Giani Clement has done the FA of Stil vor talent 8C/+ in Magic Wood, a more direct finish to La grosse Tarlouze 8C which he did last November. The 36-year-old has been training almost exclusively on the project in a structured way over the last three months. "I was very focused, had a plan that I followed to reach my goal and realize my dream. I really enjoyed every session and the whole process." (c) Hannes Kutza

"Instead of the last two moves towards the final jug of NES (Never Ending Story 8B+), it continues on the sloper-rail to the left till the corner where the climbing becomes steeper and more challenging with the crux section - ending with the dyno to a good rail. Until then there are 11 more moves with my solution. What follows is the exit which is physically much less demanding, but mentally quit tough, a small overhang with the highball slab to the top." More info and pics on Insta

Barbara Zangerl has made the first repeat of Beat Kammerlander's five pitches Kampfzone 8b+ in Rätikon up at 2 800 m altitude. (c) Reel Rock/Alpsolut Pictures. The Austrian has previously done three of the most difficult MP on El Capitan and most of the hardest in Europe and should be considered as one of the Top-10 MP climbers in the world.

"I was blown away by the scenery up there. After a two hour approach you reach the ridge, from which you get a first glimpse of the pillar where „Kampzone“ is the central and only line. After all those classic Kammerlander routes like Silbergeier, Unendliche Geschichte, New Age… I couldn’t imagine that it could get any better. And, to be honest, after my first look at ‘Kampfzone’, I didn’t expect it to be such a gem. But, as soon we got on the route, we were really surprised by the rock quality and the varied styles of climbing. From powerful moves to technical, scary slab climbing; you can find everything on „Kampfzone“.

We (together with her partner Jacopo Larcher who later also did it) worked for two days on the line, before I surprised myself to climb the whole line ground and up all pitches free! It was an honour to partner up for a single day with the master himself Beat.

Until 2009, the 32-year-old was one of the best female boulderer until she stopped due to an herniated vertebral disc. In sport climbing, she has now done four routes 8c+/9a or harder and in trad climbing she has done up to 8c. In other words, she is the best female multi-disciplin rock climber out there. Last year, she was awarded with the National Geographic adventurer of the year.

Marine Thevenet, #7 in the World Cup in 2014, reports on Insta that she has done the FFA Kingda Ka 8B in the San Gottordo pass up at 2 100 meters. In total, the lawyer working full time, has done some 50 boulders in the 8th grade out of which almost half of them during the last 18 months. (c) Clement Lechaptois

"I tried it during a weekend last summer but I could not do the first part of the boulder. The last week, surprisingly, I did the first part of the boulder and I felt reaching the underclings at the first try, so I spent two sessions to find my beta on the rope and two more sessions to send the boulder. The process was really exciting :)"

Niki Rusev, who previously this summer did his first 9a, has repeated Adam Ondra's Black Cobra (2) 9a in Herculane in just five tries.

"Much easier than my first 9a - Napred i nagore. My couch (Faza) bolted third extension on Black Cobra and its very hard, but is possible do it, because I did all moves, but only I didn’t do one jump for small pinch, but will be fine. It will be a big project for the future."

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Alex Megos has done the FA of Bibliographie 9c in Céüse after around 60 days of projecting. The 35 m route was bolted by Ethan Pringle in 2009 and the 26-year-old has tried it actively for three year. In the video from 2019, some of the sequences are included. (c) Jenya Kazbekova

” The crux consists of 4 moves in the middle of the route. Approximately 8a+ boulder. You have a relatively good hold and you need to do a big gaston move to a crimp, from there you match on top of the crimp as a pinch. You do a dead point move into a bad two finger pocket and from there a long move to a crimp. Ideally you climb the boulder problem without cut loose, but sometimes my feet cut going from the pocket to the crimp."

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Sometimes the odds are against you, but it doesn't mean you don't have a chance. Yesterday evening, on my last day of the trip, it definitely wasn’t looking good after messing up the first (and only) try I wanted to do that day. I fell relatively low on the route though, so I decided to give it an infamous “one last go”. I passed the crux in the middle of the route, and found myself on the poor rest before the final hard section. Twice prior to this burn I had fallen on the last hard move of the route, so I wasn’t feeling super confident. Nonetheless I started off after the rest with full pace and only briefly slowed down to adjust one hold and to get it perfectly. I passed my ‘trouble move’ seemingly effortlessly and despite being completely pumped out of my mind, I was able to pull off the sequence of the last four moves. After clipping the anchor it seemed like all of the days of work I have put into the route were passing in front of my eyes. With approximately 60 climbing days over the past three years "Bibliographie" has been by far my longest project to date. I know there are many speculations about the grade and I think grades are very subjective. My personal suggestion for the grade is 9c (5.15d). Considering the fact, that "Perfecto Mundo" (9b+) has taken me 16 days of effort, "Bibliographie" with around 60 days and more specific training felt a lot harder. Of course, as the first ascensionist you don't have your perfect beta from the start, you have doubts whether it is possible or not for you, if you are completely missing something, or if you are just not in the best shape. It is always harder to grade something without any other opinion. I am very curious about what the future of the route will look like, and grateful for other people's opinions. Independently from the grade, this has been a very valuable experience for me. It marks a personal milestone in my climbing life, one I would have not been able to complete without the support and help of all of my friends and family. Deep gratitude and thanks goes to all of you! (And yes, there is send footage 😉) Pic @ken_etzel

Ett inlägg delat av Alexander Megos (@alexandermegos) 6 Aug 2020 kl. 12:00 PDT

In 2009 and 2010, Alex won eight out of ten Euro Youth Cups he participated in and in the remaining two, he was runner-up. He stopped competing in 2012, after having tried the World Cupo with not much success. In his comeback in 2017, he was #2 in the Euro Bouldering Championship and later in his second Lead WC, he was also runner up. In 2018, he begun his Olympic dream and won one event in Lead and got a bronze in the World Championship. Last year, he qualified to Tokyo by and he was #2 in the Lead World Championship.

Outdoors, Alex created history in 2013, with the first ever 9a onsight. In total he has done some 90 routes graded 8c+/9a and harder including his FA of Perfecto Mundo 9b+. Interesting is that his trainers Dicki Korb and Patrik Matros, have said that they deliberately have tried to hold him back and instead more focusing on a holistic approach.

"It is about balancing all things out and working hard, for a long term progress. Motivation, having fun and being creative are most important and I am not fan of strict systematic programs where you should doing fixed seconds on a hang board. Sure we sometimes do hang board excercises and we have a general plan but it can always be changed based on current feelings and almost half of Megos training is non-climbing exercises."

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"BIBLIOGRAPHIE" ✅ by @alexandermegos . Having you by my side and seeing every day the effort you are putting into your dreams will never stop amazing me. Behind the scenes of success there is always so much more. I'm unbelievably proud of how you are managing your world. There are many great athletes out there, but the difference is what a person you are. Thank you for reminding me what a huge heart you have and how much you care about being better person every day. Your contribution to this world is really meaningful. I hope you will keep your smile, your attitude and your desire to make this world a better place. Keep pursuing your dreams💫 #carrotsforpower

Ett inlägg delat av Ievgeniia Kazbekova (@jenya_kazbekova) 6 Aug 2020 kl. 7:43 PDT

Adam Ondra comes with the interesting facts on Insta that none of the first 8a to 8b+ never have been onsighted. Here is the list that Ondra refers to but as it turns out, he might be wrong.

8a: Grand Illusion trad, FA Tony Yaniro 1979. It has six ascents in the 8a database, out of which two with 8a+ suggestions and three marked it as "hard". The sixth ascent is from Alex Honnold. In other words, this one might better fit as an 8a+. Mini-doc video

A contender for the first 8a in the world, which has been onsighted by Adam Ondra could be Cosmic Debris 8a trad by Bill Price in 1980. It is located in Yosemite and Alex Honnold has actually soled it.

8a+: The Face, FA Jerry Moffat 1983 A route in Frankenjura well repeated. Mini-doc video
8b: Kanal im Rücken, FA Wolfgang Güllich 1984 A well repeated route in Frankenjura.
8b+: Punks in the Gym, FA Wolfgang Güllich 1985 A well repeated route in Arapiles.

It should be mentioned that in 1977, Peter Cleveland did (on tope rope or pre-placed gear?) and suggested 7c for Phlogiston in Devil's Lake. Today it is considered a spicy 8a trad route. Noteworthy is that Ondra has not tried any of the routes he mentioned. Interesting is also that in 1975, the first 8A boulder was established, Trice. Comparing the difficulty in between boulders and routes, an 8A boulder = an 8b route.

Oriane Bertone has flashed Le lézard à pompe extension 8b+ in Roche de rame and last week she did L'extremacura 8c in Gravere. She got the beta by her little brother Max (13) who earlier this summer did three 8b+'. Earlier this summer the 15-year-old did her first 8c+ as well as her first 8C boulder. In the 8a ranking game, she is #4 in Lead and #3 in Boulder and consequently #1 overall.

They live in Reunion, a small island outside Madagascar but due to Covid-19, they have been caught in Europe since the start of the lockdown. Here is an interview from last month.

Nathaniel Coleman, who has qualified to Tokyo 2021, skips 8C and does The Grand Illusian 8C+, in the middle of the night, with support from Drew Ruana.