Francesco Castellano skips 9a and does Goldrake 9a+ in Cornalba in just five days. Adam Ondra did the FA in 2010 and it has six repeats in the 8a database. It should be mentioned that Ondra hesitated in between 9a and 9a+ and all but two have called it "soft" after having done it relatively quickly. In other words, it might just be a hard 9a? More info in Italian on PlanetMountain.

Camilla Moroni, who was #7 at the Euro Championship in 2019, has done her fourth 8A in 2020, Bogaboo rider and her first 8A+, L'avenir nous réserve rien de bon both in Val Daone. Amazingly, both got done during one session. (c) Pietro Biagini

"Sending my first boulder of this grade was really cool because this boulder is a beautiful crimpy line of Val Daone and because now I feel in a good shape. I usually try boulders and routes that I can send in two days at most because when I make a climbing trip I like to try as many boulders as possible. Maybe the next time I will try something harder 😉"

I have bolted some 500 routes mainly on granite and gneiss on the Swedish west coast. Many climbers have been introduced to bolting and all of them are amazed by how many factors are involved an all the details you have to think about before and during bolting, in order to do a good job. Over the years I have seen many bolting mistakes which in general I think happens because some just rappel down and start drilling. Another common mistake is if you bolt based on your height and strength, no matter of the grade. This can often create dangerous routes.

In general, I think you should ask yourself some questions before starting to drill:
Will it be a frequented crag and route? Does it add long term value to the local scene? Does it reduce the value of nearby routes or boulders? What do the landowner and the municipality say? Is it ok with the neighbours? Is it ok based on the local club and the local community trad ethical bolting regulations? What about birds and other natural or historical values?

Once you have found out that there is no hinder to start bolting you should try the route on top rope confirming the quality, finding the best line and start looking for bolt placement. Use the hammer to find the best bolt placement especially in the start. Sometimes there are limited possibilities where the second bolt can be placed meaning the first and third bolts need to be placed accordingly.

If it is bad landing, place the first bolt lower than if there is green grass below.
If the start is relatively hard, place the first bolt lower in comparison if it is an easy start.
If there is not a straight line, try to put also the first bolts towards the side of the upper part in order to reduce the rope drag.
If it is a 6a route, put more bolts in compared to an equal long 8a route.

Make sure you can climb the route as safe as possible so injuries can be avoided, with good belaying, even if you fall during a clip. The best clipping position on a 6a route should be reachable even if you are 160 cm. For an 8a then 170 cm height could be the guideline. All routes do not have to be bolted. Sometimes on a more vertical wall, you could just place an anchor in between to bolted lines, if that could open up yet a new line. Note that the specific bolting job including how close to edges and what type of hardware you should use etc will be presented later.

Dylan Chuat, who just released the Foundation Edge 8C video, has done his third 9a during the last three months, Amazonie in St Triphon. It was put up by Francois Nicole in 2009 and has previously been repeated just two times. "Really nice short route. Sooo beautiful moves."

Filip Schenk, who has won eleven Youth Cups/Championships, has done his third 9A in Arco the last five months, Biologico. (c) Felix Kiem "One of the best around Arco!! Two hard boulders on some crimps and tufas! I tried it the first time in spring and then the summer came and it was too hot. Now in the autumn I went to arco two weekends and send it during the second one." "In 2019 I had my last year of school so I had to skip some comps. The main goal is still the comps and I am looking forwards to do all the world cups next year. I have decided not to go to Moscow as we have to do ten days in quarantine if we go."

In the Top-100 boulders ranking, there are sevenguys from USA ahead. Austin Purdy is #1 and he has done 73 boulders 8A to 8C during the last 12 months. Ben Blackmore is #2 and he has sent 91 boulders 8A to 8B. Paul Robinson has done 1 000+ boulders 8A and harder.

Mathieu Pauwels, who recently became a father, has done the FA of La traversée de K. making it the second 9a in Belgium.

"It's a variant of "Kraftio" which adds a travers (as its name suggests) and which makes me arrive at the beginning of "Kraftio". In my humble opinion "Kraftio" is 8C + and with the travers, it clearly adds a rating. I'm not here to argue but I'm sure the way Anak (Verhoeven) did the FA of "Kraftio" is clearly 8c+/9a. But, I have found other methods which make the original route easier. I find this variant really adds something special and makes the route unique in its kind for our flat country! I can't wait for the Belgian machines to come and do the next repetitions of this variant!"

As it was possible to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympics one year it is hard to understand why not the qualification can be postponed a couple of months?

Austria has already informed their athletes that safety is more important than to qualify to Tokyo 2021. Now also France has said they will not send any athletes and some other countries are only sending athletes that compete in Combined. As some countries have closed their gyms, clearly the event deciding who are going to Tokyo will partly be based on unfairness.

It is now less than three weeks until the European Championship starts in Moscow and as everyone knows there is a big risk that it will not take place. I bet many athletes are not eager to fully commit to Speed training etc. Possibly, there will be many drop-outs based on the current starting list in the last minute. I mean, the event will take place for nine days so in any case, you will have to be out of your country and home for two weeks. Then possibly you will have to go for a long period of quarantine and in the worst case have to spend some weeks in a Moscow hospital with Covid-19.

If there is absolutely no juridic possibility to have the qualification in 2021, IFSC should make the Euro Championship as only an Olympic qualification. This would in practice mean max 20 male and female competing over four days. If this is not possible, then cancel the event and give the Olympic tickets to Jernej Kruder and Jenya Kazbekova, based on their results in the World Championship last year. (c) Eddie Fowke