"Low percentage moves" are something athletes use to describe moves that often challenge your coordination. They are tricky and sometimes feel slippery or involve a dynamic move to a shallow one or two-finger pocket. In competition climbing, the route setter often set low percentage coordination moves in order to split the field. Often, a certain body position is needed both in the start of the move and in the finish. However, the exact body position could differ for climbers of the same length. Alternatively, it is about standing on a micro and you cannot explain why the foot sometimes pops. In the end, you can even say that low percentage moves are somewhat connected with being lucky like in a lottery.

Obviously, a pumpy 40 meter route that finishes with some low percentage moves is very hard to do also mentally. Even boulders that finish with just one low percentage move could create frustration. It does not matter how much stronger you get working the problem - instead, it might feel like a lottery. Although Action Directe is known to be about pure finger strength, it is also about low percentage moves. You need to have the exact body position starting the dynamic moves and to exactly squeeze in the fingers exactly as you land the moves, in combination with precise footwork. Some climbers have said that they felt really close but anyhow just kept falling.

Action Directe was the first climb that was graded 9a and in total there exist almost 1 000 9a to 9c now. Although AD being an ultra classic that everyone wants to do, it has only been repeated three times during the last three years. This means that we basically can call it a very hard 9a and, in fact, there are probably some 9a+' out there which most climbers would consider an easier task to do as they do not include any low percentage moves.

Jakob Schubert, who got the bronze in Tokyo, reports on Insta that he has done Erebor 9b in Arco. Actually, he did it almost twice as a good heal hook broke as he was about to clip the chain in a previous attempt. The Austrian says it became a bit harder but the grade remains the same.

“It took me two 2 day trips to Arco (one 2 weeks ago with terrible conditions and one now). Very cool route 😉.”

In total, this was the 31-year-old's 48th route 8c+/9a and harder out of which eighth 9b's and one 9b+. Only during the last three months, he has sent eighth routes 9a and harder out of which he has given personal grades for all but Erebor. When it comes to competitions, he has the best male track record during the last ten years; Two World Championships, Three WC overall, #2 in a Boulder World Championship as well as once in the overall WC. But probably most impressive is still his seven straight wins in the Lead World Cup in 2011. Including also six 8C boulders and three 8B+ flashes, he is a contender for being the second-best climber in the world after Adam Ondra.

Silvio Reffo has been on a short family climbing trip to Rome where he onsighted six routes 8a to 8b+. Previously he has onsighted more than 70 8a+ and harder. In the annual 8a onsight ranking game, the Italian is tied #2.

"When I have some days to climb in a new crag I love climb onsight, because around my home I climbed more or less all the routes that I can try with this style. I think that the secret to climbing well onsight, is to climb onsight often😂😂😂. Every onsight trip I start to climb with “easy” routes for two days to be confident with the style of climbing. After that, I try to send hard routes. Top climbers often try only extreme routes and skip the other routes in mid-range. I like to try extreme routes only if I have a two weeks trip."

What is newsworthy is that the male top onsight level has not increased during the last 15 years or so, if we exclude Adam Ondra. Surely, Covid-19 has limited the possibilities of travelling for the last two years but even so it is anyhow only Adam Ondra who has until last year, for some years in a row, done several 8b+ onsights. At the same time, we have seen extreme progress when it comes to the redpoint level. Currently, Martina Demmel is the 8a onsight ranking leader, ahead of all males and she has only been climbing for four years. The only climber having onsighted two 8c's in 2021 was Janja Garnbret.

Here is a quick sum-up of how sport climbing and its ethics have developed throughout the years. At the beginning of the era, ethics was copied from trad climbing and has later been made more liberal. The mentioned years from 1980 are all estimations.

1975: Kurt Albert painted red dots on the climbs he had "redpointed" in Frankenjura
1978: Jaques Nosley started bolting while rappelling in France
1980: French climbers left the gear while projecting
1985: Hang-dogging routes instead of being lowered down
1985: The use of chalk got popular
1995: Ok to onsight with quickdraws in place
2000: OK to belay and look down and later claim onsight
2005: Peak for multiple pre-clipped quickdraws and down climbing ethics
2010: Everyone has at least two pre-clipped carabiners

Here you have the original 8a ethics and practice article with some more details from 2001. The biggest problem I see and hear about today is having a tight belay stopping the swing when a climber swings out. Such ascents should not be valid even if it is not the fault of the climber.

Courtney Arnold has done Barefoot on Sacred Ground (8A) and El Techo de Los Tres B (8A) in Hueco Tanks (TX). "Life list boulder. No longer hate Hueco or Josh lol." In the 8a ranking game, the 21-year-old is #10.

Angie Scarth-Johnson, who did her first 9a last autumn, reports on Insta that she has done Jorge Broncano's Nolekita 8A in La Pedriza. (c) Talo Martin

Angie started making headlines on 8a already in 2013 when she did her first 8b at age 9. The year after she did her first 8c and before turning teenager she had done two 8c+. Here is the first 8a interview from that time. The Australian spent several months every year mainly in Spain being "home-schooled" by her non-climbing parents.

Marco Müller, who last week did Dreamtime 8C, has on the other side of the big block done The Story of Two Worlds (8C) in Cresciano. "Sit start, without kneepads, head first."

Interestingly, the Swiss national had previously only done three 8B+ and then he does two super classic 8C's in a week. For a couple of months, he is doing his master thesis in Mechanical engineering which he hopes to finish in April.

How was the process taking it down?
I could climb "The Dagger" (stand start) seven years ago, which took me seven or eight sessions if I remember correctly. I briefly tried the sit start a couple of years later, but couldn't do the moves. This year I was in much better shape. After I climbed "Dreamtime", I quickly went on the other side of the bloc to try the sit a bit and it felt possible. A couple of sessions later everything was dialled in and it finally went down.

How have you been able to step up your game lately in spite of all your studying?
I'm not sure, maybe due to more consistent training. I don't know what other factors there might be. The limited-time I have to train in the evenings helped me a lot to strictly stick to my training plan and make the best use of the time I had. And all the outdoor projects kept the motivation to train extremely high.

Daniel Fuertes has set a great onsight personal best at age 41 with in L'Ocaive. Interesting is that the last 18 months have been his best ever including Ali Hulk sit start extension total (9a+) and Patanics (9a+).

"It was a wonderful day of Reyes!!! It was a hard mentally fight because the route has a long technical sequence. I’m very happy, it was one of my dreams 🤗 Previously, I have done some 8b+ onsight and very close to some 8c, but the latter without success 🤷‍♂️ Now, I hope to repeat the goal!! Jaja 😂🙏"

The 50-meter route and 15-meter overhang route was bolted by Pedro Navas and it is divided into two parts. The first physical part is 8a+ and then the second part is more technical, including the most difficult cruxes.

It should be mentioned that during the last years, there has actually been a decline of hard male onsights. During the last four years, only a dozen have onsighted 8c or harder. Adam Ondra has onsighted 86 routes 8c and harder and contender for being runner-up is Piotr Schab with eleven 8c onsights.

Magnus Midtbo is the biggest climber Youtuber in the world with over one million subscribers. What is not so well known is that he was an excellent competition climber having won 13 Euro Cups and a Youth World Champion. As a senior, out of his 50 last WCs and World Championships, he only once missed the semi and in 43 events he was Top-15. His best results are two WC podiums, and he finished #4 at the World Championship in Arco in 2011.

When it comes to rock climbing he has done 16 routes 9a and harder according to his scorecard. Interestingly, out of his last six recorded 8c+', four were at the time 9a routes. Going further down his list including 29 8c+ and 26 8c', there are actually additionally several personal downgrades. All in all, the Norweigian was actually one of the world's best climbers for five straight years, starting in 2010.