Akiyo Noguchi and Tomoa Narasaki won the Japan Combined Cup which only included Lead and Boulder. A new scoring system was tested where the winners got 100 points in each discipline.

1. Akiyo Noguchi 200 - Tomoa Narasaki 200
2. Miho Nonaka - Kokoro Fuji
3. Saari Watanabe - Yoshiyuki Ogata
It should be noted that Olympian Kai Harada was not listed in the Top-8.

In a separate Speed event, Nonaka and Narasaki won getting 7.88 respectively 5.90 as their fastest race. These times are superior among the non-Speed specialists in Tokyo and actually you could win doing 5.90 in Tokyo.

Nicola Vonarburg, who started climbing in 1985, has done his fourth 8c+, by the FA of Missfonda in Cevio. (c) Egon Bernasconi

“I lost count of how many times I had to redo the first part of Miss! (8b) Then in a day with bad conditions the miracle! The central crossbar is spectacular! On the degree then we will see even if in the end it interests me little, the journey and the satisfaction of clipping that chain was more important than a number on 8a.nu!“

In total, the 48-year-old has during the last five years done 41 FAs, 8b and harder. His only other appearances in the 8a news was in 2012, with the headline, “... (39) at his peak”, doing his second 8c+.

Sometimes the anchor is placed so it is almost impossible to come down from the anchor without creating a massive rope drag and wear of the rope. If you want to toprope such a route, one possible solution is to pull down an extra full rope length to the ground and "tie in with a Grigri", including a safety knot below. Then you can climb and your partner pulls in and belay like normal. Once at the top, you just take out the safety knot and rappel down with your GriGri. It should be mentioned that the suggested method should only be tried on routes where you do not take multiple falls. All falls, will wear the rope so you should absolutely not fall several times on the same spot.

Before you start doing this advanced technology make sure you put safety knots on both ends of the rope. Remember that you need as much rope below the climber's Grigri as the route is long.

Silvio Reffo, who did his twelfth 9a in 2018, has added one more to his scorecard, Sever The Wicked Hand in Frankenjura. "I did a try some years ago, last week I checked the moves but the route was wet and this week I tried two days."

How come this was the first 9a since 2018?
I climbed some 9a but I downgraded them to 8c+ 😂😂😂... Last year due to lockdown I didn't climb and skip the good climbing season in Italy. With work and family, it's also difficult to be in a good shape every moment...

What are your summer plans?
I’d like to finish some projects near home but I must wait for fresh conditions So for the summer I’ll work, train and climb in some summer spots in Italy.

Giuliano Cameroni has done the fourth ascent of Daniel Woods' La force tranquille 8C. (c) Clément Lechaptois

"Started trying it in 2016. First epic moment was in 2018 falling off the topout due to a silly foot slip. Next day it snowed a meter or so and had to wait the whole winter. Seemed like it was a matter of tries to get it done but in 2019 and 2020 it didn’t work out. This season, after focusing on improving the crimp power, the line felt doable again and on the 2nd try I found myself on top!" More comments on his Insta

Adam Ondra is the best climber in the world and the discipline he is most superior in is onsights. When he was a kid and a teenager, his focus was onsight and I always try to tell the talented youngsters and their parents that they should opt for onsights rather than projecting one route for months. Here is the Top-10 onsight for kids. Below is another ranking based on adding 200 extra points per year born 2004 later, and also adding 1 000 points for girls.

12 320 Iziar Martinez-05
12 170 Gianluca Vighetti -08
11 720 Maho Normand -05
11 720 Olivia Ma -05
11 618 Illya Bakhmet-Smolenskyi -05

Another teenager sticking out is Alex Totkova -05, who has onsighted three 8a+'.

Geila Macia, daughter to famous Spanish climbers Berta Martin and (c) Israel Macia, has done her second 8b+, Orion in Sadernes. "It is a long steep route on crimps and some slopy holds. There is a first section with non-stop climbing till a kind of a good rest before the crux. It is very powerful on some bad edges, a hard clip, and a long move from a very slopy hold to a small vertical crimp. Then just easy climbing. The weekend before I couldn’t climb until the rest but I could link all the hard moves in a row so I felt excited because I knew that I could reach the resting holds."

So you are strongest in your family now and what are your summer plans?
My mum is trying an 8b next to this route. She could climb it with one fall... This summer we will travel around Europe if the Covid situation alow us and I’m going to participate in Tout a Bloc in July.

Stephan Vogt, who did Action Direct 9a in 2017, has done the first repeat of Giani Clement's Stil vor Talent 8C in Magic Wood. "What a feeling! Thank you, Giani for having the vision. For sure the hardest boulder I have ever done. Concerning the grade, I think that 8C is more fitting than 8C/+. This boulder really suites my style but I don`t think it is hard enough for the plus. Let's see what other people think!"

Last week, Stephan did his second 9a, Unendliche Geschichte 1+2+3, which shares the same 8B+ start as Stil vor Talent and then a 7C+/8A boulder finish. "After climbing to the sloper rail of the 8B+ you traverse left to a bad rest followed by a powerful dyno. From there you have a delicate slab in front of you that leads to the top of the Bruno block. It is the obvious way to top out this huge boulder without the use of a rope."

How come you have been able to step up the game so much after not that many hard climbs after AD in 2017?
As a full-time Master cinematography student, I have less and less time for training and climbing in general. That and some health problems during the past few years made it quite difficult to get out there and climb. This year is a strange one. Although I have not been training for over a year I feel stronger than ever. I believe the reason is that I can climb with no expectations and pressure. It is very much a mental game for me!