The final crux was my only doubt because that day the weather was pretty humid and I didn’t know which of the two betas I saw would have been better. My head was working pretty fast and, at first, I decided to try catching a sloper hold but I understood I might fall because it was kind of slippery, so I rapidly changed beta bumping to catch a crimp. Everything happened so fast in that section, I found inside myself a huge motivation, a fresh energy that let me keep going without hesitation through those crimpy holds.

When I reached the good one I took a breath, reset my mind and kept climbing carefully till the top!

Yesterday, the Olympic winner Alberto Gines López spent an hour trying and obsessing on the crimpy, Poison the Well (8C+), until it got cold and dark.

15 hours later he is on the last belay station on the Red Bull Duel Ascent, watching his team mate, the 2022 World Cup winner Luka Potočar totally exhausted and sweaty going for the last and sixth 8a pitch.

“I saw Domen (Skofic) was ahead and I just told Luka to fight. Once (Jernej) had taken his unfortunate fall, possibly due to accepting a bigger risk, I had recovered and had full control although I was exhausted.”

How about making this an Olympic discipline, the spectators seem to love it?
Please No :)

Luka: It was a totally new experience. I was exhausted as if I had never been in a competition before but is was great trying to stay on the wall. But I feel bad for Jernej and Domen.

Jernej: I blame my bouldering career. We tried to go so fast in the first pitches but in the end I was just too pumped.

Shawn Raboutou and Matty Hong were invited athletes for the Red Bull Duel MP Ascent. They were neck-on-neck with Jernej Kruder and Domen Skofic when Matty slipped out on a hand jam and took a bad fall. "It was unfortunate I sprained my ankle. We had worked out a strategy and we were trying to win and make it to the final. But it was a cool experience anyway."

In June 8a published Shawn's 9a rumors which in August was confirmed through a Mellow video of Alphane. No confirmation yet about The Megatron 9A ascent.

Why do you wait 6 months to publish your most difficult ascents?
Matty: Don't want to brag that much and easy to get caught up in all that stuff. Our priority is just to climb.
Shaw: This is Matty's quote. I have no comment.
Matty: The culture might be changing as climbing is growing. It is important to hold on to real values. You can say that this is Shawns quote :)
Shawn: No, I don't know...no comment :)
Matty: There is a new video coming up on Mellow within two weeks.

You right away mentioned strategy and winning when I asked about the Duel experience, yet you seem to be very laid back?
Matty: We are very competitive and want to send hard but we like to keep it more to ourselves. Staying neck-on-neck with such great competition climbers was a great experience and I probably slipped due to going too fast on the hand jam. It is a great feeling to push yourself to perform. It is about nerves, excitement, and enjoyment.

What's next?
Shawn: We are more focused on route climbing now. I think there is a great learning process to change disciplines and improve your climbing.

Any specific routes you want to do?
No comments :)

What about the Olympics?
Shawn: We were actually thinking about going for it but in the end, decided that it is not our path. We would be caught up for two years in that process and that is just too long.

Loic Zehani has done in Santa Linya. (c) Eduardo Ruano Li

Could you tells us more about your ascent
It is a very beautiful route which is divided into 2 parts. The first is 8c+ and the second 8c. With a good rest in between. The first part is the hardest for me. The movements are powerful and resistant. I fell there a few times. The second part suits me better (one and two fingers pockets). It took me about ten tries.

What's next for you?
I am currently looking for an apartment around Lleida to stay 6 months there (santa linya, margalef, siurana). I don’t really have any routes in mind. Just want to try lots of hard routes.

In total, the 20-year-old has now done 50 routes 9a and harder, out of which 25 are FAs. During the last 12 months, he has done 17 routes 9a to 9b.

YouTubers, world class athletes as well as drones and fixed cable car cameras are all covering the excitement of the Red Bull MP Duel ascent. Magnus Midtbö presence, along with his 1.5 million subscribers, and the media attention and access might make this one of the most viewed climbing events.

”I am thinking 24/7 about how I can take my youtube channel to the next level. I am editing 12 hours a day and I am just as motivated and obsessed as I was trying to be the best competion climber in the world. It is also about brain storming and in a way moving into new areas. Next week, I will start training with the Norweigian military and I will be part of storming a war ship. The possibilities for creating content is endless.”

Magnus climbed the six pitch 8a+ route together with Cedar Wright meanwhile the other YouTubers on hand are going for the three pitch 7b route.

Magnus, how was the MP experience?
It was fun. Cedar was falling and screaming all over. The route was actually better than expected. It will be a nice video ;)