Matt Fultz has repeated Daniel Woods’ Creature from the black lagoon 8C+ in RMNP. "It took 15-20 days spread out over 4 years. However, I discovered I was using pretty terrible beta, and after working out a different sequence I was able to send it in a couple more sessions. Creature is one of the most repeated 8C+s in the world, but in my opinion, it is definitely a step above all other 8Cs I’ve done, so the grade seems fair."

Amazingly, the 30-year-old did his first 8C just over two years ago and now he has done 17 and four 8C+, all during the last year. He is a superior #1 in the 8a ranking game and getting close to the highest score ever achieved. The 183 cm tall and 74 kg powerhouse has previously explained that nutrition is a major factor to his latest progress.

Moritz Welt did the FA of Star Shopping 9a in Frankenjura three weeks ago and the video shows it is an amazing route.

How is it possible that this old Werner Thon bolted project has not been done before?
Well this one was a long-standing project that has only been tried by a few people over the last ten years. The wall is quite hidden so most of the people didn't really know about the line.

Does it exist any other projects like this?
I actually know only about a few, maybe like 5 big lines some of them are crazy hard. But as many people won't expect, there's still some future stuff around here.

Is this the most overhanging route in Frankenjura?
There are at least some climbs here that have a similar roof length but not so many, so it is definitely outstanding.

It seems to be at least 30 meters long and 15 meters overhang?
Yeah but maybe a little bit less, something like 25m long and 12m overhang.

Based on the number of bolts you are clipping, this must be more than 25m to the top?
Well, probably you are right, the wall is more than 20m tall and with the roof, it must be really long then :D.

(The picture shows a quickdraw being clipped in the wrong way which is dangerous. Please read the whole article to understand when this method could be used for a safety reason).

A quickdraw normally has one straight carabiner, which you clip into the bolt hanger, and one bent carabiner where you clip in the rope. Between the two carabiners, there is a webbing, which is often fixed to the lower carabiner while the upper carabiner is loose. The reasons for this is that it is easier to clip in the rope to a fixed carabiner, while you do not want a fixed webbing to the upper carabiner as this could make the carabiner rotate, which is bad for safety reasons.

Short climbers sometimes face situations where they cannot reach to clip the quickdraw to the bolt from the best safe position. On the market, there are very long quickdraws with fixed webbing so you can reach like 20 cm higher. Another, on-the-run, alternative is to just turn the quick draw upside down and clip into the bolt with the bent carabiner fixed to the webbing. This will in most cases make it possible to extend your clipping reach by some 3-5 centimeters.

However, remember that a fixed webbing on the carabiner that is clipped into the bolt can make it rotate which should be avoided for safety reasons.

Remember that once you have clipped in. Do not continue to climb but stop and arrange so the quick draw is clipped in the right and secure way.

Great footage, recorded by Peter Zeidelhack, from the Boulder World Cup in 2001 in Munich which Chris Sharma won*, showing that back then competition bouldering was a different sport. Four days earlier Chris had done the ultra endurance route, Biographie 9a+ in Céüse. * It should be noted that Chris later was stripped from his victory as he had tested positive for THC.

Christof Rauch, who until 2020 had done some 750 boulders 8A and harder including eleven 8C's, has switched to routes in 2021. Earlier he has done two 9a's and now he did his seventh 8c+ by the FA of The Redirection 8c+ in Salzburger Land.

"Suprised myself with a send of this great linkup. Couldn’t finish it last year, seems like my endurance improved a lot. All the hard part of „Direction Big Babalas“ into the final crux of „Das Geschenk“ connected with a hard traverse on perfect crimps. Thanks to Norbert for the vision and the support."

How come this change focusing on routes in 2021?
Basically I switched because we were not allowed to travel and I have not so many cool boulders left around home. The route climbing in Tyrol is even better than the boulders and haven’t done many of these cool routes, so it was time for a change.

Janja Garnbret won again topping out in ease like she also did in the semifinal. In total, the Slovenian has now won four out of the five Lead and Boulder World Cups she has done in 2021. In the fifth, she was #2. Laura Rogora fought like one minute on the second last hold before committing for a dyno to the top hold, clipping the anchor with just a few seconds left. However, the Italian was placed second due to countback from the semi. Third was boulder specialist Natalia Grossman who missed the last dyno.

Sean Bailey, who five weeks ago won his first Boulder World Cup, got his first Lead WC victory by winning in Villars. During 2019, he was on average #30 based on 14 Lead and Boulder World Cup. Anyhow, as regards the Olympics, he failed in Toulouse by using one too many attempts to the zone! Runner-up was Alex Megos followed by Colin Duffy who both are going to the Olympics. Overall, the USA with one gold and two bronzes had their best Lead WC for many many years.

Overall, a very good competition with great route setting. During the finals, Stefano Ghisolfi and Oriane Bertone helped out with the commentary and they did an excellent job. Noteworthy is also 16-year-old Alex Totkova making her first final and ending #6 after a good fight. It should also be mentioned that Slovenia had four girls in the Top-8 final and six among the Top-14 and Japan had five male Top-14.

1. Sean Bailey USA 38 - Janja Garnbret SLO Top
2. Alex Megos GER 35+ Laura Rogora ITA TOP
3. Colin Duffy (17) USA 31+ Natalia Grossman USA 42+
4. Sebastian Halenke GER 26.5 - Momoko Abe JPN 40+
5. Alberto Gines Lopez ESP 26.5 - Vita Lukan SLO 40+
Complete results (c) Vladek Zumr

Very fast times in the Speed final in Villar with several PBs. It seems the level has increased already three years before Paris 2024. Tokyo olympian Iuliia Kaplina was #2 but made the best time with 7.01 which can be compared with her world record at 6.96. Among the male, Leonardo Veddriq set a new world record in Salt Lake City with 5.21 and although not having any perfect runs he made 5.32 and won. The fastest time during training is 5.05 by his teammate Katibin Kiomal who also made some small errors but anyhow did 5.35 or faster three times.

Janja Garnbret was #13 with 8.01 although doing some minor mistakes. Rishat Khaibullin, who is also going to Tokyo, set a PB with 5.53 and some hours earlier he had made a Lead PB, being #31. Actually, on the first route, he was #18.

1. Leonardo Veddriq INA - Ekaterina Baraschuck RUS
2. Timofeev Dmitrii RUS - Iuliia Kaplina RUS
3. Katibin Kiromal INA - Patrycja Chudziak POL
Complete results (c) Lena Drapella/IFSC