Christof Rauch, who previously in 2021 has done eleven routes 8c+ and 9a, has sent Frontman Deluxe (9a) in Allgäu. "Such a nice line! Short, powerful and crimpy. Love this style of climbing. Couldn‘t do one move some years ago, last week Domi convinced me to give it another try, I did the move and came close to send. Today everything clicked and I fought my way to the top. Thanks to Domi for the support!"

Interesting is that the Austrian started to focus on routes just in 2021. One reason for this is that he has pretty much done most of the hardcore boulders in his neighbourhood in combination with the travel restrictions. Furthermore, he has had different injuries in the last three years. In total, he has done 829 boulders 8A and harder although have been working full time for many years.

What is your next plan?
No special winter plans. I have a little elbow injury at the moment, so maybe I have to take some rest soon.

How much do you train and climb during a normal week?
I work 38,5h per week, from Monday till Thursday. Normally I train 2 days after work and climb 2 days at the weekend.

What about taking some time off and seeing how far you can reach?
I think there are much stronger guys out there and I need some money 😅

Climbing has the full interview where Anna Hazelnutt says, "I think the route was actually relatively safe." Impressively, Anna started to trad climb in 2021 and this was her first ever hard trad route. The videos is excellent and it sure does look scary. Actually, twice her placed gear falls out!

It says 5.13a/b R (7c+/8a R=dangerous) in the Youtube presentation which is strange as it previously has been considered 8a/+. Furthermore, the R added after the grade should mean that you probably will seriously injure yourself if you fall in the wrong place. In practice, a "relatively safe" 8a/+ does not convert to UK E9 grade which only a handful of females previously have reached. The UK grading system is based on a combination of how hard and dangerous it is to onsight trad routes.

Austin Purdy has done Paint it Black (8C) in RMNP (CO). Interestingly, in the end it came down to some fingernails optimization that Austin describes below. Previoulsy, the 24-year-old has done 72 8B's, 17 8B+' and just one 8C, so we are talking about a record wide grade pyramid showing that there is room to make it more pointy.

"Paint It Black has been at the top of the list of boulders I want to do in Colorado since I moved here, but after trying it a little bit a few years ago I wrote it off due to my fat fingers not fitting inside of the tiny slot crux crimp. This year though I have been feeling a lot stronger and decided to return to it. I immediately felt a lot better on the boulder and also figured out that I could file down the tops of my fingernails the make my fingers thinner and fit them into the slot just deep enough to make it possible. After this discovery, the boulder went down relatively quickly!"

Jonathan Siegrist, who previously in 2021 has done two 9b's, has repeated Adam Ondra's Goldrake (9a+) in Cornalba, after just four sessions. "Incredible how there are really no great holds for the entire length of this awesome pitch. A true crimp strength endurance test-piece. The insane texture of the rock allows for some pretty exciting fights!" (c) Marco Zanone

The 36-year-old has posted an interesting write up on his Insta that begins with, "I think climbing your best is largely about quieting your mind enough to let your body do the work it’s been trained to do. I pride myself on being somewhat of a master in this realm but there have also been times when it feels next to impossible. Ultimately, I only succeed when my focus is the rock, the movement and the effort - and not on the outcome, consequences or my expectations."

Adam Ondra set all types of grade records being a kid and still when it comes to onsight, even the youngsters of today are far behind. However, in 2021 new redpoint records for 10 and 12-year-old's have been set. Here is speculation of what max grade levels needed to be Top-10 in the world per age group as of 2021 as well as the "world record". Girls are probably two grades lower, however, Ashima Shiraishi did her first 8c+ at age 11 and her first 9a /+ at age 13, which were records at that time.

10 years: 8a+ (record 8c+ Bayes Wilder 2021)
12 years: 8b (record 9a Gianluca Vighetti 2021)
14 years: 8b+
16 years: 8c
18 years: 8c+
Adam Ondra is the youngest to have reached 9a+, 9b and 9b+ being 15 (and one week), 17 respectively 19-years-old.

Adam Ondra has done the second repeat, after Laura Rogora, of Stefano Ghisolfi's Erebor (9b) in Arco. It should be mentioned that both Stefano and Laura called it 9b/+ and Adam comments, after having taken it down in just four days, on Insta, including a video. "Regarding the grade, my suggestion is 9b. There are easier solutions for the upper crux compared to the original method of Stefano that is definitely 9b/b+ in my opinion." (c) Vojtech Vrzba

Adam also says that he thinks that Laura's ascent is, "one of the most impressive feats in climbing ever". He underlines that the downgrade is just his honest opinion although he is aware that he can be criticised for downgrading a route done by a female.

Carlo Traversi, who did his first 8C out of ten in 2011 and first 8C+ last year, has done Flex Luthor 9b in The Fortress of Solitude, after some 15 sessions. "Dream route. No real opinion on grade, so going with Matty's suggestion for now. Definitely not easy."

It was opened in 2003 by Tommy Caldwell as the first 9a+ in America and last month, Matty Hong did the first repeat and suggested the upgrade. From Traversi's Insta.

"I’ve always been drawn to climbs that have both historical significance and an air of mystery surrounding them. In today’s day and age, that combination is getting harder to come by, with every piece of stone captured a million ways and cast out into the daily feed without a moments thought. While this sharing of information satisfies our immediate arm chair curiosity, it has the potential to rob us of a real experience complete with the trials and tribulations of understanding something for yourself. In American climbing, there is no route more shrouded in mystery than @tommycaldwell ‘s Flex Luther at The Fortress of Solitude."

What is next?
Doing Lead and Bouldering National Championships starting tomorrow. Then headed to Yosemite to try and free the Dihedral Wall. I also have a long time bouldering project in Yosemite that’ll hopefully go this season. So yeah, trying to stay at a high level in all disciplines.

The Pou brothers put up Orbayu as the hardest, 8c+/9a, multi-pitch in the world in 2009. They added five new hard intro pitches to an old aid route. Later the 500m route finishing at the top of Naranjo de Bulnes at 2 529m was downgraded to 8c. Now the 8c crux pitch of the famous photogenic route is reported to be badly hammered out, fixed gear and bolts were missing, besides more pitches being downgraded.