Michael Piccolruaz qualified to the Olympics by finishing #14 in the World Championship in August 2019. During the last five years he has been studying and training in Innsbruck where he, for the last 3.5 years, has shared apartment with Jakob Schubert. Now he is just one exam away from his Bachelor degree in Geology. Since Covid-19 emerged, he has mainly been studying and training at home in Val Gardena in the Dolomites.

How do you plan your last six months of Olympic preparation?
Well as for now the preparations are focused on getting fit for the bouldering season. It will be important to do a few comps again before the Olympics, especially after not doing any for so long. I'm not entirely sure which Boulder world cups I will do but for sure those in Europe. Hand in hand with the boulder preparation goes Speed training. Most definitely I will also start all the Speed World Cups which are taking place together with the bouldering world cups. They are the best training we can have. Before the season starts it would be cool to go to Japan for a training camp for about 10 days but unfortunately with the current situation that might be difficult.

Unfortunately, the gym in Innsbruck is closed for everybody but the Austrian national team, so I haven't climbed with Jakob (Schubert) since November, which is very unfortunate. So now I'm training back home in South Tyrol, but I hope the gym in Innsbruck will open as soon as possible again. New boulder problems are something I am definitely missing most from my training in Innsbruck. We train in small gyms now and we do not have the chance to regularly climb on new comp style boulders, however, as the gyms are closed right now and only we athletes can go in I sometimes bring along my makita (drill) and set a few specific moves (slabs, jumps...) for myself. That is really helpful. Hopefully, we will also have some national training camps in the future

Right now I normally train 5 days a week with mostly double sessions. Twice I train Speed, the rest is Bouldering training. I now sometimes train with Filip Schenk as he lives in the same small village as I do. It's good to have somebody to train with and share motivation. Alone it would definitely be harder. I do have a trainer who writes me my training plans and regularly checks in on how I am doing. With the season going on we will then start to insert some lead training, however, it is not gonna be too much since I always feel that a lot of Lead training is not good for my bouldering and speed performance.

Do you do any specific speed training? What is your PB?I don't do specific leg training for speed. But when I am in the gym I always do one or two exercises for my legs in general. Good leg muscles are also good for preventing injuries. My personal best in speed is 6:65. My goal would be reaching a time under 6:30.

What about getting stronger legs from ski-touring?
It is Amazing right now. I go once or twice a week, on the rest days basically. It's between 1000 and 1800 meters of altitude up to 7.5 hours of walking.

What is your goal for the Olympics? Any specific plans due to the Combined multiplication format?
My goal for the Olympics will be making finals. From there on everything is possible and it will really depend on the shape on the competition day, and mostly also the setting style. I will leave lead a bit behind and focus to have the best bouldering and speed shape.

Fanatic Climbing has published some critical comments regarding Red Bull's 360 meters artificial multi-pitch, featuring Janja Garnbret, Domen Skofic, and the routesetters. Sure, Red Bull commercials often go hand in hand with negative environmental publicity, but personally, I think this was one of their better.

Take any Formula 1 race and you will have a negative environmental impact times millions. On this Slovenian chimney, you only had some guys working hard for a few months, drilling and putting up holds which were later removed. At the same time, the film inspired many to start climbing, doing multi-pitches and even putting up similar things that will not be taken down afterwards.

Red Bull has done large investments in climbing and I am sure they will keep investing as our sport perfectly matches their business idea. We can hope they also could add some interest in rebolting etc., but all in all, we should be grateful for their interest in climbing and creating such a wonderful documentary.

Janja Garnbret and Domen Škofic are challenged by the tallest artificial multi-pitch route in the world in a chimney at Slovenia's Trbovlje Power Station. The 13 pitches route, graded between 7b and 8b+, was designed by IFSC route setters Katja Vidmar and Simon Margon but it has now been removed. Janja and Domen managed to both do all pitches on their second attempt that lasted 7.5 hours.

“I was a bit scared before the start,” Janja said, “I was afraid of falling, which can get really nasty in case of a vertical wall compared to an overhanging wall where you hang in the air. Here you can quickly hit a wall or a hold before the rope stops you. Thus, I needed to fall a few times until I finally relaxed and banished the fear.” Škofic’s experience of such climbs was hardly much greater having done just one multi-pitch previously. “The chimney is completely different from anything I've climbed so far. It is a giant, artificial object, which I found rather mystical. I felt discomfort, strong fear of the unknown but I quickly made friends with the chimney, as the route was really beautiful and challenging. Once I started focusing on climbing, all other thoughts were gone, and I was just enjoying it”, he said.

Nico Januel has done the FA of Le sens de la fête 8B+ in Dame Jouanne after some ten sessions. Video on his Insta. "I split one of my middle fingers first thing during the warm-up. Proper bleeding, total bummer. So despite feeling in great shape, I knew I only had one shot. And boom, I sent it! It’s a great feeling, after falling 10-12 times at the dyno!"

The 37-year-old, who is working for the French federation with route setting, coaching and training, has previously done a couple of 8C's. More info at Fanatic Climbing.

There are more than 3 000 crag and boulder areas in the 8a database. Try out our new Crag Ranking feature to see your own ranking at your local crag. Just type in any crag in the search box and then select Ranking. You can choose in between all-time, last year or even last months. Furthermore, you can choose by age, number or routes, as well as redpoint, onsight, or even top rope etc.

Adam Ondra has the most impressive crag ranking with 14 454 points in Flatanger. As a matter of a fact, he has done eight routes in that big roof 9a+ to 9c, all of them FAs.

Pierre Le Cerf, who did his first 9a+ last autumn, has done his fifth 9a, WRC in Castillon. "Demands a lot of endurance. It starts with an 8c+ (Alien Carnage) and finishes in a small 8a+ with twelve moves to get 9a."

In his latest Insta post, the 20-year-old does a 28 second front lever in 28 mm pinkies!

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