Tor Johnson just posted on his Insta, "Don’t skip legday! Just finished my 3h kneebarsession. #kneebartheworld."

"When I climb I always look for kneebars just as much as I look for holds. Finding a kneebar is often game changer when you try to send climb that is on your limit. Kneebars is not just about resting and making moves easier. Sometimes you can do totally new sequences using a kneebar. Some people say that using kneepads are cheeting as they make the climbs easier. And they are right. That is the point! The same thing was said about climbing shoes and chalk when they first came around. Nowadays it seems very strange to climb without chalk! I'm sure kneepads are here to stay and I think they should be part of any climbers standard setup just like climbing shoes and chalk bags.

I train my kneebar skills at least once a week. Some people say they only use kneebars when they have to. That is strange to me. Technical kneebars requires a high level of skill and specific strength just like healhooks or dropknees. If you don't practice it, there is no way you will get the most out of the kneebars when you really need them."

Antoine Maire, who has done seven 8c's in 2020 but started to focus on bouldering one month ago, has done Quoi de neuf outside Fontainebleau comparing it with an 8c+ route. Previously the hybrid climb has been making headlines as an 8B+ or 8C boulder as well as an 8Cc traverse. It took him two sessions to do the first 8A part, three sessions to do the second 8B part and then another three sessions to link them together.

"So happy! I'm working on La Force extension now! I think it's not a boulder or a traverse but it's like a route because it's like 30 moves of power endurance so I suppose it had to be a route grade.I think it is a hard 8c+."

Zhao Lei, Team Manager of Chinese Climbing Team, has published two videos on his Insta from the China nationals in Speed. Qixin Zhong, 165 cm tall, set a new unofficial world record in Speed at 5.35 among the male. Previously the 31-year-old has won 12 World Cups and 3 World Championships. He also won the last WC in 2019 at 5.49 which was his first victory in three years. It should be noted that in the video, Qixin's opponent Cao Long is ahead until his foot slips in the very end getting very close to go under 5.30 it seems. In training, Cao has done 5.25. The official world record is 5.48 set by Reza Alipour in 2017.

It should be mentioned that the new world records were set on an certified wall but in order to set a new world record, it has to be an IFSC competion with an IFSC Jury President. Among the female, Lijuan Deng won at 6.74 which can be compared with the official world record at 6.995 by Aries Susanti Rahayu. Lijuan is 20-years-old and last year she only participated once in the World Cup where she was #5 at 7.40.

Petr Resch has done the FA of Prsty houslového virtuosa 8B+ in Petrohard, video, after some 15 days of projecting.

So please explain how it is possible to set a new personal best at age 46?
I have been preparing every year 300-600 new boulders for the "Petrohradské padání" event for almost twenty years. About 300 boulders 8A and more (a total of 5000 boulders). Last year 8B and 8B/B + where the 8B was confirmed and the 8B/B + has not been repeated. It is mostly about climbing on small edges. This winter I started testing the traverse for 8B+. Due to the Coroana virus pandemic, we had to cancel this year's Petrohradské padání. I didn't climb all summer because of the heat and I trained. As soon as the temperatures dropped, I returned to the project and climbed it relatively quickly. As I got older, I changed my eating habits significantly and I train less with a focus on my weaknesses.

Adam Ondra has a regular shoe size of 44 but his La Sportiva are normally 39, see the picture! The trick he uses, when they are brand new, is to squeeze them in by putting the heal and toes inside the plastic paper that goes with the shoes. At the same time, being challenged on on slab volumes in bouldering comps, he has said that the size does not matter and some slabs he could equally well be doing in his sneakers. The reason for this is that you do not want the ballerina feeling on such volume slabs as you instead want as much even friction as possible. However, normally all the top climbers are eager for doing the Geisha trick and this has caused a lot of pain for the regular climbers.

Training indoors standing mainly on bigger holds, it is counter productive for all below 7a to use tight painful shoes. If you want to build up your toe strength, it is actually better to climb in bigger very soft shoes and now we are talking shoes you do not have to take off after each climb. Once you get more advanced, you can buy also a tighter size but them you should only be using outdoors or when challenging yourself bouldering on small foot holds. A further disadvantage with small shoes, beside the pain and that you do not train your toes equally much, is that they wear out faster as all your weight is stressed on a smaller sweet spot of your shoes.

Dave Graham reports on Insta that he has done Ali Hulk Sit Start Extension Total 9b in Rodellar. The story he has published is as good as it gets finishing with, "One of my most memorable and rewarding ascents in my life 🙌🏻"

Here is how it begins building up the dramaturgy, "The day it went down I had zero expectations to climb it 🤣 It was one of the last hot days we had, particularly humid, and not a lot of wind, I was tired from trying No Pain the day before, and had some nagging splits that needed tape, so I sat myself down at the start whimsically for a good old training burn, planning to fall at the first crux..."

The 38-year-old has been one of the leading rock climbers for the last 20 years. He is also known from videos and social media for his energy, expressing and adding detail after detail for whatever climbing subject he is talking about with often a philosophical touch. On Insta he has 101 000 followers. Chatting with him means he clicks on Enter 50 times just within a ten minute interview adding interesting comments. He is also very very popular and familiar among the hard core elite climbers as he has been on the road for like 20 years. The coming Mellow Climbing video is something to look forward to ;) There is also an 8a interview coming up as soon as there will be some rainy rest days in Rodellar, we have been promised.

Interesting is also that Dave says there are three harder sit starts possible in the middle of the cave most certainly kicking up the grade.

IFSC have taken the decision that the remaining eight spots to the Tokyo Olympics will be based on the 2019 Combined World Championship results, if the Continental Combined Championships in 2020 are cancelled. Here are the eight athletes that could hope for cancelled events.

Europe: Jernej Kruder SLO & Jenya Kazbekova UKR
Africa: Rachelle de Charmoy RSA & Calrin Curtis RSA
Oceania: Campbell Harrison AUS & Oceania MacKenzie AUS
Asia: Chaehyun Seo KOR & Jongwon Chon KOR

Olympic Channel interview with Adam Ondra.- "I don't really know who I would be if I wasn't a climber"

Matt Fultz, who last week did his first 8C+ Hypnotized Minds, has done his seventh 8C in 2020, Echalo in Clear Creek Canyon. Amazingly, the 29-year-old did his first 8C just 18 months ago and now he is #3 in the 8a ranking game. In 2018, he was mainly around #20 in the ranking game.

How can you explain being able to step up your game so significantly?
Honestly, I think a lot of my progress has come from my nutrition. My wife, Hailey, is a nutrition coach for climbers. She has guided me on a nutrition journey that has been life changing. It’s been excellent for my recovery, energy, and longevity.

Mathew Wright has done Hubble at Raven Tor which was put up by Ben Moon in 1990 as the first 8c+ in the world. Although none of the first five repeaters did upgrade it, the UK scene including Moon did start some eight years ago saying it should be upgraded. Then the three latest ascensionists, all from UK and including Wright, have confirmed it to be 9a. (c) Georgie Lane

"Hubble has taken me around 25 sessions this year. 10 sessions to do the moves, 10 sessions doing links and 5 sessions redpointing. I also spent a massive amount of time training specifically for the route! I also spent an additional 4 sessions on it last year but didn’t get anywhere.

Previously, the hardest routes I’ve done are Evolution (8c+) and Kaabah (8c+). The hardest boulders I’ve done are Serendipity (8B+) and Belly of the Beast (8B/+). Hubble for me was much harder than any of these climbs. Serendipity taken me less time to do but was my previous hardest tick. Hubble for me is without a doubt the hardest piece of climbing I’ve ever done and if Kaabah and Evolution are 8c+, Hubble is certainly 9a. It taken me longer to do the moves on Hubble than it did to redpoint any of my previous hardest routes.

I’m around 180 cm. I do believe that it’s easier if you’re short as the crux moves are very bunched for me and I found it incredibly hard for this reason. Short people can also get a left leg knee bar like what Sean McColl used. I’ve not used this knee but I’ve seen people do it and I can see that it makes the crux much easier. Basically, if you’re short and can get the left knee bar in, it is probably 8c+ but I can’t say for certain."

In an Insta video, we can see that Mathew is the first climber to have used a knee pad on his right leg possibly making the start of the crux a bit easier. McColl (169 cm), who has not done it, was the first climber who used a knee pad on his left leg