IFSC inform that Morioka-Iwate in Japan will host a Boulder and Lead World Cup in between October 20-22. This means that there will be a total of seven events each in Boulder and Lead in the World Cup in 2022. Two weeks ago, two IFSC WCs in China were cancelled due to the pandemics.

Shawn Raboutou reports on Insta that he last summer did the FA of Fuck the System 8C+ in Fionnay. It is a low start to Foundation Edge which Dave Graham put up in 2013 and Shawn repeated in 2018. (c) Clément Lechaptois

Shawn is the older brother of Brooke Raboutou who is currently #3 in the Boulder World Cup. Their parents are Didier and Robyn Erbesfield who were leading climbers during the 90'ies. Shawn has previously done (at least) three 8C+ and 20+ 8C's meaning his track record is among the Top-10 in the world.

From 10 to 12 June, a Boulder World Cup will take place in South Tyrol for the first time. The world’s best 250 athletes are expected at the Vertikal Climbing Stadium in Brixen. With the IFSC Climbing World Cup, the most important Italian bouldering event with an international line-up is taking place in Brixen. The bouldering wall is unique and is already well-known in the climbing scene. The wall can be opened or closed as desired and offers space and a stunning view of the mountains around Brixen. A large grandstand will be set up in front of the wall, with 1.600 seats – from all seats you have a perfect view toward the wall.

The World Cup week starts on Wednesday and Thursday with movie evenings. On Friday and Saturday after the competitions, the Vertical Life Party will take place. Food trucks will offer a nice variety of snacks and drinks for you. Stay tuned for the qualification on 10 June, women’s semi-finals and finals on 11 June, men’s semi finals and finals on 12 June. Tickets and more info at Suedtirol-climbing.it

1. Natalia Grossman USA 2 805 - Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 2 300
2. Oriane Bertone FRA 1 870 - Tomoa Narasaki JPN 2260
3. Brooke Raboutou USA 1 795 - Mejdi Schalck FRA 2 145
4. Stasa Gejo SRB 1 520 - Kokoro Fujii JPN 1 755
5. Camilla Moroni ITA 1 320 - Paul Jenft FRA 1 310
6. Miho Nonaka JPN 1 250 - Nicolai Uznik AUT 1 195


Overall, there are seven male Japanese at the Top-11. In the national team ranking, Japan is #1 followed by USA and France, and their dominance is quite extreme. Slovenia is the country that has dropped the most in the ranking and part of this is that Janja Garnbret has only done one event.

Natalia Grossman won the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City, the only one topping out all four boulders in the final. The 20-year-old has during the last seven Boulder WCs always been Top-2, including being the World Champion in 2021. Among the male, 18-year-old Mejdi Schalck got his first WC victory after barely making it to the final, beating Tomoa Narasaki #7 with one attempt. Jakob Schubert, the only one doing all four boulders in the semi-final had the opposite result ending #6 in the final.

It should be mentioned that the difficulty of the boulders throughout the whole competition was perfect beside one semi-final boulder for the girls. On that boulder everyone but one made the zone on their first attempt but nobody made the top. Noteworthy is also that, although Japan had the best overall results with three podiums, Austria had four athletes making the final. (c) Daniel Gajda

1. Natalia Grossman USA 44 - Mejdi Schalck FRA 44 (9)
2. Brooke Raboutou USA 34 (5) - Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 44 (11)
3. Miho Nonaka JPN 34 (9) - Rei Kawamata JPN 34
4. Jessica Pilz AUT 34 (16) - Nicolai Uznik AUT 23
5. Franziska Sterrer AUT 13 (1) - Yannick Flohé GER 14
6. Camilla Moroni ITA 13 (2) - Jakob Schubert AUT 12

Michaela Kirsch, who three days ago did an 8B in Magic Woods reports on Insta that she has done one more, Riverbed. Amazingly, she just needed 3 + 2 sessions in order to do them both so clearly 8B+ should be possible with some more work. (c) Nina Williams

How do you like Magic Woods and how long will you stay?
I absolutely love it here! I’ll stay until early June!

Natalia Grossman and Franziska Sterrer were the only ones doing all five boulders in the qualification in Salt Lake City. USA got another four females to the semi. In total 57 females participated. Complete results

Yannick Flohé from Germany, #3 in the World Championship 2019, won the qualification in Salt Lake City together with Toma Narasaki. Another four from Team Japan made it to the semi. Noteworthy is that Colin Duffy was #21 and did not make the semi. A total of 69 males participated. Complete results

Agathe Calliet from France and Sam Avezou, both from France, won the European Cup in Klagenfurt. In total, 43 females and 60 males participated. Female results and video. Male results and video.

Solveig Korherr has had a great trip to Céüse where she onsighted Le chirurgien du crépuscule (8b). "Wow! I’m really surprised and proud of this accomplishment. It was definitely my style and I guess with a bit of luck by reading the sequences well and a lot of trying hard somehow I made it to the top without falling. The slab was really nerve-wracking though, I almost blew it up there :D"

Later, on her fifth day, the 23-year-old did Dures limites (8c). "Probably one of my favourite ones so far. The first crux fit me much better than the top one. After falling three times in a row on the very last big move, I’m super psyched I finally stuck it from the ground. Thanks, Jon and all the strong Briançon kids for cheering me on!"

Previously she has onsighed four 8b's and redpointed 20 routes 8c to 9a. In the 8a ranking game, the german is #2. (c) Jon Shen