Caroline Treadway has created a VERY strong documentary of the eating disorder she faced and later saw within the climbing community some 15 years ago. Angie Payne and Emily Harrington, two of the very best female climbers back then, explain their struggle and how they come out of it.

Mathieu Bouyoud has done his 24th 9a, Ça chauffe in Seynes. "I have tried this route during 5 weekends. It s a very technical routes in Seynes. One boulder at the beginning with small crimps, one good rest and finish with resistance 8b."

the Frenchman is in the Top-20 list of climbers who have done the most 9a's and harder in the world. The somewhat under-the-radar 31-year-old has an even more impressive onsight ticklist with 81 onsights 8b to 8c.

How much do you work and how has it been possible to keep pushing hard for more than ten years?
I work 40 hours by week and this year with the covid I don't climb during the week. I climb only at the weekends. My job is to manage construction for the climbing gyms in France. I make the design and the drawing with the right dimensions of the building. I don't make training. My only training is to climb different style all the year and with the experience now is possible to make hard routes. And with a lot of motivation all is possible.

Advertorial: "In New Zealand, we have a few mountains/walls that are actually difficult to reach the top off. Over the past 20 years the trend of top down route development, simply walking or taking a helicopter to the top of a wall, rapping down and putting the bolts in / cleaning on rappel is slowly emerging. While we all benefit from anyone's efforts to establish new lines I do feel that the current trend means the skills required for safe ground up exploration are being lost or going undeveloped.

Short approach, many pitches, interesting and challenging climbing. Personally, when it came to climbing in NZ I had always hoped I could either climb or develop a true big wall style route." Full length article at My Tendon.

Grampians in Australia are at risk for being closed for climbers after concerns were raised around the threat to cultural heritage. Graffiti and chalk have been part of the criticism. Back in 2013, on a rainy day, Megos brushed away charcoal graffiti in the Hollow Mountain Cave. Yesterday, he published it on Youtube and sent this message to us.

"I thought this is a good message for the community. I hope a solution can be found to reopen the Grampians again one day."

Yannick Flohé, #3 in the Bouldering World Champion in 2019, has done his first 9a and possibly the first repeat of Alex Megos' Wild Publico in Margalef. (c) Eduardo Ruano Lin

"It took 5 sessions. The „easy“ 8c part turned out to be quite a big struggle with poor endurance 😅 tomorrow we’re going home again and back to boulder training for the first World Cup (hopefully). "

How long did you stay and how did Covid-19 affect your trip?
We stayed for 8 days. We did a PCR test in Germany and we need a quick test tomorrow before flying back home. For professional athletes, there are different restrictions normally you have to quarantine for at least 5 days and then you need a second negative Corona test.

Philipp Gaßner, who did his first out of twelve 8c+'s at age 14, has done his first 8B+ boulder and then also his first 8C, Real Absurdistan, in Kochel. (c) Basti Scheibel Video of Muttertagsdach 8B+ starting a few moves in.

"Toni Lamprecht did the first ascent of the boulder, also known as the Stoametz project, about one year ago. It is the lowest possible start of a long roof climb, that took some work to be dug out properly. The result is a true power endurance test piece, which is super fun to climb. It consists of seventeen tension and mainly very reachy moves. As far as grades go, it felt more like an 8B+, as I used a slightly different beta than Toni, which might be more efficient. It took me four sessions to complete it and there is still a harder exit version that I'm psyched to try.

Fanatic Climbing reports that Lucien Martinez from Grimper Magazine has done The Big Island in Fontainebleau, calling it his first 8B+ boulder. The classical boulder was originally put up by Dave Graham as an 8C. Later, in 2010, Vincent Pochon added two more moves in the start. Today it is the most repeated 8C in the world with 20+ ascents. (c) Stephan Denys

"This boulder has everything to be a classic. The movements are magical, it dries very quickly which is a good point in Font where it’s raining often, and the official grade of 8C is extremely soft which is also a big advantage for making a boulder a classic."

Interestingly, there is a 10 moves 8B+ sit start which has been tried for several years. Nico Pelorson and Camille Coudert are currently working on it and, as a matter of fact, Simon Lorenzi has fallen on the very last moves.

Martinez, who needed some 20 sessions to take it down, explains that The Big Island is not a physical challenge but rather a technical. He does not consider himself as a boulderer but rather a route climber, having previously done some ten 9a's. His big project is Fight or Flight 9b.

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Six months prior to the Olympics, Japan hold their first Bouldering Cup of the season. Kokoro Fujii and 17-year-old Ai Mori, barely made it to the finals as #6. Taking the advantage of starting first in the final with fresh holds and less pressure, Mori got a superior victory over Olympian Miho Nonaka. Among the male, Fujii had secured his win prior to the remaining five started on the last problem, as he had topped all four problems in just six tries. Olympian Tomoa Narasaki was second needed three attempts more.

1 - Kokoro Fujii 44 (6) - Ai Mori 44
2 - Tomoa Narasaki 44 (9) - Miho Nonaka 24
3 - Yoshiyuki Ogata 44 (12) - Futaba Ito

Interestingly, the other two Olympians, Akiyo Noguchi was #7 and Kai Harada was #6, scoring just two zones. #4 of the male was Youth World Champion from 2019, Sohta Amagasa who never has done a Boulder World Cup. The last few years, Japan has dominated the Bouldering scene, especially among the male. Video of the final.